What are M.2 SSDs?

[TheOnePhoenix]

I've been seeing these things around a lot and I also have an M.2 slot on my motherboard, I looked for some m.2 SSDs and found they are super expensive, a 16gb one for $75 AUD?! I understand they are ultra fast, but what do you put in them? Do you install windows on to it? Or go you install games on it? How do they work?

 

[R_1]

NVME m2 drives are crazy fast. make sure you get a Non Volatile Memory Express (NVME) SSD for the speed.
just because the drive has an m2 interface does not mean that it is a fast NVME drive. SATA drive are also available with m2 and offer NO speed boost over an SATA SSD.

SATA SSD's rarely if ever fill the 2.5 inch enclosure they come in. SSD's are tiny, and m2 is a form factor first adopted in laptops for space savings (no big 2.5 inch enclosure)

install windows on it for a really fast boot time, games installed to it will load fast. what do you need fastest access to? that is what you want on the NVME m2 SSD.
they work just like a regular SSD but they have a much wider interface with the system. instead of communicating through a drinking straw (SATA SSD), you have a 2 inch pipe (NVME M2).

 

[13thmonkey]

I think 16Gb would be optane, there should be many more at comparable pricing to sata.

 

[Sakkura]

M.2 is just a connector. It can enable different kinds of connections. For SSDs, that can be either the same old SATA connection we've been using in the past, with exactly the same speed, or it can be PCIe, which allows for much higher performance.

The PCIe-based M.2 SSDs can also use the more modern storage protocol NVMe, which further aids performance.

This is why NVMe M.2 SSDs are usually a lot more expensive than SATA SSDs (whether in classic 2.5" or M.2 form).

 

[TheOnePhoenix]

I understand that they are fast and expensive and all, but they are so small, what are you meant to put in a 16gb ssd?

 

[exroofer]

Works the same as a normal ssd. I got a 500 Gb 960 Evo for my new Ryzen build.
Approximately 7 or 8 times faster read speeds, 4 or 5 times higher write speeds than my 850 Evo regular ssd.'
They use the PCIe lanes to achieve this. Just like your graphics card, The mobo maker will have hard wired a 4x PCIe connection to the M2 slot. The use of PCIe lanes to support ultra fast drives is one reason the PCIe lanes or lack thereof on the new X299 platform is something people are talking about on the tech channels.
I plan on using mine as a boot drive, and installing my 4 or 5 most played games on it.
My 840 Evo 500Gb that I currently have is almost 3 years old, so it will be repurposed as a secondary drive, for less played games, and ones not sensitive to loading times.

With these becoming more prevalent, having a normal SSD is easily possible even on budget builds, and the M2 NvMe ssd's for higher end builds.

There are also M2 slot SATA ssd's I do not know pricing on these, but since they use the SATA 6 connection they are only "about" as fast as a normal SSD.

You would need to look at the exact spec of your motherboard to know if the M2 slot on yours is NvMe or SATA.

* The above is a quick and dirty explanation for the OP.
Those with superior knowledge of this subject are encouraged to add or correct as needed


I believe the other fellow is right about the 16GB module you saw being an Optane memory module.
Optane is an Intel proprietary memory, meaning it can only be used on very specific motherboards and cpu'd.
According to benchmarks I have seen, it works best as a super cache drive for regular platter drives.
I do not think it is intended to be used as a boot drive in the way you mean. Although this "may" be possible.

Optane greatly speeds up the performance of systems with normal platter drives. The gain when paired with a decent SSD is not nearly as noticeable. Again, that info is from early benchmarks and reviews I read.
The tech is pretty interesting, and may lead to some idiotlicly fast main drives in a few years.

 

[Sakkura]

I think 16Gb would be optane, there should be many more at comparable pricing to sata.

Missed that at first glance.

I understand that they are fast and expensive and all, but they are so small, what are you meant to put in a 16gb ssd?

The 16GB drive is the new Intel Optane stuff, as noted above. It's meant to be used as a cache for a much larger storage drive, particularly a hard drive. It is indeed too small to be useful as a separate storage drive.

 

[Rexper]

NVME m2 drives are crazy fast. make sure you get a Non Volatile Memory Express (NVME) SSD for the speed.
just because the drive has an m2 interface does not mean that it is a fast NVME drive. SATA drive are also available with m2 and offer NO speed boost over an SATA SSD.

SATA SSD's rarely if ever fill the 2.5 inch enclosure they come in. SSD's are tiny, and m2 is a form factor first adopted in laptops for space savings (no big 2.5 inch enclosure)

install windows on it for a really fast boot time, games installed to it will load fast. what do you need fastest access to? that is what you want on the NVME m2 SSD.
they work just like a regular SSD but they have a much wider interface with the system. instead of communicating through a drinking straw (SATA SSD), you have a 2 inch pipe (NVME M2).

Also, just because a drive is using the NVMe protocol paired with a PCIe interface, does not mean it withholds mythical speeds as you're suggesting. It comes down to several more factors, for example the NAND flash type. In some cases, a decent, better priced AHCI Sata SSD performs similarly/ better than a poor NVMe SSD, likely using TLC NAND Flash.