Which M.2

KUSREKCOLCREVO

KUSREKCOLCREVO

KUSREKCOLCREVO

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18 Jan 2012
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45
Hi,

Apologies for not getting off my hoop and spending the time to fully understand the whole nvme stuff and lanes etc but I am contemplating buying a SanDisk x400 m.2 256gig for my motherboard Asus z97 pro gamer,

Am I right I only have x2 pcie speed, if i can spend a whole lot less and get same read speed then I will prefer that..

Any help would be much appreciated

Cheers

Lee
 
Does anyone know the best read speeds from pcie nvme x2 that Kingston is 1,500 read speed..

If this is most I am going to achieve then I will look no further,

Thanks for your help, cheers
 
I think the actual throughput is 2000MB/s but not sure if that's split between send and receive. It's the right ballpark though and it's splitting hairs at that point. Are you actually planning on transferring tens of gigabyte files constantly? Other factors like random IOPS matter a lot too if it's a system drive.
 
KUSREKCOLCREVO said:
Does anyone know the best read speeds from pcie nvme x2 that Kingston is 1,500 read speed..

If this is most I am going to achieve then I will look no further,

Thanks for your help, cheers
Click to expand...

That's sounds about right - as you get about double that on a Samsung 960 evo - which is PCIE x4, so probably about as good as your going to get on a x2 link
 
Just reading this and it kind of making more sense..

*1: M.2 Socket 3 shares bandwidth with PCIEX1_1 and PCIEX1_2 (in PCIE mode) & SATA6G_4 (in SATA mode), and supports M Key and type 2260/2280 storage devices. *2: These functions will work depending on the CPU installed.

..When it refers to pciex1_2 is this where I will have my graphics card plugged in so am installing lanes from that to make the ssd run faster..

Board is z97 pro gamer, just need case and ssd. Building a ok ish gaming pc for me lads wants to play Fornightly
 
Let's re-parse that with more readable capitalisation.

PCIe x1 is a single-lane slot (the little short ones with a notched bit on the card, and matching tab).

So PCIe x1_1 and PCIe x1_2 are your first couple of small PCIe slots. I'm assuming your graphics card isn't occupying these slots as almost all cards have full-length x16 connectors.
 
Get it now, thanks for clarifying..

So using the on-board m.2 slot I will only get 1500 read but plugging in a m.2 card to the pcie port I will get 3200.

Whichever makes games play faster, and overall pc performance is fastest it can be..
 
You're really pushing at negligible differences. Standard SATA SSDs are bloody fast, and only specialist applications will benefit from going NVMe and to multiple PCIe lanes. For reference, the best/fastest SATA drives a year or two ago were giving 500MB/s and it's really better than most people need.

The card linked above is PCIe x4 so won't fit in a x1 slot - check your motherboard, a Z97 likely has a second full length slot.
 
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Ok so now am still confused,

If I buy a Kingston a1000 and fit direct to mothboard will I still achieve 1500 read as it describes with my motherboard.. this is the only component I could get wrong so really need to make sure am buy one that's compatible.

Appreciate all your help,

Cheers

Lee
 
KUSREKCOLCREVO said:
Get it now, thanks for clarifying..

So using the on-board m.2 slot I will only get 1500 read but plugging in a m.2 card to the pcie port I will get 3200.

Whichever makes games play faster, and overall pc performance is fastest it can be..
Click to expand...
Yep. I have done exactly that. Provided you have a spare graphics card slot you can plug the adapter in . Just plug it in the highest free socket. You may not get exactly 3200in an older board but you should get over 3000.
 
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Sorry to harp on like a broken record player but I am in a bit of a dilemma now, cant make up my mind..

I have 3 options

1. Samsung Evo 860 Sata
2. Kingston A1000 M.2
3. PCIE adapter + NVME SSD

This is my build so far..

Asus Z97 Pro Gamer
i5 4679k
Corsair Hydro H55 120
Corsair Vengeance LP 1 X 8 Gig
Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2 Gig
Lian Li PC-X510
Corsair CX650M 650W


Which option will make games play better? And would any of these hard drives options be noticeably different?

Cheers for any advice

Lee
 
The adapter + a x4 NVME drive will perform the best
The Kingston A1000 will come second
The 860 Evo will come third

Will you be able to notice the difference between them? If just gaming probably not - there will be a slight difference but it will be small, if using lots of VMs or doing a lot of disk intensive work then yes you will notice
 
Lucky mentions something about the adapter card not fitting in my small PCIE slot on my motherboard and something about it might need a full length slot, the one next to the small one will be used for my graphics card..
 
KUSREKCOLCREVO said:
Sorry to harp on like a broken record player but I am in a bit of a dilemma now, cant make up my mind..

I have 3 options

1. Samsung Evo 860 Sata
2. Kingston A1000 M.2
3. PCIE adapter + NVME SSD

This is my build so far..

Asus Z97 Pro Gamer
i5 4679k
Corsair Hydro H55 120
Corsair Vengeance LP 1 X 8 Gig
Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2 Gig
Lian Li PC-X510
Corsair CX650M 650W


Which option will make games play better? And would any of these hard drives options be noticeably different?

Cheers for any advice

Lee
Click to expand...

The read/write speeds won't really make much of a difference for a gaming pc. I would just stick with a regular SATA SSD such as the Samsung 850/860 EVO. The TeamGroup SSD's on here are good value as well.


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £58.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​
 
KUSREKCOLCREVO said:
Which option will make games play better? And would any of these hard drives options be noticeably different?
Click to expand...

The answer to both your questions is no.
Save your money to put towards a better graphics card, and for now get the cheapest SATA SSD that is in the size you require, if you shop around you can find £49 for a 250GB Western Digital.

Or just buy.
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £58.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)​
​
 
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Journey said:
The answer to both your questions is no.
Save your money to put towards a better graphics card, and for now get the cheapest SATA SSD that is in the size you require, if you shop around you can find £49 for a 250GB Western Digital.

Or just buy.
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £58.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​
Click to expand...
Totally agree - push that budget towards your gaming parts. Any decent SATA SSD is plenty fast enough for gaming, whereas an extra £50 on graphics card will make a massive difference to quality and framerate. Even better if you can put more on and go for, say, a GTX 970. That CPU is also really powerful, so worth pairing with a beefier GPU. Do you need the K series for overclocking? You could save cash on a non-K CPU and it'd still be plenty powerful.

Worth going for more RAM too
 
KUSREKCOLCREVO said:
Sorry to harp on like a broken record player but I am in a bit of a dilemma now, cant make up my mind..

I have 3 options

1. Samsung Evo 860 Sata
2. Kingston A1000 M.2
3. PCIE adapter + NVME SSD

This is my build so far..

Asus Z97 Pro Gamer
i5 4679k
Corsair Hydro H55 120
Corsair Vengeance LP 1 X 8 Gig
Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2 Gig
Lian Li PC-X510
Corsair CX650M 650W


Which option will make games play better? And would any of these hard drives options be noticeably different?

Cheers for any advice

Lee
Click to expand...

Get a new graphics card, lol. Seriously the drive will change load times but this is nothing compared to what a better GPU will do. I have placed M.2 PCIe drives in Z97 machines and they do make a noticeable difference, but they are expensive. Something like a GTX 1060 is way, way faster than the 750ti and would make a HUGE difference so I would have to say at the moment your best bet is to get a standard Sata SSD and save the rest of your money for a new graphics card ~ unless you are buying an SSD that is so small that the price difference is negligible. Incidentally you should add Crucial MX500's to that list, they are great SSD's and you can often find them at stupid prices. Samsung are a bit over-priced at the moment imo.
 
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