M.2 or another SSD for games drive?

Big Boss94

Big Boss94

Big Boss94

Associate
Joined
31 Dec 2013
Posts
245
Location
Kent
Hi guys, built a system a Year or so back, specs are:

X99 Deluxe
5930K
Corsair Vengeance 16GB 2666

I have a 256GB Samsung 850 Pro which I use as both a boot drive and a games drive, as well as a Western Digital Black 2TB for storage. I would like to have my games on a separate drive, so My question is.....

Do I buy myself a 256GB Samsung 950 Pro M.2 SSD and clone my current 256 GB 850 Pro to it (which I have no idea how to do!) bar the games, and use my current 850 Pro as a games drive?
Or
Simply buy another 256GB Pro and use that as a games drive?

There's only £40 difference between the SSD's and am myself leaning towards option 1, but like I say, I don't know how to transfer the data over.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

All the best, Joe
 
I would get an Intel 600p 512GB (£150) over a 256GB 950 Pro (£180).
The 950 Pro is a much better drive but if you are just using it as a games drive the Intel 600p will give double the capacity and has good read speed. The only thing that looks bad with the Intel is how they deal with the endurance limit.
 
I'm currently wondering what SSD for my upgrade. I wanted one of the M.2s for their insane performance figures but they apparently offer nothing over a standard sata3 drive, so I'll probably go for size over speed.

This link is worth a look over.. http://forums.evga.com/EVGA-X99-Cla...AIDSATA-III-SSD-Game-Load-Times-m2556132.aspx

If anything has changed since the above, I'd love to be corrected before I buy :D
 
I have a 250GB games only PCIe SSD, but keeping the likes of GTAV, Hitman etc. on it along with whatever my current main game is, it runs out of space. I have to put some games on a different drive.
So I wouldn't want any less than 250GB to play with for a main games drive.
 
Thanks for the response and read MorningStar, surprised the differences weren't bigger, never had an M.2 myself, so can't compare, interesting though.

256GB has been enough for me SafetyTrousers, I only play a couple of games at a time and delete others if space is getting short, plus I don't really want to spend over £200.

A 256GB 950 Pro will be ideal for a boot/OS drive (even if the load speeds are only negligible), it's either that or another 256GB 850 Pro.

Do either of you know if it's possible and how to transfer the contents of my 850 Pro over if I decide to purchase?

Also, does an M.2 SSD have any effect on PCI-E lanes if not using an expansion card?
 
Last edited:
I tried a few games on my m2 drive.
Fallout 4 may have loaded a second or two faster but it wasn't a massive change. Fps we the same.

I use a normal 512gb Samsung ssd, might add another as games are getting bigger so I'll run out of space soon.
 
Big Boss94 said:
Thanks for the response and read MorningStar, surprised the differences weren't bigger, never had an M.2 myself, so can't compare, interesting though.

256GB has been enough for me SafetyTrousers, I only play a couple of games at a time and delete others if space is getting short, plus I don't really want to spend over £200.

A 256GB 950 Pro will be ideal for a boot/OS drive (even if the load speeds are only negligible), it's either that or another 256GB 850 Pro.

Do either of you know if it's possible and how to transfer the contents of my 850 Pro over if I decide to purchase?

Also, does an M.2 SSD have any effect on PCI-E lanes if not using an expansion card?
Click to expand...

Damn forum ate my reply... gah.

Basically, you can clone an SSD but I notice a lot of people have issues with it, could just be bundled software.

PCIe is a bit confusing when it comes to M.2. Predominantly yes, certainly on the faster drives. Some M.2 use the SATA Channels. It's a bit messy, check the M.2 wiki page for an understanding and for that matter check what format your MOBOs M.2 ports use.


Personally, I'd go for a 500ish GB SATA or "slow" M.2 drive, Lot's are available for under £150 in the store, move your games to that and keep the 250 you have for OS, by all accounts your experience will be the same unless you work with media editing of some kind, that seems to be the only real world application for something like the 950pro or like.
 
Think I'll do as you say MorningStar, go for a 512GB SSD, sounds much less complicated and will save me a bit on PCIe lane setup. Don't need those extra 1-2 seconds in all fairness, and the extra space will come in handy.

Thanks so much mate, you've been awesome.
All the best, Joe
 
Happy to help, You're pretty much facing the same situation I am with my upgrades. Hopefully, in the future, we will see a benifit from all that extra bandwidth but today it's all about capacity. Enjoy the upgrades :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom