Difference between 2 M.2 SSDs

AyeAyeAhoy! · 29 Sep 2016 at 16:29

Hi there,

So I'm looking into building a rather large machine for work, and was looking at the 1tb M.2 SSDs, specifically the Samsung SM961 and the Samsung PM961 (links below).

Basically, there's an £80 difference between them, and I was just wondering what that's for? One has slightly higher Read and Write speeds, but not exceptionally, and one has higher IOPS... but does that really make such a difference?

Secondly, I'm looking to put one of these into a Supermicro MBD-X10DAI-O motherboard, and whilst I have been adcived that the more expensive one is compatible, I don't know about the cheaper one.

So, questions are;

Is the more expensive one worth it?
Is the cheaper one compatible with the Supermicro MBD-X10DAI-O?

Really appreciate the help, have never used an M.2 SSD before!

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sams...3.0-x-4-nvme-solid-state-drive-hd-226-sa.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sams...3.0-x-4-nvme-solid-state-drive-hd-22f-sa.html

Padraig · 29 Sep 2016 at 20:41

Ones higher performance and of a higher grade you would only need the more expensive one for a workstation scenario.

AyeAyeAhoy! · 29 Sep 2016 at 20:58

Padraig said:
Ones higher performance and of a higher grade you would only need the more expensive one for a workstation scenario.

Hi there,

Thanks, this is for a workstation, but I'm still not really sure if the price is justified for the extra performance. Doesn't seem to me like you would notice the increase

Holst1981 · 29 Sep 2016 at 21:20

doug_1986 said:
Hi there,

Thanks, this is for a workstation, but I'm still not really sure if the price is justified for the extra performance. Doesn't seem to me like you would notice the increase

Only if your doing something very intensive on the hdd.

I would save the £80

Padraig · 29 Sep 2016 at 21:34

Yeah you probably will not in most tasks other than those bottle necked by storage speed so maybe very very intense video playback. The cheaper drive should be fine all NVME drives follow the same standard so i would assume it would be compatible if in doubt maybe email a supermicro person or the support person im sure it will be fine though.

AyeAyeAhoy! · 29 Sep 2016 at 22:00

Alright fab, thanks chaps.

This would be going in a video encoding machine, but all the video will be located either on an internal RAID0, a USB 3 drive or a thunderbolt drive, so this SSD will only be for the OS and apps. Think I'll stick to the cheaper one.

Thank you!