MindCrime
11-07-15, 04:44 PM
I felt like I was about to hijack a build thread with discussion getting quite detailed on SSD tech. After JPM mentioned those m.2 standards my mouse wheels started spinning. So basically I just wanted to keep talking about new SSDs but not hijack Mike's build thread.
So heres some notes/observations/opinions/questions in no good order:
There are 13 different key IDs in the m.2 standard, but typically theres 4 main keys of which only the M key will provide full Pcie x4 bandwidth. I almost bought an m.2 board before checking the key, turned out it was A for wifi etc.
On newegg there seems to be the search field of m.2 with a couple "lacking in detail choices" one can find "m.2 ultimate" which i've never seen anywhere else. Im quite certain this is just an Asrock's marketing name for the x4 M keyed m.2 slot
I'm under the impression that the 2260, 2280,22110 are purely the dimension standards for the PCB. They in no way effect the connection of the key (think how long gpu's effectively fit but run into mobo components or cases). This way you can have a small ssd (128) that is actually physically smaller than one with a larger capacity. This allows third party assemblers to scale different product lines (controllers/sizes) to the markets.
Another thing to note is SATA express. IMO this standard (feature) should have came a while ago, as NVMe and via pcie/m.2 already out perform it. It's almost the opposite of SLI/Crossfire/Raid Rather than putting devices in parallel it put the sata 6gb/s in parallel, as you're using two sata connectors for 1 drive, right?
Also if you use the m.2 connector on Asrock boards you're disabling two of the sata ports, and vice versa, when using sata express your m.2 is disabled. I'm not sure if this is because the BUSs are essentialy the same thing or if its a chipset/cost savings. Either way, it doesn't look like it'd be worth going for a SATA express setup anyways.
M.2 wins on cable management alone!
So heres some notes/observations/opinions/questions in no good order:
There are 13 different key IDs in the m.2 standard, but typically theres 4 main keys of which only the M key will provide full Pcie x4 bandwidth. I almost bought an m.2 board before checking the key, turned out it was A for wifi etc.
On newegg there seems to be the search field of m.2 with a couple "lacking in detail choices" one can find "m.2 ultimate" which i've never seen anywhere else. Im quite certain this is just an Asrock's marketing name for the x4 M keyed m.2 slot
I'm under the impression that the 2260, 2280,22110 are purely the dimension standards for the PCB. They in no way effect the connection of the key (think how long gpu's effectively fit but run into mobo components or cases). This way you can have a small ssd (128) that is actually physically smaller than one with a larger capacity. This allows third party assemblers to scale different product lines (controllers/sizes) to the markets.
Another thing to note is SATA express. IMO this standard (feature) should have came a while ago, as NVMe and via pcie/m.2 already out perform it. It's almost the opposite of SLI/Crossfire/Raid Rather than putting devices in parallel it put the sata 6gb/s in parallel, as you're using two sata connectors for 1 drive, right?
Also if you use the m.2 connector on Asrock boards you're disabling two of the sata ports, and vice versa, when using sata express your m.2 is disabled. I'm not sure if this is because the BUSs are essentialy the same thing or if its a chipset/cost savings. Either way, it doesn't look like it'd be worth going for a SATA express setup anyways.
M.2 wins on cable management alone!