Reid Rosefelt
aka Tiger the Frog
I recently got a new computer from Purrfect Audio. Over the last few weeks I’ve learned a thing or two about adding SSDs to computers. As the Amazon Prime Day sale is coming up, there will undoubtedly be deals, so I decided to share what I learned. If I get anything wrong, please correct me.
Regular SSDs can reach over 5 Gb per second, three times the speed of a regular hard drive.
M.2 Ultra PCIe Ultra NVMe SSDs can reach 26 Gb/second, fourteen times the speed of a regular hard drive. There are also M.2 drives connected with SATA—they are no faster than a regular SSD. So make sure you buy the right one.
As you can get M.2 Ultra PCIe SSDs for similar prices to regular SSDs (my ADATA M.2 Ultra was $120 during a sale, less than a Samsung EVO), it might seem like a no-brainer to get them instead. First you need a place to hook them up. My new motherboard has two M.2 slots. But for every one I connect, 2 SATA connections don't work.
What I decided to do instead was hook up a PCIe card that has two slots, one NVMe and one SATA M.2. So I got full speed from the NVMe as well as new spot to add more storage—and I didn’t lose any SATA connections on the NVMe. There is also a connection on this card for the SATA cable. This kit came with heat sinks, which I didn't use.
Note that SSDs are rated in terms of top potential speed, but yours may not go that fast. The only way to know what’s going on in your computer is to use Benchmark Software. I use the free Crystal DiskMark and DiskInfo utilities, which you can get HERE. There are also ones that come packaged with your SSDS or are on the company websites.
Per my benchmarks, both of my Samsung EVO sample drives average 4 Gb per second, while my Crucial boot drive gets the full 6 Gb/second, and my ADATA M.2 Ultra gets the full 26 Gb/second. I’m not dissing Samsung, because those drives are older and I didn't test them when they were new, but I am saying don’t be afraid of other brands just because they cost less. Read reviews just like you would for a sample library. Compare warranties. My ADATA has a five year warranty.
GETTING CONNECTED
The connections to your SSDs affect the speed. Like processors and your SSDs themselves, these pipes to your drives are constantly going through new generations. Getting faster.
For example, SATA I (1.5 Gb/sec), SATA II (3Gb/sec) and the current SATA III (6 Gb/sec). So no SSD can go faster than 6 Gb/sec) if it is hooked up with a SATA III cable.
PCI Express (aka PCIe) The current standard is PCIe 4, and PCIe 5 is here, although my spanking new motherboard only has PCIe 3. Each PCIe bus can provide faster thoroughput if it has more lanes. PCIe busses vary in size from one to 32 lanes.
You can connect any card to any PCIe connector. It just might not run as fast. Most computers have one 16 lane PCIe port, which is used for the graphics card.
So if you have a really old motherboard and you connect your M.2 card to a one lane slot, you might not get full speed. Do research in advance and check out the benchmarks after you get it.
You can find out more about PCIe cards in this video.
USB has advanced from USB 1.1 (12 Mb/sec) to USB 2.0 (480 Mb/sec) to USB 3.1 (5 Gigabits/sec) and USB 3.1 2nd gen (10 Gb/sec). Type-C is just 3.1 second gen with a different connector. So is a USB 3.1 second gen connection as good (or even better) connector to a SATA? On paper that seems to be true, but some say there are drawbacks, as hooking up external drives might be taxing on your CP
Firewire IEEE1394 connections are 400 Mb/sec, while Intel/Apple’s Thunderbolt are speed demons: Thunderbolt 1 (2 lanes of 10 Gb/sec) and Thunderbolt 2 (20 Gb/sec) and Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gb/sec)
DRIVE BAYS Did you know that a regular-sized drive bay can hold two SSDs? Totally okay to do and all you need is a kit like https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FD8YJB4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (this). It comes with everything you need, including a splitter for a power cable, and SATA cables
SSDs need power and SATA connections not just drive bays. While you can easily split power cables, you can’t split SATA. If you want more SATA than is on your motherboard, you can install a PCIe card that gives you a few more internal SATA connections. You can also get one that has external SATA ports, if you need to put your drives outside your computer.
This is why you need to think ahead about what you might want to do in the future with your computer, and make the best use of SATA, PCIe, and drive bays. Scanning NewEgg and Amazon, you can find out about all the things you can do with inexpensive PCIe cards, including adding USB, Wi-Fi, Thunderbolt, Firewire, etc.
Regular SSDs can reach over 5 Gb per second, three times the speed of a regular hard drive.
M.2 Ultra PCIe Ultra NVMe SSDs can reach 26 Gb/second, fourteen times the speed of a regular hard drive. There are also M.2 drives connected with SATA—they are no faster than a regular SSD. So make sure you buy the right one.
As you can get M.2 Ultra PCIe SSDs for similar prices to regular SSDs (my ADATA M.2 Ultra was $120 during a sale, less than a Samsung EVO), it might seem like a no-brainer to get them instead. First you need a place to hook them up. My new motherboard has two M.2 slots. But for every one I connect, 2 SATA connections don't work.
What I decided to do instead was hook up a PCIe card that has two slots, one NVMe and one SATA M.2. So I got full speed from the NVMe as well as new spot to add more storage—and I didn’t lose any SATA connections on the NVMe. There is also a connection on this card for the SATA cable. This kit came with heat sinks, which I didn't use.
Note that SSDs are rated in terms of top potential speed, but yours may not go that fast. The only way to know what’s going on in your computer is to use Benchmark Software. I use the free Crystal DiskMark and DiskInfo utilities, which you can get HERE. There are also ones that come packaged with your SSDS or are on the company websites.
Per my benchmarks, both of my Samsung EVO sample drives average 4 Gb per second, while my Crucial boot drive gets the full 6 Gb/second, and my ADATA M.2 Ultra gets the full 26 Gb/second. I’m not dissing Samsung, because those drives are older and I didn't test them when they were new, but I am saying don’t be afraid of other brands just because they cost less. Read reviews just like you would for a sample library. Compare warranties. My ADATA has a five year warranty.
GETTING CONNECTED
The connections to your SSDs affect the speed. Like processors and your SSDs themselves, these pipes to your drives are constantly going through new generations. Getting faster.
For example, SATA I (1.5 Gb/sec), SATA II (3Gb/sec) and the current SATA III (6 Gb/sec). So no SSD can go faster than 6 Gb/sec) if it is hooked up with a SATA III cable.
PCI Express (aka PCIe) The current standard is PCIe 4, and PCIe 5 is here, although my spanking new motherboard only has PCIe 3. Each PCIe bus can provide faster thoroughput if it has more lanes. PCIe busses vary in size from one to 32 lanes.
You can connect any card to any PCIe connector. It just might not run as fast. Most computers have one 16 lane PCIe port, which is used for the graphics card.
So if you have a really old motherboard and you connect your M.2 card to a one lane slot, you might not get full speed. Do research in advance and check out the benchmarks after you get it.
You can find out more about PCIe cards in this video.
USB has advanced from USB 1.1 (12 Mb/sec) to USB 2.0 (480 Mb/sec) to USB 3.1 (5 Gigabits/sec) and USB 3.1 2nd gen (10 Gb/sec). Type-C is just 3.1 second gen with a different connector. So is a USB 3.1 second gen connection as good (or even better) connector to a SATA? On paper that seems to be true, but some say there are drawbacks, as hooking up external drives might be taxing on your CP
Firewire IEEE1394 connections are 400 Mb/sec, while Intel/Apple’s Thunderbolt are speed demons: Thunderbolt 1 (2 lanes of 10 Gb/sec) and Thunderbolt 2 (20 Gb/sec) and Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gb/sec)
DRIVE BAYS Did you know that a regular-sized drive bay can hold two SSDs? Totally okay to do and all you need is a kit like https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FD8YJB4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (this). It comes with everything you need, including a splitter for a power cable, and SATA cables
SSDs need power and SATA connections not just drive bays. While you can easily split power cables, you can’t split SATA. If you want more SATA than is on your motherboard, you can install a PCIe card that gives you a few more internal SATA connections. You can also get one that has external SATA ports, if you need to put your drives outside your computer.
This is why you need to think ahead about what you might want to do in the future with your computer, and make the best use of SATA, PCIe, and drive bays. Scanning NewEgg and Amazon, you can find out about all the things you can do with inexpensive PCIe cards, including adding USB, Wi-Fi, Thunderbolt, Firewire, etc.