Should I get a SATA SSD or a NVMe SSD

[nemzia]

Which will be better for me, ill mainly use it for gamin, but with a little light editing and graphic design, as i will be wanting a 500gb ssd for an os and programs, then a 1tb for games and ill be getting a 2tb hdd for mass storage

 

[leoscott]

If it has a m.2 slot that is the way to go. The speed is much higher.

 

[JalYt_Justin]

M.2 NVMe is best. M.2 NVMe PCIE x4 is gonna be the fastest consumer grade SSD you can find on the market. It blows SATA speeds out of the water. Just make sure your motherboard has a slot for M.2 SSDs and you'll be fine.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Well NVME drives are very fast but I am not sure what you think it's going to do for you, it may shave a few seconds off game load times versus a good sata ssd but that is all it will really do for games. NVME drives are blazing fast when moving large files around or transferring files to another nvme drive. However 4k read speeds which is what you want for fast load times in games are not all that much better on nvme drives than it is on a good sata ssd. So if you do a lot of sequential reads and writes an nvme drive is great, but if you're not I cant say it's really worth the money versus a good sata ssd.

 

[lumineZ]

I will agree with Dunlop0078 in what he is saying.

Unless you move very large files back and forth, open alot of raw picture files, etc then you dont really need the nvme drive.

I have both in my system (click on my signature if you want to what kind) and I have tryed installing the same game on both and the same programs, just to see the difference in speeds. Got to admit that the 4k read... the difference is not worth the price.

So from what you describe here, I would not buy an nvme until the price goes down. Only reason you need one is only to be able to say: " hey I got an nvme drive " 98 - 99% of the time you will not use the speed it is capable of so.
So save the money and get bigger SSD`s or regular HDD`s.


Take the samsung 850 pro SSD : Random read (4KB, QD1) Up to 10,000 IOPS, Random write (4KB, QD1) Up to 36,000 IOPS


Now take the nvme 960 evo : Random read (4KB, QD1) Up to 14,000 IOPS, Random write (4KB, QD1) Up to 50,000 IOPS

Not big difference there when it comes to normal use.

 

[rgd1101]

m.2 is just the form. some motherboard only support pcie m.2, some only sata m.2
need to know the exact model of the motherboard

 

[rgd1101]

is this the build?http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3515646/gaming-build.html

with Asus - MAXIMUS IX HERO?
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-IX-HERO/specifications/
1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)*2
1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)*3

1 support either. 1 support only pcie

 

[iantigone]

The M.2 NVMe drives like the Samsung 960 EVO is PCIe 3.0 x 4 speed. It's read/write speed will blow the door off any SATA based drives.

 

[lumineZ]

The M.2 NVMe drives like the Samsung 960 EVO is PCIe 3.0 x 4 speed. It's read/write speed will blow the door off any SATA based drives.

True. But at the same time a lie.

True: Working with large files, moving large files to other NVMe drives and overall very heavy workloads it will outperform any sata drive by big margins.

Lie: For the general consumer with the general workload they put on the computer like games, windows boot up time, open a web browser, multi-task between 3 - 5 programs, watching movies, sort through songs, etc etc etc.
Generally light to light moderate workload the M.2 NVMe drive will not outperform a good Sata SSD by alot.
The 4K Q1 - 4 IOPS is almost identical.

Like I sayd, I have both and tryed just to see if I could really see a difference. And without a stop watch you really could not tell the difference at all besides in a very few situations.


So... Is the M.2 NVMe 960evo fast?
If you do the kind of work that needs its speed and can take advantage of it. Heck yea very mutch so.
But for the avg. consumer out there, the answer is no. It is not mutch faster than any other Sata SSD, just by a tiny little bit and not worth the price premium.

If you got the choice between a 500GB 960evo or 1TB 850pro... I would take the 850pro any day UNTIL that is, the computer programs, games, etc will start to really take advantage of the NVMe. Until then I will not buy a new one cause I dont use the computer in a way that can take advantage of the speeds.

Its like having a car that you know on the paper can do 200+ mph, but you never ever take it to a air strip or a racing track. Hence you are bound by speed limits.

I know my 960evo on paper and benchmarks are fast, but with the programs and games I use I put a speed limit on it in a way.


Edit: Or to put in a way most people can understand. Its like getting a GTX 1080Ti and only play games like tetris on it.... overkill...

 

[eggtartboy]

The M.2 NVMe drives like the Samsung 960 EVO is PCIe 3.0 x 4 speed. It's read/write speed will blow the door off any SATA based drives.

True. But at the same time a lie.

True: Working with large files, moving large files to other NVMe drives and overall very heavy workloads it will outperform any sata drive by big margins.

Lie: For the general consumer with the general workload they put on the computer like games, windows boot up time, open a web browser, multi-task between 3 - 5 programs, watching movies, sort through songs, etc etc etc.
Generally light to light moderate workload the M.2 NVMe drive will not outperform a good Sata SSD by alot.
The 4K Q1 - 4 IOPS is almost identical.

Like I sayd, I have both and tryed just to see if I could really see a difference. And without a stop watch you really could not tell the difference at all besides in a very few situations.


So... Is the M.2 NVMe 960evo fast?
If you do the kind of work that needs its speed and can take advantage of it. Heck yea very mutch so.
But for the avg. consumer out there, the answer is no. It is not mutch faster than any other Sata SSD, just by a tiny little bit and not worth the price premium.

If you got the choice between a 500GB 960evo or 1TB 850pro... I would take the 850pro any day UNTIL that is, the computer programs, games, etc will start to really take advantage of the NVMe. Until then I will not buy a new one cause I dont use the computer in a way that can take advantage of the speeds.

Its like having a car that you know on the paper can do 200+ mph, but you never ever take it to a air strip or a racing track. Hence you are bound by speed limits.

I know my 960evo on paper and benchmarks are fast, but with the programs and games I use I put a speed limit on it in a way.


Edit: Or to put in a way most people can understand. Its like getting a GTX 1080Ti and only play games like tetris on it.... overkill...

This reply is all i need when deciding NVME and SATA SSD