[SOLVED] SSD for older MB?

[Whirlingdervish]

Hello everyone,

I am researching the choice between a SATA 3 SSD or an M.2 drive for an eight-year-old Gigabyte motherboard.

I will be using the computer mostly for audio and video editing, and I also have windows 10 loaded currently on a Crucial MX 500.

The MB does not have an M.2 slot, so I would need to use a converter piece to mount that drive

i’ve tried to research the advantages or disadvantages with each drive, but I am unaware of what difficulties might arise by using an M.2 through a converter into an open PCI x 16 slot.

What should I be considering regarding comparing these two drives? Does it make any sense to try to convert an M.2 drive in this manner? Are there any frequency issues, or conversion issues that will prevent this kind of drive for performing at its maximum on an older board?

I am not hugely psyched about the thought of making this new drive a boot drive, since I already have the MX 500 up and running, unless you really think it would be worthwhile to do a fresh windows 10 install on the new Drive, which would be somewhat painstaking considering the software I already have loaded.

Thoughts and ideas? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[jay32267]

So being you are already running the MX500....you intend this new drive to be a second drive?
.....for what use?

 

[SkyNetRising]

What should I be considering regarding comparing these two drives? Does it make any sense to try to convert an M.2 drive in this manner? Are there any frequency issues, or conversion issues that will prevent this kind of drive for performing at its maximum on an older board?

Motherboard model name?
It most likely is limited to PCIE 2.0.

Modern nvme M.2 drives use PCIE 3.0, so performance on your pc will be halved.
Lets take 970 evo for example - normally it can reach ~3000-3500mb/s in sequential reads (2500mb/s on seq writes).
On your pc it will be ~1500mb/s reads (1200mb/s writes).

Video/audio editing is mostly sequential reads/writes. So yes, nvme ssd would be beneficial in reducing read/write times.

Sata SSDs usually top out at ~500mb/s.

Making nvme drive - a boot drive? Nah. Forget about it.
1st - your motherboard most likely doesn't support booting from pcie device.
2nd - benefits from it are almost nonexistent (if you have sata SSD already).

 

[Whirlingdervish]

It’s a GB GA-x58a UD3r v2

You are correct. It runs PCI 2.0

Do you anticipate any compatibility problems with my motherboard recognizing an m.2 drive if I use it through one of the PCI converter pieces? I have people say that this drive does not have a heat sink, and can produce a fair amount of heat, so I have seen converter’s that have heat sinks built-in. Is that what I should be shooting for? I think they run around $15.

I have also read somewhere that using two PCI slots can mess with something. Anything need to be concerned with? Slot 1 vs slot 2?

Last question… I am considering either the Crucial or the Samsung… Most people seem to prefer the Samsung… Any reasons for one over the other?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Compatibility problems? Should not be any (other than inability to boot from pcie device).
Using certain PCIE slots on your motherboard will switch top 2 PCIE slots from x16 operation mode to x8 operation mode. If you have high end graphics card installed, then you'd probably not want for this to happen. Read user manual of your motherboard, to determine optimal slots to use.

About SSD manufacturers ... Crucial is fine. Samsung is top dog in SSD space. So Samsung SSDs usually come at some price premium.
Note - higher capacity models usually are faster than lower capacity models.