Addlink S70 1TB SSD NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive

CrisisWolf

CrisisWolf

CrisisWolf

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I've been looking at an SSD upgrade. I currently have a small SSD with Windows etc (7 years old) plus a 1TB and 2TB HDD with games and media on. SSD tested at 120mb/sec, HDDs at 80mb/sec so 'slow' by todays standards.

I've read good things about the Addlink S70 but it (and that generation of SSDs) all connect via M2/NVMe PCIe. Tempting to install games on for faster boot times and/or put the OS etc on it too. Getting a bit confused on if I need/should buy an adapter but will that limit speeds or will it fit direct on my motherboards PCIe

My Motherboard is a GA-Z87-HD3 (https://www.gigabyte.com/uk/Motherboard/GA-Z87-HD3-rev-1x/sp#sp) which has various PCIe ports. Some are in use and I've not yet checked which I'm using for GFX etc. Will the SSD work and would it only work (or work best) in a particular one of the below? Or due to my motherboard will it be capped/limited and I'm best buying another 2.5" SSD

  • 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)
    (The PCIEX16 slot conforms to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)
    * For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.

  • 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
    * The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with all PCI Express x1 slots. All PCI Express x1 slots will become unavailable when a PCIe x4 expansion card is installed.
    * When installing a x8 or above card in the PCIEX4 slot, make sure to set PCIE Slot Configuration in BIOS Setup to x4.

  • 2 x PCI Express x1 slots
    (The PCIEX4 and PCI Express x1 slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)

  • 2 x PCI slots
 
So my 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 is free. You can buy the adapters for the M2 cards (now looking at WD Black) but I've read support issues in older generation motherboards like mine (Z87). The PCIe I'm assuming is Gen 3 given the motherboards age and when Gen 3 came out.

Not planning to use as a boot drive (stick to Sata SSD for now but may change in future)

Any preference on NVME adapters? Going to buy the SSD with heatshield included. A few ***elsewhere*** in the £10-15 category.
 
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I did find a YouTube video, may have been on a similar thread on here, which had SSD vs M2 game load times, I think one game had a 2 or 3 seconds in it. About to check 7200 RPM HDD versus Sata SDD videos now to sell it to myself.

Will put NVMe on the future list for when I do a motherboard/CPU update and use it as the boot drive. It isn't an option on my motherboard as a booting option it seems.
 
I'll check my tiny 7 year old 128GB SDD spec and performance as hadn't thought about the cloning option! I see Macrium is free for home use and inc cloning so recommendation taken.

£92 seems good, had a Samsung one on my list for £105 ish. Going to 'go shopping now.
 
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