SSD NVME 4.0 into a M2 PCIe3*4

[Noughtboy]

Sorry for what seems like a Noob question but this is not an area I am overly familiar with.

I have two AMD desktops both using an ASUS ROG Strix B350-F Gaming and a B450-F Gaming II respectively.

Data sheet from the B450-F states that it supports Key M type 2242/2260/2280 as does B350-F. (Supports PCIe3.0*4 and SATA Modes)

Now obviously I understand the sizing but can I assume that PCIe 3.0*4 and PCIe4.0*4 etc are NVME drives and will therefore fit assuming correct sizes (typically 2280)?

If so, can I can purchase any NVME 3/4/5 and it will work although at a maximum speed of PCIe 3.0*4?

Second question is if these will be used for gaming, will MLC/TLC/QLC make a huge difference post installation? I know that QLC is the slowest and potentially lest reliable and my current SATA SSD's are a 250GB Samsung 870 and 250 GB Kioxia TLC.

I will probably keep those as boot drives unless it is suggested I use the newerr NVME ones (which maybe QLC/3D).

TIA

 

[Noughtboy]

Yes, if it says it uses 4 lanes of PCI 3.0 or PCI-E 4.0 then that's a PCI-E drive, which uses NVME protocol/interface thing, rather than SATA.

With the B350-F, it looks like one of the slots is only 2 lane, which is not normally a problem for a 4 lane drive. If you check the data sheet for the drive, or the controller it uses, it will say if it is compatible with 2 lane operation & backwards compatible with PCI-E 3.0 (though obviously it will operate at a lower speed).

Pretty much all consumer drives are 2280, I think. The only other thing to be aware of is if the drive is double or single sided, but they're mostly single sided except for very high capacity drives.



Not normally when you're actually playing the game, no, but QLC drives aren't really much cheaper than TLC drives, so I personally wouldn't bother with buying one.

Champion! Thank you for your advice

 

[Noughtboy]

@Tetras or anyone else

Solidigm P41 Plus 2TB I saw this SOLIDIGM 2TB NVME PCIe4.0*4 SSD at a large retailer for the price of £60 for 2TB which is I think an excellent price. But only available between 11 - 12 July . It is by no means the fastest around, but seems solid enough.

CONCLUSION: "Though it doesn’t stand out too much among the other PCIe Gen4 QLC drives out there, the P41 Plus offers a noticeable uptick in performance compared to the Intel 670p. At just $50 for the 512GB model and $90 for the 1TB model, the P41 Plus is a solid overall release by Solidigm, making it a great choice for general consumers looking to add an affordable, everyday-use drive to their rig."

ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade However, at a different retailer this ADATA XPG GAMMIX 2TB S70 BLADE NVME 4.0*4 is available at £86. It seems to be a far superior drive and in all likelyhood can be transferred to a new MB when an upgrade occurs so, whilst 43% more expensive may be a better longer term option.

CONCLUSION:
"As tested, the Adata XPG Gammix S70 Blade is one of the best NVMe SSDs on the market, and clearly superior to the older S70. It’s more than competitive with the Samsung 980 Pro performance-wise, and available at nearly the same price. Of course the S70 Blade isn’t the Seagate FireCuda 530, but neither is any other SSD—and the FireCuda is priced much higher as a result. Sadly, the 530 wasn’t actually available at the time of this writing. Happily, the S70 Blade is. It’ll save you a few bucks, and it’s darn fast in its own right."


Do you think it is overkill compared to the exceptionally well priced SOLIDIGM as a QLC gaming drive for the kids PC and my PC? I know what you said above but in theory, 2*ADATA (£172) could almost be 3*SOLIDIGM ((£180) so it is significantly higher in price.

Thanks again

NB

 

[Noughtboy]

It's a big enough discount I'd be prepared to buy it, but the Gammix has nearly double the rated endurance in 2TB capacity, which tells a story.

My take would be that if the Solidigm is always going to be used as a game storage drive, then it's fine, but with QLC and no DRAM I wouldn't re-purpose it as an OS drive.

By the time I saw this, the Solidigm is sold out. Now over £77 so the gap to the Gammix is much smaller. That leaves only things like Crucial P3 Plus and their rated endurance is not great at all so will be leaving it for the time being.