Upgrade from 2.5 SSD to NVME Questions

[Relentless81]

Hello,

I'm currently using a Samsung 860 Evo 2.5" SSD and I'm tempted to upgrade it to NVME. I dont do any large files transfers or anything like that my PC is purely a gaming PC. My next build will be ITX or MATX and I want as few cables as possible so that is my main reason to upgrade plus the added benefit of the additional performance with loading times etc

I'm not great with NVME so I have some questions I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable can assist please.

If I dont want to do a new install on my current system as nothing else is changing whats the best way to go about swapping the drives?

Whats the latest in NVME technology, I prefer Samsung and my next motherboard will more than likely be PCIE4 so will a PCIE4 NVME be backward compatible with my current PCI3 motherboard so I when I get a PCIE4 enabled motherboard I can move it across?

Thanks

 

[bremen1874]

PCIe is backwards and forwards compatible so there's no problem there.

I don't think Samsung has a PCIe 4.0 drive available yet.

I wouldn't be worrying about PCIe 3.0 vs 4.0. In actual use, it's difficult to tell the difference between NVMe and SATA, never mind the difference between PCIe generations.

The OS transfer is easy enough. Install the new drive and use Macrium (or your software of choice) to image old to new. When it's done disconnect the SATA drive and make sure it can boot from the NVMe.

Personally I wouldn't bother until you're doing your upgrade to ITX/MATX.

 

[Relentless81]

PCIe is backwards and forwards compatible so there's no problem there.

I don't think Samsung has a PCIe 4.0 drive available yet.

I wouldn't be worrying about PCIe 3.0 vs 4.0. In actual use, it's difficult to tell the difference between NVMe and SATA, never mind the difference between PCIe generations.

The OS transfer is easy enough. Install the new drive and use Macrium (or your software of choice) to image old to new. When it's done disconnect the SATA drive and make sure it can boot from the NVMe.

Personally I wouldn't bother until you're doing your upgrade to ITX/MATX.

Thank you thats pretty much I need to know and I think you're right I'll just wait until I do the ITX build if you dont think the performance difference is that much as current case is fine for cable management

 

[mattyfez]

I'm not that convinced it makes much difference for gaming, you might see a second or 2 off loading times etc.
If you're constantly shifting files between drives you'll get a tangible boost but that's a different scenario that relies on the other drives being just as fast.

 

[Darren_uk]