PCI-E 4.0 drives

Dirk Diggler · 13 Sep 2020 at 21:16

I'm updating my rig this year and am considering updating the m.2 drive that I currently have, which is a 256GB Samsung 960.

Questions:

What's PCI-E 4.0 drives bringing to the table if used for an OS drive?
What's the best drive to pick up for OS - say 250GB or thereabouts?

mickyflinn · 13 Sep 2020 at 21:52

Pcie 4 m2 nvme gives you faster read write speeds, moving large files round from one fast drive to another would benefit.

In day to day usage and gaming minimal difference.

andy_mk3 · 13 Sep 2020 at 22:03

Until now the difference for the majority of people isn't noticeable, especially when gaming.

But with the upcoming RTX3xxx cards coming with direct ssd access, some lightning fast ssd storage could make a significant difference. We won't know until reviews and resting is allowed though.

uscool · 14 Sep 2020 at 01:11

Was planning on buying 1tb SSD nvme gen 3 the prices are pretty good compared to gen 4 but was also wondering what difference in speed with direct access feature

JohnG7 · 14 Sep 2020 at 01:13

Dirk Diggler · 14 Sep 2020 at 03:20

no idea what said:
Until now the difference for the majority of people isn't noticeable, especially when gaming.

But with the upcoming RTX3xxx cards coming with direct ssd access, some lightning fast ssd storage could make a significant difference. We won't know until reviews and resting is allowed though.

I assume that would mean having the game installed on the Gen 4 SSD and not just running Windows on it? Sorry for the no0b question, it's just a significant point IMO as it would dictate the storage capacity required.

uscool · 14 Sep 2020 at 08:44

JohnG7 said:

That video doesn't show using RTX IO / direct storage it's a new feature

more info

The RTX GPU will be able to pull compressed data directly from your NVMe storage, where its in its smallest and easiest-to-move form, and let the RTX card decompress it. It skips the CPU and system memory entirely. So with this, your rig will be moving smaller amounts of data and then decompressing them on faster, bespoke hardware; each element speeds up the process of loading both in loading screens and when streaming data from the drive in things like open-world games.

Nvidia says RTX IO will enable “near instantaneous game loading,” improved frame rates, and reduced texture pop-in and game stuttering. Microsoft and Nvidia say that this technology–both DirectStorage on its own and RTX IO as well–will allow games to use heavier compression, reducing overall game size as well[/QUOTE]

andy_mk3 · 14 Sep 2020 at 13:27

Dirk Diggler said:
I assume that would mean having the game installed on the Gen 4 SSD and not just running Windows on it? Sorry for the no0b question, it's just a significant point IMO as it would dictate the storage capacity required.

That's right yes. As a Windows drive it's going to make no noticeable difference really.

But in games it might make a difference where the new cards can directly pull data from the SSD to VRAM.

mickyflinn · 14 Sep 2020 at 13:43

Rtx io sounds promising but PC versions will need to be patched to use the tech.
Games will further need NVIDIA RTX IO awareness, and NVIDIA needs to add support on a per-game basis via GeForce driver updates.

Outcasst · 14 Sep 2020 at 18:02

I'm going to be waiting until we see some pricing on the Samsung 980 Pro. I also think Phison are bring out a better version of their controller this year.

andy_mk3 · 14 Sep 2020 at 21:05

mickyflinn said:
Rtx io sounds promising but PC versions will need to be patched to use the tech.
Games will further need NVIDIA RTX IO awareness, and NVIDIA needs to add support on a per-game basis via GeForce driver updates.

It's what the consoles are doing so its likely to be seen a lot more in the near future.

PeegeeTips · 21 Sep 2020 at 10:35

adata "S70 Gammix" drives launched:

https://www.xpg.com/en/feature/685/

up to 2TB
up to 7400MB/s transfer

RavenXXX2 · 22 Sep 2020 at 15:11

https://pcper.com/2020/09/samsung-9...review/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Samsung is releasing the 980 PRO in 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB capacities, with a 2TB variant on the way as well. As to pricing, the 980 PRO MSRPs start at $89.99 for the 250GB model, $149.99 for the 500GB model, and $229.99 for the 1TB model (2TB pricing/availability TBA).

Dirk Diggler · 22 Sep 2020 at 15:33

Pricing is fine, IMO.

Dirk Diggler · 5 Oct 2020 at 16:23

I've got a MSI X570 Tomahawk with a Samsung 950 Pro in the M.2 slot 1 (CPU) being used as the OS drive. Would it make a difference if I plugged the new Gen 4 drive into M.2 slot 2 (PCH) to use as a gaming drive, or would I need to be in slot 1 for fastest speed?

Buffalo2102 · 5 Oct 2020 at 16:54

Both slots support PCIe 4 so it doesn't matter.

If it's like other X570 boards the 1st slot goes direct to the CPU and the second slot goes via the chipset. So, in theory, there may be a miniscule increase in latency from the second slot but it likely won't make a difference in reality.

Dirk Diggler · 5 Oct 2020 at 17:01

@Buffalo2102 thanks.

My attention has been drawn to : SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-1TB

Does anyone have any thoughts? I would be using as a dedicated gaming drive.

Buffalo2102 · 5 Oct 2020 at 18:10

I don't have one so can't comment on it but they seem popular and I've not seen any bad reviews.

PeegeeTips · 6 Oct 2020 at 08:41

Buffalo2102 said:
Both slots support PCIe 4 so it doesn't matter.

If it's like other X570 boards the 1st slot goes direct to the CPU and the second slot goes via the chipset. So, in theory, there may be a miniscule increase in latency from the second slot but it likely won't make a difference in reality.

running in the secondary slot might also trigger the chipset fan to run more frequently (virtually off most of the time), due to the power draw required from sustained PCIe 4.0 transfers...

Buffalo2102 · 6 Oct 2020 at 12:50

That's true and a good point. It doesn't happen on my board but I can't speak for others.