[SOLVED] Will a PCIE 4.0 m.2 drive max out PCIE 3.0 speeds?

[flyingthroughspace]

I need another hard drive. My motherboard only supports PCIE 3.0. With the Corsair MP600 being not very much more than the Samsung 970 EVO at the same storage space, I don't see a reason not to future proof as best I can. Will a PCIE 4.0 max out a PCIE slot or does it mainly depend on the controller?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Are you buying two of them, and transferring large single sequential files? Because if not, then you're not going to come anywhere near the limits of the PCIe 3.0 bus regardless of whether you are using a 3.0 or 4.0 drive. For standard, random operations, you will never even come close to maxing out the bus. What is the use case for this drive? Gaming? Productivity? Home theater applications? Scientific? Server?

If this is a gaming or pretty standard home use machine, just get any standard PCIe 3.0 NVME M.2 drive from Samsung, Crucial, Intel, WD or Sandisk. When it comes to random operations they are all going to offer pretty similar performance. There are some variances between drives but none of them is going to do what you are concerned about so I'm highly skeptical that the extra cost is justifiable. If the price is really close, then maybe.

 

[flyingthroughspace]

That's very helpful. I definitely won't be doing the first question. It's mainly a gaming machine with some moderate photo/video editing, but everything pretty much stays on the same drive. The cost is $20 more than the 970 EVO which is why I'm considering it, although I do understand what you mean when you say I'll never come close to maxing either out. I guess I should look around a little more and see what other options I have.

 

[logainofhades]

If this is just for gaming, you do not need that fast of a drive. Games do not take advantage of those types of speeds. An Intel 660p, or Crucial P1, is plenty for your use case.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Even a standard SATA SSD, would be plenty, in terms of any advantage you might see for gaming or normal usage.

 

[mdd1963]

As Intel's 660P is often less expensive than even the cost of an MX500, it's always a good choice whenever a new build has an M.2 NVME slot....

 

[Darkbreeze]

Agreed. Price can definitely be the determining factor. If any flavor of M.2 drive, whether SATA or PCI, is less expensive than a comparably sized standard SATA SSD, it probably might make sense. It definitely makes sense if a much faster NVME M.2 drive of the same size is cheaper.

 

[logainofhades]

I always push the 660p, Crucial P1, and sometimes the faster Sabarent Rocket, depending on price. For a new build, unless it is for an ultra low budget rig, I don't recommend 2.5" drives anymore. For builds, without an available M.2 slot, or for a laptop that needs extra storage, like say my Acer Predator Helios 300, then my go to is typically the MX500. My acer came with a 256gb M.2, and had the space for a 2.5" drive, so I added a 1tb MX500 to it.