Cheapest M.2 drive?

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Why are you looking M.2?

The reason that question matters is because there are two M.2 types: SATA M.2 drives - which are just SATA drives in an M.2 form factor. They perform basically identically to the sames drives in the more standard 2.5" SATA form factor.
While there are a couple of slightly cheaper options, the 850 EVO is the best bet here, unfortunately it's stupidly priced on Newegg.CA, but here's an alternative: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=33991110825

The other M.2 Drives are PCIe drives (usually NVMe). They tend to be higher performing but require a PCIe compatible M.2 Slot, and most will run better in a PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slot - which not all motheboards actually have (check the detailed specs).
The Intel 600P...
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Why m.2 specifically?
The "m.2" designation is just the port type. There are both SATA drives and PCI-e drives with the m.2 interface.

A SATA m.2 is exactly the same speed as a 2.5" SATA III drive.
Also, your motherboard plays a role in this.
 
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rhysiam

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Mar 24, 2013
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Why are you looking M.2?

The reason that question matters is because there are two M.2 types: SATA M.2 drives - which are just SATA drives in an M.2 form factor. They perform basically identically to the sames drives in the more standard 2.5" SATA form factor.
While there are a couple of slightly cheaper options, the 850 EVO is the best bet here, unfortunately it's stupidly priced on Newegg.CA, but here's an alternative: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=33991110825

The other M.2 Drives are PCIe drives (usually NVMe). They tend to be higher performing but require a PCIe compatible M.2 Slot, and most will run better in a PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slot - which not all motheboards actually have (check the detailed specs).
The Intel 600P isn't a great NVMe drive, but it's okay, and is still faster than the EVO under most workloads, though it is more expensive (all NVMe drives are): http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12201134674
 
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Deniedstingray

Deniedstingray

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Sorry to be Vague, idk S*** about M.2 tbh. The kind that looks like a short stick of RAM lol.

My board is a Z97A Gaming 6
It has a slot for the kind im thinking of. https://www.google.ca/search?q=z97a+gaming+6&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj95dLx9_fSAhUW52MKHdVACbAQ_AUICCgB&biw=1920&bih=928#imgrc=UJzywgn_Jm-MzM:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=z97a+gaming+6&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj95dLx9_fSAhUW52MKHdVACbAQ_AUICCgB&biw=1920&bih=928#imgrc=0uXdjAUeaS9iWM:

I want this kind because my case has very little room for drives and i want to try and switch it up a bit.

 
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Deniedstingray

Deniedstingray

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I forgot that the cheaper options are all the typical green pcb colour. Damn.

 
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rhysiam

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I just had a look at your motherboard, your M.2 slot only supports PCIe 2.0 with 2 lanes, so there would be very little reason to invest in a high end drive for that slower M.2 slot.

It does support SATA M.2 drives though, so go with one of those. The 850 EVO is an excellent drive. There would be very few situations where you could pick the 850 EVO from a more expensive NVMe drive in a side by side comparison. The M.2 version is also a few dollars cheaper than the standard 2.5" drive, so no reason not to go with that.

If you're really bothered by the green PCB, you could get the M.2 MX300, also a solid drive, but has a blue PCB. It's actually a little slower than the EVO and a few dollars more right now, but it has a slightly larger capacity: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01IAGSDJ0/?tag=pcp0f-20

Get one of those for sure. There's really not a lot of point spending more money than that.
 
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Deniedstingray

Deniedstingray

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Which specs should i be looking for to find out if my board supports it?

 
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rhysiam

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Here's the board: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z97-GAMING-5.html#hero-specification
If you look at specifications and switch to "detail" with the button near the top...
You can see that under slots it says:
1 x M.2 Key M Socket supports type 2280/2260/2242 storage devices in both PCIE Gen2 x2 & SATA mode
Click to expand...

The PCIe Gen 2 x2 means it doesn't really have the bandwidth for high end NVMe drives, which are mostly all PCIe 3.0 x4.

The fact that it supports SATA is really all you need to know.

Technically there are different M.2 drive "lengths". If you want to know the first two digits are the width in milimetres (mostly 22), while the last 2-3 digits are the length in millimetres, so the standard 2280 drives are 22 millimetres wide by 80 millimetres long. As far as I know all M.2 SSDs are 2280, and just about every motherboard slot designed for SSDs will support a 2280 drive.
TL DR - it supports SATA, so any SATA drive should work.
 
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