Any downsides to using an M2 drive instead of a SATA SSD?

soulhunter123 · 28 Aug 2019 at 20:12

As per the title, I've always wondered: M2 drives generally have tons better speeds than a regular SATA SSD, so given the same capacity and price points, is there a reason why someone would use a normal SSD (apart from the obvious "no M2 slots on the motherboard")?

andy_mk3 · 28 Aug 2019 at 20:23

M.2 is just a slot, which doesn't specifically give you the higher speed. You can get SATA M.2 or you can get PCI-E M.2 slots, the latter being better due to direct PCI-E lanes to the slot, and an NVME drive can make full use of that bandwidth.

There's little real world difference between the two for the majority of users though. The main benefits are from having no SATA and power cables going to the drives for a cleaner look.

dessimpson · 28 Aug 2019 at 20:46

You can get M2 PCI-E adaptors if you have no free slots. Cheap as chips.

soulhunter123 · 29 Aug 2019 at 00:11

Do the PCI-E adapters maintain the same level of bandwidth as an original M2 slot or would that depend on the mobo and the PCI slot?

IT Troll · 29 Aug 2019 at 01:23

Ease of physical access might be factor. M2 might be under a graphics card whilst 2.5” is more likely to be in a dedicated drive bay/mount.

mikeo · 31 Aug 2019 at 21:09

soulhunter123 said:
Do the PCI-E adapters maintain the same level of bandwidth as an original M2 slot or would that depend on the mobo and the PCI slot?

As long as it goes in a min of a x4 slot (PCIe 3.0) then it will be as fast etc. as in a dedicated M.2 slot. I've got an MP510 in an add in card and an 970 EVO in a dedicated M.2 slot, and both work/test as expected (PCmark 8 storage test looks fine in both cases).

PS. In my case... graphics card in top slot (x16), add in card to support the MP510 in the bottom of the 3 PCIe slots (x4).

Quartz · 31 Aug 2019 at 21:15

soulhunter123 said:
As per the title, I've always wondered: M2 drives generally have tons better speeds than a regular SATA SSD, so given the same capacity and price points, is there a reason why someone would use a normal SSD (apart from the obvious "no M2 slots on the motherboard")?

A SATA SSD is more easily transferable. Can you guarantee that your next motherboard will have a M2 slot? If you need a PCIE card, will it be bootable?

mikeo · 1 Sep 2019 at 09:33

Quartz said:
A SATA SSD is more easily transferable. Can you guarantee that your next motherboard will have a M2 slot? If you need a PCIE card, will it be bootable?

Very little in life, bar death and taxes, are guaranteed. But for the foreseeable future, I can't see the OP has any worries that the m.2 socket will be dropped any time son.

Quartz · 1 Sep 2019 at 10:08

mikeo said:
Very little in life, bar death and taxes, are guaranteed.

Heh. I missed out a crucial word: free. As in free M2 slot. The OP's next motherboard may have insufficient M2 slots.