SATA M.2 SSD vs PCIe M.2 SSD - What’s the difference? - DIY in 5 Ep 172
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 มิ.ย. 2024
- M.2 SSDs are tiny, easy to install and super-fast but did you know that they come in two different form factors? There are indeed both SATA and PCIe varieties of M.2. They are both long and thin and look a bit like a stick of chewing gum. But they are different. Text version of this topic: www.kingston.com/en/blog/pc-p...
Interface
Many people think the alternative to M.2 SSDs are SATA 2.5” SSDs, and while the 2.5 inch portion is correct, SATA actually refers to the storage interface. SATA and PCIe, or PCIe NVMe, are both types of storage interface that an SSD can use. The primary difference between the two is performance and the protocol, or language, spoken by the SSD. The M.2 spec was designed to accommodate both a SATA and PCIe interface for SSDs. M.2 SATA SSDs will use the same controller currently on typical 2.5” SATA SSDs. M.2 PCIe SSDs will use a controller specifically designed to support the PCIe protocol. An M.2 SSD can only support one protocol, but some systems have M.2 sockets that can support either SATA or PCIe. An easy way to tell the difference between the two drives based on appearance alone is the notches in the connection. SATA M.2 drives will have two notches, while PCIe will only have one. (Note: as of December 2022 Kingston shipped out the last of its SATA M.2 SSDs, the A400 M.2. We no longer make SATA based M.2 SSDs and going forward all our M.2 SSDs are NVMe.)
Performance
So what’s the difference between the two? The PCIe interface is generally faster, as the SATA 3.0 spec is limited to around 600MB/s maximum speed, while PCIe Gen 2 x2 lanes are capable of up to 1000MB/s. And if you think that’s a large difference, PCIe Gen 2 x4 lanes are capable of up to 2000MB/s, and Gen 3 x4 lanes of up to 4000MB/s. Not to say that speed is everything. M.2 SSDs using the SATA protocol will generally be compatible with a wider variety of systems and can be better supported in older models, plus they are usually more affordable when it comes to PCIe. Another thing to consider is that some motherboards don’t have enough PCIe connections to support multiple PCIe NVMe drives. You might have to decide on using the available connection between a graphics card or an NVMe SSD. Other times there may be PCIe lanes available but only a certain type of connection will be able to use NVMe devices at their full speed such as an M.2 connection.
For example compare the Kingston A400 SATA SSD vs Kingston KC3000 PCIe NVMe SSD. The A400 has two key notches, comes in capacities up to 480 GB and has up to 500 MB/s read and 450 MKB/s write - all at an MSRP of under $50. The Kingston KC3000 on the other hand, has one key notch here on the side, comes in capacities up to 4TB and offers 7,000 MB/s read and write speeds. The starting price for this drive is $100.
So to sum up - yes, M.2 SSDs can come in both SATA and PCIe NVMe varieties. PCIe is newer and faster, while SATA is more affordable and more widely compatible with older systems. What you choose is up to you, but I hope these basic guidelines helped a bit in your shopping journey.
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0:00 Intro
0:41 What is an M.2 SSD?
1:07 What is a SATA 2.5" SSD?
1:26 What is the difference?
2:13 How does the difference relate to performance?
3:21 Comparison of a SATA M.2 SSD vs PCIe M.2 SSD - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
The most concise and easy to understand comparison I've seen yet. Had me going back to check my new-build part bin to ensure that I had, indeed, purchased the correct components. Thanks, I can breathe easy now.
I just did the same thing 🤭😂
This is the best video explaining it easily I've come across on TH-cam. Well done.
agree.
Answered my questions 🙂
Plus she's hot, so that's nice
with one contradiction
Best tech vid I have seen in a long time. Accurate, concise and well presented. Thank you
Thanks a bunch, this is what I needed. While I had found another video explaining it. This one was much easier for me to understand.
Just sharing, when it comes to SSD, 3 criteria u guys should know:
1. Form factor : 2.5" and M.2
2. Interface/slot/port : SATA and PCIe
3. Protocol : SATA and NVME
So is it possible to have an M.2 PCIe SSD using the SATA protocol ?
@@gottabepablo wouldnt you need the connection of the m2 to be sata (physically speaking) in order to use its protocol?
Thank you!
@@gottabepablo If you see an M.2 drive with two notches in the connector instead of one, I think that means it's either a SATA drive, or a PCIe drive with only two lanes. I think it's physically the same connection? There are M.2 slots that support both or only one, anyway. But the same drive can't do both.
@@whyjay9959 I thought SATA is not only just a physical interface but also a protocol implemented in software that has to do with the drive controllers. So although an M.2 drives connector is etched for the PCIe interface, can't it not be configured to use either the NVMe protocol or the SATA protocol? (not the physical connection/interface)
Thank you so much for easy explanation spent last 30 min trying to figure this out on Google couldn't get a clear answer until I saw this, thank you
Happy to help!
Finally 🥰 A video with the facts, Two versus One slot narrows it down in 3 words. Thanks
thanks, i was so lost about this topic and this video really helped me
GREAT VIDEO. MY DOUBT WAS CLEARED.
Quick and informative, oh my gawsh, thanks!
I have a M.2 SSD 500Gb for the OS and I am very satisfied with it... not expensive, very fast and reliable. With HDD my PC took between 1 or 2 minutes to fully restart, but with M.2, it only takes 17 seconds and it´s ready to go.
What pci version is required for the same..
@@dharmendra34061 it depends on what kind of motherboard you have and the type of PCIe slots it has. Older motherboards generally have a PCIe Gen 3 slot, newer ones (and the more expensive ones) have Gen 4 (which is twice as fast as 3 but in all honesty you don't need it unless you do heavy work on your PC like editing or gaming).
There are some 2-lane nvme drives ("PCI-e X2") that have two notches just like SATA so you can't always tell what it is just by looking at the notches.
Great explanation!
Thanks!
Informative video on the basics.
Great video. A little addition to your explanation : The 2 Notch Sata M.2 use's what's called the B-Key. The 1 notch PCIE [ NVME ) m.2 use's the M-Key. The M.2 socket's on the devices motherboard can be ; A B-key socket , A M-key socket or a combined socket that you can use either type of M.2 in that single socket.
Thanks for your comment, and we have more information like this available here: kings.tn/3Io874P
Something I have noticed with alot of sata ssd's is after some games have finished a loading screen the screen will be almost completely white for a split second then the colors revert back to normal a second later. I have never known a pcie ssd to do this.
Very clear concise explanation. And very cute you! Thank you.
well that cleared that up for me , nice n simple . thanks
Great presentation! Although, I still don't understand what my Asus Z170M-plus board mean by "M.2 X4" and "M.2 Socket 3", which you did mention in your presentation at 1:57. The manual states that the M.2 slot is an "M-key". Wikipedia says that M.2 SATA is an "M & B Key". Now, I know my board is old (PCIe x3) and it's very easy to get an M-key NVMe PCIe x3 SSD, but the mystery to me is...... Will the NVMe work on my mobo with the mysterious "M.2 X4 Socket 3" information?
I had found M. 2 back in 2015 when I purchased Asus Rog laptop.
But that time it was only sata.
So I bought sata m. 2 & it is still working like a charm
Sitting here with a Macbook Pro from 2011, i'm talking about the ones with CD Drives and Hard Drives for storage. Thinking of a day when i can finally upgrade and be productive again without so much lag and incompatibility with everything. Sigh
So even though, I am familiar with some of the facts, I didn't know about the two notches for the SATA M.2 drives, so kudos for teaching me something new!
I am using three KC3000 1TB drives as a RAID0 device on both my computers. At peak levels, those drives reach up to 22.000MB/s read and 17.000MB/s write speed. If I had a bigger budget, I would have chosen the RENEGADE drives instead.
Before I forget, can you please bring back OPAL 2.0 encryption for the KC3000 series of drives please?
Thank you it’s been a big help
Hey, she was from sourcefednerd. She and Meg Turney were so awesome on sourcefednerd.
I wonder what Meg is doing now?
I have the same 2,5' SSD, and it's very cool for my PC, and me.
Great video. The pin-slot connector really through me off once when I bought an adapter that could only do SATA M.2.
threw*
Nice video, I am still unsure though, I have a sata m.2 ssd (Sandisk SSD X400 M.2 2280) that is 6-pin (2 notches) would an enclosure that supports both m&b 6 pin PCIE and M-key PCIE work for it even if the drive is not PCIE or i need to get an enclosure that is not for pcie? I am asking because if PCIE supports it i would rather get that as i may use it again for another drive that is PCIE in the future.
Best explanation and difference on those ssd.
Great video. Building a new computer after 10 years (current one is still fine, but trying to get ahead of expected end of life limits of hardware). Coming from a "SSDs should only be for the OS" mentality, so very helpful.
Well, for gaming too, especially in raid, but expand memory to like 32GB if you have 16GB, and use a virtual memory drive to create a 'storage' for the virtual memory, that way, the OS can support virtual memory, which is to me pretty much obsolete, and yet required for most games or apps, while only using 16Gb of the ram for that.
Yes, sounds non-logical, but virtual memory is still a widely used function, upon non present games and apps may either quit or run badly, exiting to desktop "memory full" message.
(It makes no sense, that with 32 GB you'd get a message memory full, or simply app quit, and yet it happens.)
(It's better to have 16GB memory and 16GB virtual, than 32 GB real with no virtual, which makes no sense.)
(also, instead of using SSD as virtual memory, using the virtual drive (in memory) as virtual memory saves a whole bunch of SSD life, while still allowing for near maximum performance, but is less prone to SSD degradation by virtual memory.) It also prevents the OS from using up all the memory for 'better' performance, while the slow release usually kills the game.
this is helpful and informative, thanks
Excelente la información, precisa y detallada.
thank you still learning
Thank you very much!
Pero no vienen con el sujetador. Compre una y no hayo sujetador para atornillarlo a la placa base.
What camera are you using to film this? The quality is amazing!
It's the encoding of 4K @ 2160p that shows the quality.
Thank you. I know what I'm looking at now.
Just to confuse matters, there are also NVMe drives with both B Key and M Key (Two notches), but they use two PCIe lanes and not four. 🤷♂
The infamous BM
When I got my motherboard (Asus Prime B350 Plus) I almost threw out the little screw. Hopefully I did in fact save it. I have not evolved out of my 2 SATA hard discs yet. One used to give me errors, but I moved it to a cpu SATA port and it stopped. Apparently those you can only have the m2 in or the drive, not both.
Thank you!
If I buy this new m2 memory and have a decade old motherboard with pcie slot, will it work in there?
THANK YOU!
M.2, 2.5" = type of form factor
PCIe, SATA = type of bus connector (i.e. speed)
NVME, AHCI = Protocols (i.e. bandwidth)
SATA, regardless of form factor, uses the AHCI protocols. PCIe uses the NVME protocols.
my old wd blue sn520 512GB NVMe drive had two notches (also known as ngff form factor). And it worked with my old Asrock Fatality 990fx Killer Motherboard.
Well explained! Thank you for the clarity!
This clears up alot of confusion
danke danke !!! excellent info for those beginners !!!
Which should i install ssd for 3×1 Lane??
One question I had that I don't think was discussed was whether there is a difference between M.2 NVMe (which I guess is the same as PCIe? not sure) on a motherboard vs. M.2 NVMe on a PCIe expansion slot via an adapter card and if there are any issues like what kind of slot the adapter card is in or any other specs re: the card itself. I just bought an old computer with an M.2 slot but found out it's only for a PCI adapter assembly (Lenovo M900 tower computer) so I'm getting an M.2 adapter card for PCI Express card slot (physical link width x16; negotiable link width x4, x1) so I can use an M.2 NVMe SSD. The card is supposed to fit in PCIe X4 or X8 or X16 slots.
Hello there the NVMe SSD is the Bus interface while the PCIe would be the physical/logical interface. If you are going to use an adapter make sure you check the specifications of the manufacture to make sure it can accommodate an M.2 NVMe 2280 SSD. Also we found a posting pertaining to using an NVMe SSD and adapter on your system: kings.tn/3KP5eLq
wow. video is legitimately informative. nice
That was the goal! Glad to hear you found it useful 😊
In practice on a typical PC the speed difference between SATA and NVMe doesn't tend to be very noticeable, at least to me, and only a few specialist applications, like heavyweight video editing might perform significantly better. However, for a desktop I would go for the NVMe option anyway as the use of a SATA m.2 card generally steals one of the SATA interfaces.
It's an order of magnitude faster than sata in games that constantly stream in assets as you play (on a slow drive, the game will have micro freezes minutes after the level is loaded while you play). Their best use case are in these games.
I have a question, I like to upgrade my laptop Macbook Air 2012. So I buy the Samsung SSD 980 NVme M.2 SSD. Also buy a adaptor for this upgrade. After done everything when I do power on nothing happened. So I replace with HD comes with laptop and it's work right away. So what I do wrong? Please advice. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing.
It's such a huge difference between a SSD Sata m2 and a NVME m2 that by cloning with whatever program in Windows or Linux, from the first one, to the second one, you won't be able to boot from the second/cloned one! Try it if it sounds implausible!
Liked, Subscribed, and enabled bell icon for all the notifications.
Excellent video. Clear and consise.
Q. I have a 2TB SSD PCIe drive. Should I create 1 partition? 1+1 TB.
Any benefits on doing so?
Thank you!
Didnt you used to work for a differnt channel? Or you were on that d and d show on pluto?
Thank you for the clarification. I really had no idea. Very informative and concise!
Great info. Are there any considerations for connecting to a Samsung Tablet?
Hi there if you need to connect a Type-C External drive we have the XS2000 on our website here: kings.tn/3AUg0Lv
I took my card out and it has the 2 notches as shown in your video. Does that mean my driver will not accept the one notch card (PCIe) ?
I just checked my laptop's specs and for hard drive it says: PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD Form Factor 2280. So now I'm really confused because it has 2 notches!
The B+M keys on an M.2 SSD allow for cross-compatibility on various motherboards if the appropriate SSDs protocol is supported (SATA or PCIe). For more information refer back to your motherboard manufacturer's website.
Connection matters for quality products. Might as well take advantage of the faster connection of PCIe
Very clear and helpful video. I have a rather strange question, hope it makes sense. I have a 7 year old desktop with a 2TB HDD. I am thinking about upgrading to an all new desktop, but not immediately. Could I transfer the 2TB HDD to an M.2 NVMe and use in the old system (at reduced performance of course) with an adaptor, and then move to the new system once I purchase / build it?
Thank you.
Just put 2tb in the new computer , 2tb nvme are expensive , back it up first
There are external USB adapters that are easy to use.
Hello Bruce, if you are trying to upgrade your HDD to an SSD you can essentially clone your old drive to your new one. Granted the actual used space on your current HDD will not surpass the capacity or your new one. For example your 2TB HDD only has about ~700GB of actual storage used, and your new SSD is 1.92TB you should be ok. If you have further questions please feel free to reach out to us here: kings.tn/3AyDqY4
I was that guy sweating bullets. Guess, if you want the scoop on memory the Kingston memory experts are your guide. Excellent summary! Just wish you'd also discussed real world differences. I have a 2019 Dell 5060 desktop with only a long-in-tooth a HDD. It has an M.2 PCI 3 x4 and a couple SATA ports. In reality, how much faster would a M.2 PCI.3 x4 be over a SATA SSD for typical consumer/business use?
Thank you for the compliment! As for the difference The PCIe interface is generally faster, as the SATA 3.0 spec is limited to ~600MB/s maximum speed, while Gen 3 x4 lanes of up to 4000MB/s (depending on the host device). For more information please consult us via our Tech Support page: kings.tn/3DakQWz
do you have some external slots or readers for M.2 SSD PCIe?
Thank you for your inquiry. At the current moment we do not manufacturer any M.2 SSD adapters. For our most recent product lineup, please visit our website here: kings.tn/3J6nUX7
Does Kingston Technologies @kingston sell a PCI-ex1 to PCIe M.2 or PCI-ex16 to PCIe M.2 adapter?
My computer is old and did not come with either a SATA M.2 SSD or PCIe M.2, but I would still like to upgrade to get some more speed affordably out of my old desktop.
Hello Justin,
We do not sell any PCIe M.2 adapters.
I've read many of these fast NVMe M.2 SSDs' self limit themselves on speed based on temperature - they overheat unless you add an internal cooling fan ?
In most cases cheap thin cooling sink does the job. But almost all mainboards have already one pre-installed.
The lack of compatibility between M.2 SATA and M.2 PCIe is frustrating. For those of us that still have (perfectly useful) M.2 SATA laptops, the drives are getting harder to find.
If you are looking for an M.2 SATA SSD we have the A400 M.2 here: kings.tn/3NR35z6
And i have a seagate barracuda 1tb hdd (yes it has platters in it lol) that works amazing today along side my crucial ssd.
i bought a crucial m.2 pcie and cant get it to activate or format but the disk manager sees it but fails to activate…need some setting?
Hi Geo if you verified the drive already and are having issues with it, we suggest you reach out to the manufacturer's support team for further assistance on this.
There actually are some NVMe M.2 drives that have two notches like the SATA M.2 drives commonly do; they're rare, but do exist.
What are these for?
I think the only place I've seen an M.2 SATA slot is in a slighty older laptop. Too old and it would only support a 2.5 inch SSD, newer may finally have PCIe/NVMe capability.
Don't think I've ever seen a desktop motherboard with M.2 SATA, but I wouldn't put it past certain vendors to shave a few pennies off.
I have a gigabyte mobo that supports Sata m.2 - use it for mining with hiveos, I also have a USB enclosure for reformatting the sata m.2 drive
2021 modern of asus and msi, Acer still have M.2 SATA
There are tons of mobos that support M.2 SATA especially in the low and mid range mainboard chipset series... Mid range series boards also support both SATA and NVMe, so look more closely, please.
I have a fairly recent MSI motherboard that has one pci m.2 and one sata m.2.
yea i thought my m.2 nvme was a bit chewy today, does it come in spearmint?
Wow! Trisha really is perfect for videos like these!
No she's not, her voice is the most annoying grating sound on Earth.
@@twoshedsjackson6478 Huh. I kinda enjoy her voice! But I guess I could be a bit biased since I've come to associate it with content I enjoy over the years...
This is great!
How to know which one slot is available for my laptop?or which one lanes support?which one support PCIe or Nvme?
Hi there if you are looking for a compatible upgrade for your system, please check out part selector here: kings.tn/3n503M6 or with your system manufacturer's website
Great content but 4 years too late. Those PCIe blades (AHCI) have been outstanding, but you can not get them any more. Samsung 951 and the predecessor 941 hypetrain left the station in 2017.
while we talk about performances for gaming always wil be in option to chose the better one who are in domain with speed so even if is not easy affordable ppl always at most gamer will patiently collect money for the best option for any component even if that is related to the disk.
Thisssss
This is the explanation I wanted
I come for the info, stay for the eyecandy!
i have an extra m.2 slot in my mini pc, if i want to use a 2.5 ssd what adapter should i use?
We don't test adapters for compatibility, however you can search online for a M.2 to SATA connector with good ratings and try it out on your system.
I have a laptop that's from 2017 and has a sata m.2 ssd but how do I know if I can upgrade to a PCIe m.2 ssd?
Thank you for your question, your laptop will only be able to use a M.2 NVMe drive if it explicitly states it has a native port to accommodate it. You can check with the manufacture for specific details on this, or you can check our part selector here to see what we have available for your system: kings.tn/3Ug1Zk4
Just beautiful
So what do I do with this old AHCI drive?
sell them on Wish?
Once I installed an Envy ME card, things sped up significantly.
How about NGFF m2 or Micro M2
Amazing content.
Transfer speeds are measured in Megabits per second (Mbps) - not Megabytes per second (MB/s)
so if I have nvme m2, I can't use my graphic card if I have only one PCIE?
Hi there if your computer only has one PCIE connector check to see if it has a dedicated M.2 NVMe port for an SSD, then you could be able to add your graphics card and SSD without an M.2 Adapter for PCIE. If you have more questions, please visit our Support Page: kings.tn/3LrQYsi
Thank you
will i notice the difference with games if i buy pcie m2 vs sata m2? ty for this video!!
Yes the PCIe interface is faster, as the SATA 3.0 spec is limited to ~600MB/s maximum speed, while PCIe Gen 3 x4 lanes of up to 4000MB/s and Gen 4 x4 lanes up to 8GB/s . For more info please visit our site here: kings.tn/3M8H1kO
I have PCIe M.2 in two of muh rigs, and a SATA SSD in muh main rig. All access your operating system (Windows or Linux) faster than mechanical drives, run programs very fast, and fetch files super fast.
My 1TB Samsung SATA SSD can still boot my PC in 10-12 seconds, compared to the 2-4 minutes it takes a 5400rpm HDD to finish booting and readying programs to use. If you're using M.2, you wanna make sure you have a PCIe connection, as SATA is limited to 600mb/sec.
Have you ever rated what SATA M.2 SSD (2 notch) memory is the fastest and all-around best. I can't find really anything about it.
Let's start by saying that in December 2022 we shipped out the last of our SATA M.2 SSDs, the A400 M.2. We no longer make SATA based M.2 SSDs and going forward all our M.2 SSDs are NVMe. But at the time, SATA M.2 SSDs used the SATA interface with a maximum data transfer rate of 6Gbps. If you want to check it out, visit our site here: kings.tn/4bAOjJ1
We almost bought wrong ssd for our laptop. Thanks for this
It is best to know what type your system will support before buying.
Very true Linda and you can contact us on our website and check the part selector here: kings.tn/3ML51bf
So I can put my operating system and games in the m.2 and put Photos and stuff on a seperate drive like a SSD SATA ?
That is correct @peterpickguitar
You can add a SATA SSD as a secondary drive and store your files.
Here are the Kingston SATA SSDs we offer.
kings.tn/44t9tFX
why was Gen 5 not mentioned?
Bacause there is no Gen5-SSD from Kingston yet :))
Can i use m.2 nvme if my motherboard has not that port????
There are many notebooks and motherboards that support the M.2 NVMe SSD. However please consult system and processor specifications and user manual to check to see if it will accept an M.2 NVMe PCIe adapter, in case it does not have a native port.
I have an HP x2 pro 620 G2...it has a pcie NVME (1 key slot) 500GB drive will it accept a 1TB or 2TB upgrade? manual only has 500GB but it is old.
Hi there, we were not able to locate the '620' but we do have options for the 'HP Pro x2 612 G2' here: kings.tn/3PD66G8
If this is not what you are looking for, please let us know on our 'Support' page: kings.tn/49c0BVN
Gen 4, go for bigger than 500GB you'll get more performance.
= a warp drive?
I need heat comparision between m2 ssd and nvme ssd please sir / mam