M.2 10gb/s vs Sata3

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SBuckwheat

SBuckwheat

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Aug 12, 2014
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The motherboard I bought has a M.2 slot (not PCI but Sata).
I know the theoretical max speed is 10gb/s. But when at look at those M.2 ssd available at newegg, the specs says 6gb/s. Why the difference?

Also is it worth it to buy a M.2 ssd instead of a regular 6gb/s SSD?

Thanks!!
 
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JohnnyLucky
Considering the current situation it might be a good idea to wait and see what motherboard and ssd manufacturers come up with. It may be a year or two before things sort themselves out.

I normally recommend Samsung ssd's. They perform exceptionally well and have a proven track record. The Samsung 840 EVO is the number one best selling ssd in the world. The 850 Pro is the brand new flagship ssd. Samsung has already announced they will be releasing an 850 EVO in the near future. Crucial, SanDisk, and Intel are also worth considering.

I maintain the ssd database listed in a sticky at the very top of this forum section. Here is the link:

http://www.johnnylucky.org/data-storage/ssd-database.html

Scroll down to the Samsung section or any...
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Dblkk

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As of this very moment in time. There isn't a SSD with fast enough speeds to fully saturate a sata3 connection. Meaning, nothing out now, is being limited by sata3.

To be future proof, kind of, you could go m.2. But sata ssd's are very much so cheaper and larger. Plus theres no m.2 option that's faster than a sata3 option, so connection difference itself is null void right now, as they're all 400mbps-550mbps. So with the best, I believe samusng 850 pro, you could buy 2.5 sata drive, and have same speeds as m.2 (if they offered a m.2 850 pro).
 
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JohnnyLucky

JohnnyLucky

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There is a bit of a problem with motherboard manufacturers and the new SATA 3.2 standard. Everything is brand new and requires an adjustment period. The new 3.2 standard includes new provisions for PCIe ssd's. There are two interfaces for PCIe ssds - The traditional PCIe ssd and the newer M.2 NGFF ssd. Both are PCIe ssd's. Both use PCIe 3.0 or PCIe 2.0 channels / lanes to transmit and receive data instead of SATA.

If we go back two years ago the concept was that desktop pc's could use a traditional PCIe ssd mounted on a PCB board which is installed in a motherboard's PCIe slot. The M.2 NGFF interface was designed for smaller PCIe ssd's which could fit in small mobile pc's. That makes sense but motherboard manufacturers did something different. Instead of adding a PCIe slot in a desktop motherboard they installed an M.2 header/connector. It was definitely cheaper than adding another PCIe slot for ssd's. That doesn't seem like a problem. Users with desktop pc's could install an M.2 NGFF ssd instead of a traditional PCIe ssd.

Unfortunately there is another problem. The number of PCIe channels / lanes available for M.2 ssd's was limited to just 2 channels - PCIe 2.0 x2. In addition, many of the new motherboards disabled one of the regular PCIe slots when an M.2 ssd was installed.

The situation became worse when Samsung introduced the XP941 M.2 NGFF ssd. It uses 4 channels / lanes. As of the end of last month there was only one desktop motherboard with an M.2 header that could properly support the ssd. All others required the purchase of a PCIe adapter card.

It is just a matter of time before motherboard manufacturers catch up but my patience is wearing thin.
 
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SBuckwheat

SBuckwheat

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So right now, I should stick to ssd. A good ssd like Samsung 850 pro would be a good choice for the price right? Anyway at this point anything would be better than having your OS running on a 7200rpm HDD I suppose.
 
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JohnnyLucky

JohnnyLucky

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May 30, 2007
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Considering the current situation it might be a good idea to wait and see what motherboard and ssd manufacturers come up with. It may be a year or two before things sort themselves out.

I normally recommend Samsung ssd's. They perform exceptionally well and have a proven track record. The Samsung 840 EVO is the number one best selling ssd in the world. The 850 Pro is the brand new flagship ssd. Samsung has already announced they will be releasing an 850 EVO in the near future. Crucial, SanDisk, and Intel are also worth considering.

I maintain the ssd database listed in a sticky at the very top of this forum section. Here is the link:

http://www.johnnylucky.org/data-storage/ssd-database.html

Scroll down to the Samsung section or any other brand you are interested in and follow the links to the technical reviews.
 
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Platerpus7

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Just look at the speed differences. The M.2 "Samsung" speed is much faster in spec compared to a regular SSD. M.2 is lightning, and that is compared to the already lightning SSD.
I just finished building a PC using an Asus x99 Deluxe board and a 6 core i7 5930 CPU.
First I was using a regular Samsung SSD for a week, and was getting read speeds of over 500 MB/s
Yesterday my samsung M.2 came and I have to say that it was noticeably faster without even testing the disk speed. The computer went from booting in 9 seconds to less than 5 lol. I get read speeds well over 800 MB/s now. If you can afford it, and your computer is powerful enough, get an M.2. If you're on an older chipset I would say don't bother with M.2, but if you are on an x99 chipset, I would say go for it and take advantage of the best speeds possible. Game load times are noticeably faster too. But sticking with a regular SSD certainly is not going to be the end of the world.
 
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jdj9

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Hello! I have a z97 mobo, the Asus maximus vii Ranger and i was considering upgrading from my evo ssd to m.2 samsung xp941 pcie. Do you believe i could reach same speeds like you? If not, why? How does the newer x99 chipset affects the speed performance of the m.2 compared to the z97?
 
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Rat123

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what is a "Platerpus"?
 
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