WD SN550 M.2 PCIe NVME SSD vs Crucial MX500

[Rowan88]

Hi,

Looking for a bit of info.

Is there a difference in both of these drives? I know one is M.2 NVME but because it doesnt state Gen3 or Gen4 does that mean this M.2 is really the exact same as the Crucial (or other brand) SSD?

If the M.2 is better then I might buy one of those and a compatible M.2 PCIE adapter so I can use it in my old computer but then use it in a M.2 slot once I receive my new motherboard.

This drive is going to be the one I install my games onto, I will probably buy a 500GB Gen 4 for my OS and Apps.

Cheers

 

[Rowan88]

Or am I just better buying a SSD normally for installing games too?
Only reason I debating 2x M.2 is for neatness.

 

[Armageus]

The SN550 is a Gen3 x4 NVMe SSD, the crucial MX500 is a Sata 2.5" SSD.

The difference between a Sata and NVME outside of most benchmarks is barely noticable (let alone the difference between a gen 3 and a gen 4 nvme), however going forward it may be more noticable as games take advantage of the new Directstorage APIs)

 

[Rowan88]

So my best option would be the SN550 M.2 NVME with a PCI M.2 ADAPTER to use with my current build, then just remove the PCIe adapter when my new motherboard has 2 x M.2 slots?

The SSD hard drive option technically won't be any worse than doing the above apart from future proofing "if" games use the later features?

Also I assume my current (old lol) motherboard will be fine to use a M.2 PCI adapter with the M.2 drive?

UPDATE:

Ended up buying the SN550 2TB on sale for a good price so just need to get a hold of the PCI M.2 adapter.

 

[EsaT]

NVMe is always PCIe bus using drive.
Speed is determined by the slower device and devices are buc controllers are backwards compatible.
WD Blue 3D is that SATA drive also in M.2 form factor, which aren't any faster than in end of SATA cable.


2TB is good call.
Number of M.2 slots is limited and DirectStorage will support only PCIe drives.
You'll need something like this:
Akasa M.2 X4 PCI-E 3.0 Adapter Card - Black= £16.99

 

[Rowan88]

NVMe is always PCIe bus using drive.
Speed is determined by the slower device and devices are buc controllers are backwards compatible.
WD Blue 3D is that SATA drive also in M.2 form factor, which aren't any faster than in end of SATA cable.


2TB is good call.
Number of M.2 slots is limited and DirectStorage will support only PCIe drives.
You'll need something like this:
Akasa M.2 X4 PCI-E 3.0 Adapter Card - Black= £16.99

Thanks,

Looks similar to the one I got but it was the Sabrent brand. It'll do as a temp usage till I get the new bundle installed.

Just hoping a fresh windows fixes my Corsair LL120 fans flickering Literally tried everything, pretty sure it happened after I installed that SignalRGB app then uninstalled it.

 

[Rowan88]

Just got my WD SN550 2TB and Sabrent M.2 PCI today, fitted it and ran a CrystalDiskMark test.

Are these numbers normal?


Its just cause some reviews I seen showed this drive as getting 2400 and on the box it states up to 2600.

Is this because I have it installed into a PCI 3.0 x16 lane under my graphics card instead of in an M.2 motherboard slot?

 

[EsaT]

PCIEX4 is PCIe v2 slot meaning theoretical max is ~2 GB/s.
Speed achievable after overheads etc would be likely more like about 1,8 GB/s.
Also traffic going through chipset and its connection to CPU can cause some performance loss.

 

[Rowan88]

PCIEX4 is PCIe v2 slot meaning theoretical max is ~2 GB/s.
Speed achievable after overheads etc would be likely more like about 1,8 GB/s.
Also traffic going through chipset and its connection to CPU can cause some performance loss.

Cheers, just wanted to make sure I didn't do something wrong.
So when I fit it into a M.2 Gen 4 slot in my new motherboard chances are I will get a higher speed?