Credit: SlickdealsĪ PCIe M.2 SSD has a single notch on the right side, while a SATA M.2 SSD features two notches. If you’ve already purchased an M.2 SSD and aren’t sure which version you have, the quickest way to find out is to look at the notches on the connector. Remember how you identified the type of M.2 slot on your motherboard? You’ll want to buy a matching SSD (PCIe or SATA) for that connection. Credit: SlickdealsĪnd the way an M.2 SSD communicates with the computer, along with its maximum read/write speed, are identified by technology standards called “PCIe” and “SATA.” PCIe is faster than SATA, but both are great upgrades for any computer, and Slickdeals often features deals for both PCIe M.2 SSDs as well as SATA M.2 SSDs. What’s not immediately apparent when shopping for these new types of SSDs is that “M.2” refers to a form-factor - in this case, it looks like a stick of Wrigley’s chewing gum.
Related: How to Boot from an M.2 SSD Buy the Correct Type of M.2 SSD If you don’t see a connection like this, it means your motherboard does not support the M.2 form-factor, and you should stick with 2.5-inch SSDs. Credit: SlickdealsĮvery manufacturer places the M2 connection in a slightly different area, so look carefully in the middle and lower right section of the motherboard. Take note of what’s on the label because you’ll need to buy a matching M.2 SSD a PCIe device won’t work on a SATA connection. On the motherboard, look for an M.2 connector - it’s a horizontal slot about an inch wide, usually labeled with “PCIe” or “SATA” or both. Only the latest generation of motherboards can accept this new style of SSD, which was originally used primarily in laptops.
Special thanks to GIGABYTE and XPG for loaning us example products for this how-to guide!īefore you rush to buy an M.2 SSD via Slickdeals, first make sure your PC is compatible with this type of storage. But don’t act too hastily as not all computers can accept this latest generation of blazing-fast storage.Īs Slickdeals’ resident computer geek, I’ll be showing you how to tell if an M.2 SSD is right for your system, and also guide you through a step-by-step installation process using a GIGABYTE BRIX Gaming VR ultra compact PC and XPG SX8000 PCIe M.2 SSD. SSD pricing has certainly gotten better, but it's still high enough that many people are getting lower-capacity drives than would be ideal, so reducing costs is still an important focus.Adding a solid state drive (SSD) is the best way to improve a computer’s performance, and the rising popularity along with falling prices of a new style of SSD - M.2 2280 - has everyone trying to jump on the bandwagon. Even for the higher-end NAND drives, many people would be better served by getting a lower-end drive with double the capacity for about the same price than to pay a huge premium for a given capacity with maybe 10% better real-world performance. Maybe someday, applications will be optimized to fully make use of something like 3D Xpoint, and the pricing will be down to practical levels, but today those advanced storage technologies are terribly priced, and don't really improve the performance of most real-world tasks substantially. The vast majority of today's applications and usage scenarios won't see much benefit from higher-end flash, so it doesn't make much sense for most people to pay more for it. There might be some limitations, but it definitely seems like a positive development.Īnd as I pointed out before, QLC is already arguably pretty good when implemented properly. So, pretty much the opposite of what you are suggesting.
X-NAND is most useful for QLC, since it supposedly fixes its main limitations. X-NAND dramatically improves the endurance of QLC. And that's just TLC, which is still bad compared to MLC and especially SLC, but at least in that case the price drop was actually more significant.I'm not sure if you actually read the article, but at least according to what they are claiming. Anything that improves QLC can be used to improve TLC by an even wider margin, so it's always going to be worth paying that extra ~$20 for the much higher speeds and 10x the endurance. QLC is never going to be good enough or cheap enough to be worth buying over TLC. Giroro said:Imagine how good the memory would be if they put this kind of effort into improving good NAND instead of trying to "save" trash bottom-of-the-barrel QLC.