Is the M.2 slot on an MSI 170ZA Tomahawk AC board faster than SATA?

[Lawyerson]

I'm considering buying a Samsung 950 PRO M.2 drive but I've heard that on a lot of boards the M.2 slot is really just another SATA interface. How can I tell which speeds my MSI 170ZA motherboard supports? If it doesn't go over 6Gb/s anyway, is there any advantage to buying an M.2 SSD over a standard 2.5" one?

 

[n0ns3ns3]

Yes. it's faster when used with PCIe/NVMe disks.
The advantages are: Less space required and no cables.
In addition, when using NVMe disk it can be much faster.

 

[NocturnalPing]

n0ns3ns3 hit the nail on the head - Faster speeds, less space required.

The M.2 will have dramatically faster speeds capping out at 32Gbps compared to sata which caps at 6Gbps. check the graph in this pic out - http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2015/09/pcie-versus-sata-100613245-orig.jpg

I know on my MSI z170 M5, if I utiize my M.2 slots, I lose some of my SATA ports so I would check with your manufacturers specs to make sure of the nitty gritty details.

 

[rgd1101]

1)read the spec on your mobo

2)read the spec on the ssd

 

[Lawyerson]

Thanks for the replies! Knowing what to look for in the specs (PCIe 4x/NVMe), I was able to deduce that this board does indeed support the higher speeds that this drive is capable of.