[SOLVED] Should I get an NVMe drive?

[chrisgeo]

Hi there, I recently got my hands on a Samsung 970 PRO 512GB.
It's not mine though, so I'll only have it for a few days.
During this time, I was able to run a few tests to see how fast it is.
Due to my motherboard being limited to a single M.2 PCIe 2.0 x2 slot, the drive is way slower than it should be, reaching only about 900MB/s on sequential.
I've attached a picture of CrystalDiskMark and ATTO benchmarks comparing the 970 PRO to the existing 850 PRO I am currently using.
The question is, is the speed difference big enough for me to get an NVMe drive of my own? And if yes, are there any cheaper options with the same performance?

Benchmarks: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...6l-VNVrP_-VfJgCL0BGAYYCw/h1268/2019-02-18.png

 

[saint19]

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

While the NVMe drive will clearly be much faster that any SSD 2.5" that yu currently have, you also need to ask u a question before proceed with that change.

Is there something that really needs on your PC make that change? Do you really use programs that needs that speed? Because for games, with a normal 2.5" SSD is more that enough for that.

Just IMO.

 

[USAFRet]

On that board? Absolutely not. Especially not a "pro" of any type or size.

What do you use this system for?

 

[chrisgeo]

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

While the NVMe drive will clearly be much faster that any SSD 2.5" that yu currently have, you also need to ask u a question before proceed with that change.

Is there something that really needs on your PC make that change? Do you really use programs that needs that speed? Because for games, with a normal 2.5" SSD is more that enough for that.

Just IMO.

The only storage demanding thing I do is light video editing. Other than that, I just play games or edit images and stuff

 

[chrisgeo]

On that board? Absolutely not. Especially not a "pro" of any type or size.

What do you use this system for?

Mostly playing games, light video editing and recording, image editing, and web browsing. I do move files around a lot too. That's pretty much it

 

[geofelt]

Good job on taking the time to test out a prospective upgrade.

What is your motherboard?
What are your specs now?

First of all, the PRO versions are not much worth the price premium over EVO.
What you get is longer endurance which is no longer an issue today.

With a x2 m.2 slot you can buy a m.2 sata drive of double the capacity for the same price.

If, however, budget is not a big issue, consider adding a X4 m.2 adapter card
and a 970 evo.
The faster sequential performance will help with moving large files around.

 

[chrisgeo]

Good job on taking the time to test out a prospective upgrade.

What is your motherboard?
What are your specs now?

First of all, the PRO versions are not much worth the price premium over EVO.
What you get is longer endurance which is no longer an issue today.

With a x2 m.2 slot you can buy a m.2 sata drive of double the capacity for the same price.

If, however, budget is not a big issue, consider adding a X4 m.2 adapter card
and a 970 evo.
The faster sequential performance will help with moving large files around.

Right now, I got an i5 7400, GTX 1060 3GB, 16GBs of RAM and that 256GB SATA SSD. Since I'm using a small form factor prebuilt, the motherboard is one of those weird proprietary ones with just one PCIe 3.0 x16 for the graphics card. So yeah, that M.2 slot is kind of my only option.

 

[USAFRet]

For that use, in that system, a Samsung 860 EVO or Crucial MX500 m.2, in whatever size meets your budget and space requirement.

The 1TB MX500 is ~$130USD currently.

 

[chrisgeo]

For that use, in that system, a Samsung 860 EVO or Crucial MX500 m.2, in whatever size meets your budget and space requirement.

The 1TB MX500 is ~$130USD currently.

Would you also recommend the Corsair Force MP300? It only uses 2 PCIe lanes and its performance looks pretty good. Plus, I can get the 480GB one for about $75.

 

[USAFRet]

Would you also recommend the Corsair Force MP300? It only uses 2 PCIe lanes and its performance looks pretty good. Plus, I can get the 480GB one for about $75.

For that price, it's not a terrible option.

 

[chrisgeo]

For that price, it's not a terrible option.

Got it, thanks a lot!