Suggestions for a M.2 drive

[Cibit]

Ho I am looking at M.2 drives and want to know the best to get for my system. I am looking at the SATA Evo960 500Gb as this falls within the budget at £129.00 Basically I just want a bigger SSD for DCS as the 250Gb one I use is getting fuller and with the new map I will only have 50Gb spare. Once bought I will move Windows from a 120Gb SSD to the 240Gb(DCS) SSD and DCS will have a 500Gb all to itself :)

Just to confuse the issue I use all 6 SATA connectors for 3x SSD and 3 x HDD one SSD is only 40 GB so my son can have that one leaving one free SATA slot

[BitMaster]

Just an idea....as bad as it sound.

 

I ran into the same issue some time ago, 2 x 256GB , each one alone is too small so I decided AGAINST my usual prejudice for IRST based Raid-0 and combined the 2 drives so they now replicate a 512GB size drive, giving me many more options & choices.

 

As long as you only keep DCS on that Raid-0 it's all fine I guess. With overclocking trials I have killed this setup 100+ times in win10, while booting..etc... the Raid-0 setup survived it all, which my Grub Boot Sector didn't and caused a reinstall ( last night ).

 

If you have 2 identical drives, this may be a solution.

 

If not, I'd rather skip 2 Sata drives and add another NVMe, but read the Manual for that as it matters which what and how...

[David OC]

If you want the full speed from the M.2 (NVMe) you will lose sata 5 and 6. Everything you need to know about NVMe

 

 

I do really really like this drive.... :D

 

Edited May 20, 2018 by David OC

[BitMaster]

If you want the full speed from the M.2 (NVMe) you will lose sata 5 and 6. Everything you need to know about NVMe

 

 

I do really really like this drive.... :D

 

 

 

Not 100% correct David.

 

The 1st NVMe can be attached without any compromise, which means 6 x SATA + 1 x NVMe.

 

Just, if you want to add the 2nd NVMe, THEN you have to sacrifice SATA #5 + #6.

 

This applies to at least Z270 + Z370 chipsets, regardless of vendor.

 

 

..and hell yeah, love'em

[Tomcat84]

I think the 970 EVO is just being released right about now isn’t it? Won’t be a huge difference but think it should be about the same price as the 960 so I would say why not get the newer one while you’re at it.

[blkspade]

Honestly unless you're going to be doing any tasks that can benefit from the additional bandwidth of NVME (or you're an enthusiast with money to burn) , save yourself some cash and just get a larger standard SSD even if its in the M.2 form factor. If DCS storage is your main focus, NVME doesn't seem to offer much for DCS especially in multiplayer. Save up for a 1TB like https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820147678

[blkspade]

I think the 970 EVO is just being released right about now isn’t it? Won’t be a huge difference but think it should be about the same price as the 960 so I would say why not get the newer one while you’re at it.

 

Actually the 970s are looking cheaper than the 960s for the same storage, likely from better yields as compared to the 960s.

[David OC]

Not 100% correct David.

 

The 1st NVMe can be attached without any compromise, which means 6 x SATA + 1 x NVMe.

 

Just, if you want to add the 2nd NVMe, THEN you have to sacrifice SATA #5 + #6.

 

This applies to at least Z270 + Z370 chipsets, regardless of vendor.

 

 

..and hell yeah, love'em

 

I'm was sure I lost the 2 ports when switching the drive to PCIe 4x ?

 

OR lose no sata ports if running at PCIe X2

 

 

[Backy 51]

I bought a Crucial 1TB M2 because size matters ...

[BitMaster]

I'm was sure I lost the 2 ports when switching the drive to PCIe 4x ?

 

OR lose no sata ports if running at PCIe X2

 

 

 

 

for your own sake, you're wrong:

 

read in your manual page 3-19:

 

it's only for M2_2, not M2_1

 

**just do NOT buy M2 but NVMe twice

85.pdf

[David OC]

for your own sake, you're wrong:

 

read in your manual page 3-19:

 

it's only for M2_2, not M2_1

 

**just do NOT buy M2 but NVMe twice

 

 

I'm totally ok about being wrong, it's happened before:thumbup:

 

 

Ho I am looking at M.2 drives and want to know the best to get for my system. I am looking at the SATA Evo960 500Gb as this falls within the budget at £129.00 Basically I just want a bigger SSD for DCS as the 250Gb one I use is getting fuller and with the new map I will only have 50Gb spare. Once bought I will move Windows from a 120Gb SSD to the 240Gb(DCS) SSD and DCS will have a 500Gb all to itself :)

Just to confuse the issue I use all 6 SATA connectors for 3x SSD and 3 x HDD one SSD is only 40 GB so my son can have that one leaving one free SATA slot

 

 

I know I don't no all there is to this new tech, my understanding Cibit was asking about the "SATA Evo960 500Gb" which is really a Pcie device and he has an Asus Prime A Z370 that can run Pcie at 4x. That pic was out of the manual for the Asus Prime A Z370 which I posted in my first post here, which is the same as my MB settings. So he will be able to run the Evo960 at the 3000MB+ sec with 1 sata port available?

Edited May 20, 2018 by David OC

[BitMaster]

I think you misunderstand BigNewy.

 

He wants to change 1 drive from a small Sata SSD to a bigger M2-Sata based SSD. The "old" small SSD will go into his sons PC and he can add another M2 formfactor drive. Since he already has 1 NVMe M2 drive he has limited choices. Adding another NVMe M2 would mean he would have to disable 2 instead of 1 Sata drive. With a M2-Sata he takes 1 Sata out and adds another Sata, via M2 formfactor. THAT leaves 1 Sata cable free, but you cannot use it !

[Prophet]

Just buy a PCI-E SATA controller.

[Cibit]

Thanks guys I am still undecided. I want speed :)

[BitMaster]

Cibit,

 

settle with 4 Sata drives and hook up a 2nd NVMe.

 

Sata 5+6 will have to go if you insert another NVMe.

 

 

I would never buy a Sata Controller..... either get a real Adapter or leave it.

The chipset btw, doesnt have the lanes to support proper SAS Adapters, a bad idea to go that route with desktop chipsets !!! think twice