What's faster: M2 SSD or 2 SSDs in RAID0?

Solution
IF you mount the M.2 ssd on a M.2 to PCI adaptor expansion card ( http://www.addonics.com/products/ad2m2s-px4.php ) , you not only don't loose those two sata ports, but you get full speed from the M.2 SSD - most are PCI 2.0 x 4, and the M.2 slot is only "x2" (ie two lanes) - using the adaptor card gives you full four lanes and full speed on the M.2 SSD, plus keeping the two sata ports.

That's what i did with my XP941. Speeds went from 770MB/s read, 560MB/s write in the M.2 socket to 1088MB/s read, 878MB/s write in the PCI 2.0 x4 expansion slot. Some of the az97 mother boards (asus Maximus VII Gene) have a PCI x 4 slot for the M.2, but most boards do not, right now. But even the ones that have a "x4" M.2 socket, share bandwidth with...
research or google "installing samsung xp941 as boot or OS drive" and you'll know what you're getting into

but more direct to your question, here's a review on that very topic http://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews/samsung-xp941-m-2-pcie-ssds-raid-0-worlds-smallest-ssd-combination-hits-2gbs/

but back to my first suggestion, you might want to consider the kingston HyperX Predator in Raid 0

http://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews/kingston-hyperx-predator-m-2-pcie-ssds-in-raid-0-you-thought-one-was-fast/

even one kingston hyperx predator would be a smarter move - research on SSD review the number for a single hyperx predator

reason i suggest the kingston unit, it has an oprom pre-installed which makes it much easier to install as a boot drive, the xp941 does not, plus it doesn't come with a warranty - it's sold only as an OEM unit to computer mfgrs, which samsung assigns warranty svc responsibly to. Units available for sale are sold as "replacement" parts. Check the warranty for the xp941 newegg's site - none described and only a "replacement policy" if it proves bad in the first 30 days

the kingston is sold as a "retail" unit, so pre-installed oprom (boot files) and a warranty
 
i'm pretty sure The SSD Review blog did a review on that set up, and iirc, so did Legit Reviews http://www.legitreviews.com/storage

do a search at both forums and see,

and take a look at the samsung sm951 (AHCI version) review at Legit Reviews - 2250MB/s read, 1575MB/s write - actually exceeds the intel 750 in write by about 25%, and outperforms it by 38% in video editing - and that's the AHCI version - wait till the NVMe version hits in july
 

Bill_VA1

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Sep 9, 2010
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Ralph, no comparisons of the two on either site that I could find.

Paul, NVme looks good, thanks. However, between one M.2 and two SATA3 SSDs in RAID0, which is faster?
 
IF you mount the M.2 ssd on a M.2 to PCI adaptor expansion card ( http://www.addonics.com/products/ad2m2s-px4.php ) , you not only don't loose those two sata ports, but you get full speed from the M.2 SSD - most are PCI 2.0 x 4, and the M.2 slot is only "x2" (ie two lanes) - using the adaptor card gives you full four lanes and full speed on the M.2 SSD, plus keeping the two sata ports.

That's what i did with my XP941. Speeds went from 770MB/s read, 560MB/s write in the M.2 socket to 1088MB/s read, 878MB/s write in the PCI 2.0 x4 expansion slot. Some of the az97 mother boards (asus Maximus VII Gene) have a PCI x 4 slot for the M.2, but most boards do not, right now. But even the ones that have a "x4" M.2 socket, share bandwidth with either sata ports or PCI (mini or PCI express slots.

The SM951 is PCI 3.0 so that ssd is going to require a higher end board to get advantage of it's full potential, and the NVMe version even more so.

 
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