[SOLVED] What size SSD should/can I buy?

[dannywil325]

So I want to buy an SSD as I only have an HDD, and I know that a 2.5'' size would fit, but I saw that using SATA is much slower than PCI/E slot ones, or an M.2, which I don't completely understand.

https://download.asrock.com/Manual/B450M Pro4.pdf

I use a B450M Pro 4 Mobo, and I wanted to know if I am able to buy an SSD that isn't a 2.5'' and if anyone has any recommendations as to what SSD to get.

The main reason wanting an SSD is for faster loading time on my OS, as well as gaming. I saw that around 500GB is what u want minimum for games, if anyone is able to recommend at all.

 

[Eximo]

Yes, you have an M.2 slot that supports PCIe NVMe drives.

Well, no minimum for games, just that some modern games are quite large and if you wanted more than a few, yes, 500GB is reasonable, but really just depends on how much you want to spend. This will only effect load times, not any other game performance.


500GB

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Vw...-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-asx6000pnp-512gt-c

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zw...2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-ssdpeknw512g8x1

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/P4ZFf7/samsung-970-evo-500gb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-mz-v7e500bw

1TB

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9n...1tb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-ssdpeknw010t8x1

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zR3H99/adata-sx8200-1-tb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-asx8200pnp-1tt-c

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JLdxFT/samsung-970-evo-10tb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-mz-v7e1t0baw


Also Gen 4 PCIe, but no real reason to pay for that.

 

[Dj0gany]

Well basically:
Between SATA III and M.2 SSD, there isnt much of a noticable difference for normal usage.
When i say normal usage i mean only booting, and operating on your system like opening files and such.
So for a normal usage that most of the people do on their pc's, a SATA III SSD is completely fine, as they dont stress out the storage drivers much to make a big difference between SATA and M.2.
Now, just because there isnt a big difference between the two, that isnt a reason not to go with a M.2 if your motherboard supports it, since there isnt that big of a price difference.
Your motherboard support's M.2 SSD's, so grabbing something like this would skyrocket your operating speeds.
DO NOT expect higher FPS, only faster game loading.
https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-blue-500gb/p/N82E16820250091?Item=N82E16820250091

 

[punkncat]

From your manufacturers webpage for your listed mobo:

"

• 4 SATA3, 1 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4), 1 M.2 (SATA3)

"


An M.2 NVME drive would be your fastest solution. I would recommend nothing less than 1TB if you are going to use as OS and game drive. If you are willing to wait for game loads, a decent budget option is to buy a smaller "SSD" for OS and then use the HDD for games and storage.

 

[punkncat]

Just as a quick FYI on SSD size for gaming.

CB77 is well over 65GB on disk and has a HUGE update forthcoming.

BFV is nearly 100GB by itself.

These two examples are NOT the largest games I have. If you opted to go 500GB as OS and gaming you might find yourself full after 4-5 games along with no more room for OS overhead and update.

 

[USAFRet]

What is your budget for this drive?

SATA III is 'slower', but not THAT much slower.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YoRKQy-UO4

 

[punkncat]

What is your budget for this drive?

SATA III is 'slower', but not THAT much slower.

Yeah, for the moment I see PCI 4 as a marketing gimmick with very little real world value to the average user. I absolutely see it coming in to it's own, particularly another gen or two down the line for graphics cards if they continue this upwards performance and bandwidth trend. But for today, it's just another one of those "it's faster" wallet sucks.

 

[dannywil325]

Yes, you have an M.2 slot that supports PCIe NVMe drives.

Well, no minimum for games, just that some modern games are quite large and if you wanted more than a few, yes, 500GB is reasonable, but really just depends on how much you want to spend. This will only effect load times, not any other game performance.


500GB

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Vw...-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-asx6000pnp-512gt-c

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zw...2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-ssdpeknw512g8x1

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/P4ZFf7/samsung-970-evo-500gb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-mz-v7e500bw

1TB

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9n...1tb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-ssdpeknw010t8x1

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zR3H99/adata-sx8200-1-tb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-asx8200pnp-1tt-c

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JLdxFT/samsung-970-evo-10tb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-mz-v7e1t0baw


Also Gen 4 PCIe, but no real reason to pay for that.

Thank you very much for the help and listings.

I'm currently looking at the XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB and the 970 EVO 500GB, and comparing them on userbenchmark, naturally the XPG has double the storage, but it also seems like the 970 is much faster according to it.

https://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Compa...g-970-Evo-NVMe-PCIe-M2-500GB/m638791vsm493995

When it comes to games, I don't mind being careful and only having 3-5 games on it at a time, but obviously it would be a bit of a pain to manage. But would the load times be that much different between the 2 SSD's to give up on half the storage?

 

[geofelt]

M.2 is a size format, not a speed indicator.

The nice thing about m.2 is that you do not need data or power cables, it just plugs into a motherboard socket.
m.2 can come in both sata and pcie flavors.
Your motherboard can accommodate either.
The value of pcie is faster sequential performance, some 5x better than sata.
But, don't get all excited about that. Most of what a pc does is small random i/o and that is some 40x faster than a HDD.
Most work is done one thing at a timeQD1. Benchmarks like to show QD32 numbers which are impressive.
If budget is no issue, go ahead and buy a pcie m.2 ssd. Do not spend on a pcie4 capable ssd since you do not have that capability.
If you have an athlon processor, the capability is half.

A sata 2.5" ssd is easy to mount. there are cheap adapters to let you mount where a normal 3.5" HDD mounts. Or you can even lay it on the bottom of a case, duct tape it or screw it in.

My go to brands are Samsung or Intel.
They make their own controllers and nand chips and can control quality better.
I like samsung particularly for their windows C drive migration utility.
It will copy the used portion of your HDD C drive to their unit.
Here is a link to the manual and app:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com