What is m 2. M2 or ssd which is better for the average mortal

Today we’ll talk a little about the present non-standard SSDs. About the benefits of use solid state drives They stopped arguing a long time ago - today SSDs are recommended not only for gamers or designers, but also for all ordinary users. While the market is waiting for the release of revolutionary controllers that will take full advantage of PCIe, simplified analogues of the M.2 format confidently hold the lead in this direction. Initially, the “intermediate” form factor (on the way from SATA to full-fledged PCIe) managed to occupy its niche due to several advantages over older standards.

What exactly are the benefits?

Secondly, compactness. If we compare the sizes of M.2 drives with the previous standard, mSATA, the former can be at least a quarter more compact in size. Originally developed for ultrabooks and portable devices, the standard is now actively supported by manufacturers of motherboards for regular desktop PCs. In this case, for example, the memory capacity of the line SanDisk X300(represented by our model SanDisk X300 SD7SN6S) increases up to 1TB.

Size comparison of review model with OCZ Trion 100 drive

The third advantage is versatility. As mentioned above, some models have the ability to connect to both PCIe and SATA. Today, the difference in speed is not as noticeable as we would like, but PCIe is clearly the future. But in addition to M.2 drives it supports bluetooth connection, Wi-Fi and NFC chips.

M.2 slot on motherboard Asus Maximus VIII Ranger

And finally, prevalence: so far SATA Express has not received widespread development, the M.2 slot managed to find its place in motherboards from leading manufacturers. As you can see, the standard has become a logical evolutionary branch of development using SSD, surpassing mSATA and at the same time being the most compact and quick solution on the market.

Excursion into history

It was preceded by other drives (from companies such as Intel, Crucial, KingSpec), but they were designed only for mobile and portable devices. Despite the capabilities of two PCIe 2.0 lanes used in the Plextor M6e, the drive in the new form factor did not give the expected results in terms of performance, and compatibility was hampered by the lack of custom M.2 drives on the market at that time. In fact, it was Plextor that opened up this new direction.

An important problem for a long time remained the reluctance of manufacturers to spend money on full support PCIe: when assembling drives in the M.2 form factor, they still reduced performance to a minimum. There were only a few models available in stores that supported SATA via a 2x or 4x PCIe interface. In this case, the advantage of M.2 over mSATA was only compactness and only slightly increased performance.

In addition, even when using PCIe capabilities, manufacturers resorted to AHCI drivers, although for SSDs it is much more profitable to use NVM Express.

Gradually, the market began to be filled with models from the manufacturers mentioned above: Crucial M500, Transcend MTS600, Kingston SM2280. However, the form factor of these models can still be called “half M.2”: no one wanted to fully use the capabilities of the new standard.

By the way, now the presence of certain keys in the selected drive model can cause difficulties when purchasing: it all depends on the user’s motherboard. Some boards only support drives with B-keys (2xPCIe), some - with M-keys (4xPCIe). It is clear that M is fully compatible with B, but if the “mother” is designed only for models with B-keys, you will have to forget about M-products. The length of the M.2 card will also have to be taken into account: on some boards, long drives with adapters simply will not fit.

Samsung is going to complete the development of M.2: the revolutionary Samsung PRO 950 finally finally switches to 4 PCIe 3.0 interfaces, allowing you to increase the write speed to 1500 MB/s. Samsung has specially developed a new controller that allows you to squeeze the maximum available out of the bus. At 256GB, the drive's lifespan is equivalent to overwriting 200TB: about 180GB of overwriting daily for three years. The drive will go on sale in the near future, and its terabyte version will be available next year.

X300 – not the fastest, but inexpensive horses

Technology, connection

SanDisk is a well-known player in the storage drive market. Their proprietary nCache 2.0 technology (allows you to save device resources when working with small-block data; programmed at the controller level) has managed to earn positive reviews critics and specialists and is used in many of the manufacturer’s drives. Including in the X300 under consideration.
The drive is connected via the SATA 3.2 interface.

This is what a disk board looks like without a container

An important detail, by the way, is this treasured screw, which, of course, is not included with the disk. You need to look for it in a box with motherboard. There should also be a special pad that is screwed into the board (or it may already be screwed in - depends on the manufacturer).

There are two versions of the drive - 128GB and 512GB with the same screw

The motherboard can accommodate M.2 cards of different lengths. It’s great that we came across exactly this one in the test – ASUS MAXIMUS VIII. It has several fasteners for fixing boards of different lengths.

Sandisk X300 on ASUS MAXIMUS VIII RANGER motherboard

The installed board takes up almost no space in the case. This is, of course, the main advantage in terms of ergonomics - no cables or rigid power cables from the power supply in the grid, with which we have no friendship.

Test results

Test stand:

• OS: Windows 10 Pro
• CPU: i7-6700 @ 3.4GHz
• RAM: 16GB DDR4 @ 2140MHz
• MTHRBRD: ASUS MAXIMUS VIII RANGER

Test results in Crystal DiskMark:

Results of disk check using HD Tune Pro utility:

Indications of the HD Tune Pro utility and standard means diagnosing hard Windows drives while copying a large file from an OCZ Trion 100 drive to a Sandisk X300 drive:

Results of checking the disk using the AS SSD Benchmark utility:

Hi all!

M2, SATA, PCI Express- Which is better?

Before answering this question, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the terminology.
Let's start with the simplest and most familiar - What is an SSD?

Solid-State Drive - This is a method of storing data. That is, if we are talking about hard drive, we mean that the data is stored on round magnetic plates, and if we are talking about SSDs, then it is assumed that they are contained on memory chips.

Form factor

They are the same size as 2.5 inches hard drives, but since this is an SSD, there are memory chips inside the case on which the data is stored.

The whole thing is connected to the motherboard using a SATA connector.
There are also more exotic options, such as M2 drives.
These are thin, long and essentially bare boards on which those same chips are visible.

This is the same SSD drive, only using a connection type/connector called M2. There are also PCI Express drives, although often these are the same M2 drives that are simply inserted into an adapter to PCI Express and all of this is sold in one set.

Protocol and interface

Everything became clear with the sizes and types of connections. It remains to study such a thing as the protocol. In simple terms This is a technology for communicating between the drive and other computer components and in particular the processor.
The most common 2.5 inch SATA SSDs use the AHCI protocol, which was developed quite a long time ago for use hard drives and as a result has limitations. Self SATA connection also limited to 550-600 MB/s bandwidth.

It was precisely in order to bypass these speed limitations that PCI Express and M2 were invented, although they still use or emulate AHSI, but due to the new interface they have throughput much higher than their predecessors.

Also relatively recently, the NVMe protocol was developed, which can transmit up to 65,000 queues, while AHSI only 32 queues.

It's time to move from words to action and look at a comparison of interfaces:

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages:

1. Small size. Even fairly small, compared to HDD, SSD require separate space in the case personal computer, M2 fits almost tightly to the motherboard, making it suitable even for laptops that do not have space for standard SSDs.
2. Versatility. SSDs with the M2 form factor can be connected via SATA and PCI-E, or into their own M2 connector. WITH usual hard or solid state drive You can't do that.
3. High performance and low resource consumption. As most tests show, the M2 interface is indeed superior to the usual SATA, and also requires less energy.
4. Absence additional food. For standard disks You need an additional cable from a 15Pin format power supply, but not for M2.

Flaws:

1. Difficulty in compatibility with computers.
   Before purchasing an M.2 SSD, you must ensure that your motherboard supports this connector. To do this, you need to know whether the connector itself is present on the board, and then the compatibility of a particular drive and board. You also need to know the length of the SSD and check if it suits you.
2. Overheat.
   Long-term recording to disk heats up the chip to very high temperatures. high temperature, because of this, the controller is triggered, which slows down the recording speed in order to cool down. This problem does not arise so often, but manufacturers have already begun to produce drives with external cooling in the form of radiators.
3. Price
   Previously, M.2 SSDs cost an order of magnitude higher than their counterparts on a SATA interface, but in 2018 the situation has leveled off quite quickly and in the middle price segment (8-14 thousand rubles) M.2 drives cost only 2000-3000 thousand more expensive than their predecessors.
4. Guarantee
   If you're thinking of choosing an expensive drive to save for the future, be sure to ensure that your device comes with a long warranty. IN lately almost all famous manufacturers - for example: Samsung, Intel, Plextor, Western Digital provide several years of warranty

Conclusion

To summarize, I would like to say that the M2 interface, and in particular NVMe technology, is a new standard to which all manufacturers will switch.

While desktop hard drives have existed in the 3.5-inch form factor for many years, SSDs have been available in the 2.5-inch format from the very beginning. It was great for small SSD components. However, laptops were becoming thinner, and 2.5-inch SSDs no longer met the small size criterion. Therefore, many manufacturers have turned their attention to other form factors with smaller dimensions.

In particular, the mSATA standard was developed, but it appeared too late. The corresponding interface is quite rare today, in no small part due to the fact that mSATA (short for mini-SATA) still operates at a relatively low SATA speed. mSATA drives are physically identical to Mini PCI Express modules, but electrically mSATA and mini PCIe are incompatible. If the socket is designed to accommodate mSATA drives, you will only be able to use those. On the contrary, if the socket is designed for mini PCI Express modules, the drives mSATA SSD You can insert them, but they will not work.

The mSATA standard can be considered obsolete today. It gave way to the M.2 standard, which was originally called Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF). The M.2 standard provides manufacturers with greater flexibility in SSD dimensions, since the drives are much more compact, allowing eight length options, from 16 to 110 mm. Also M.2 supports different options interfaces. Today, the PCI Express interface is increasingly used, which will dominate in the future, since it is much faster. But the first M.2 drives relied on the SATA interface, and USB 3.0 was theoretically possible. However, not all M.2 slots support all mentioned interfaces. Therefore, before purchasing a drive, check which standards your M.2 slot supports.

The M.2 standard is now spreading among desktop PCs; modern motherboards offer at least one corresponding slot. Another positive point is that a cable is no longer required; the drive is inserted directly into the motherboard slot. However, connecting via cable is also possible. But for this, the motherboard must have a corresponding port, namely U.2. Previously, this standard was known as SFF 8639. Of course, it is theoretically possible to equip 2.5-inch drives with a U.2 port, but there are very few such models on the market, as well as drives with SATA Express.

The SATA Express interface is the successor to SATA 6 Gb/s, so it is backward compatible. In fact, the host interface even supports two SATA 6 Gb/s ports or one SATA Express. This support was added more for compatibility reasons, since SATA drives Express are electrically connected to the PCI Express bus. That is, SATA Express drives on “pure” SATA 6 Gb/s ports do not work. But SATA Express relies on only two PCIe lanes, meaning the bandwidth will be half that of M.2.

Compact and very fast: M.2 SSD drives with PCI interface Express, photo with adapter card

Of course, most desktop computers there are regular ones PCI slots Express, so you can install the SSD directly into a slot such as a video card. You can purchase an adapter card for M.2 SSD (PCIe), and then connect the drives in the “traditional” way in the form of a card PCI extensions Express.

M.2 SSDs with PCI Express interface demonstrate throughput of more than two gigabytes per second - but only with a suitable connection. Modern M.2 SSDs are usually designed for four third-generation PCI Express lanes, only this interface allows them to unlock their performance potential. With the older PCIe 2.0 standard and/or fewer lanes, SSDs will work, but you'll lose a significant amount of performance. If in doubt, we recommend checking your motherboard's user manual for the M.2 lane configuration.

If the motherboard does not have an M.2 slot, you can install such a drive via an expansion card, for example, in a slot for a second video card. However, in this case, most often the video card will no longer be supplied with 16, but 8 PCI Express lines. However, this will not affect the performance of the video card so seriously. The following table summarizes information about modern interfaces:

Read about the advantages and disadvantages of the M.2 form factor, which drives support the M.2 slot, what connectors M.2 drives use, what is needed to install an M.2 card, etc. M.2 is new open format for productive computer systems, but is everything so clear? Manufacturers of solid-state SSD drives such as Samsung, Intel, Plextor, Corsair use this format to save space and energy costs. These are very important factors in the production of modern ultrabooks and tablets. However, purchasing an M.2 drive to upgrade your device requires some forethought.

M.2 is not just an evolutionary form factor. Potentially, it should completely replace the entire Serial ATA format. M.2 can interface with SATA 3.0 (all drives on modern desktop PCs are connected with such cables), PCI Express 3.0 (this interface is used by default for video cards and other devices) and even USB 3.0.

Potentially, any SSD or HDD drive, memory card or flash drive, GPU or any low-power USB gadget can be installed on a card with an M.2 connector. But it's not that simple. For example, there are only four PCI Express lanes in one M.2 slot, which is a quarter of the number that graphics cards need, but the flexibility in this tiny little slot is impressive.

When using PCI buses Instead of the SATA bus, M.2 devices can transfer data up to 6 times faster. The final speed depends on the capabilities of the motherboard and the M.2 card itself. An M.2 SSD drive will work much faster than a similar SATA drive if your motherboard supports PCI 3.

What drives support the M.2 slot?

On at the moment M.2 is used as an interface for ultra fast SSD disks on both laptops and workstations. If you go to a computer store and ask for an M.2 drive, they will almost certainly show you an SSD with an M.2 connector. But only if you can find a retail computer store that is still in business today.

Some laptop models also use the M.2 port as a means wireless connection, installing tiny, low-power cards that combine Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios. This is less common on desktops, where it's more convenient to use USB or PCIe 1x connectors (though there's no reason you couldn't do this on a compatible motherboard).

Manufacturers computer hardware They are in no hurry to use this slot for other devices. No one has yet presented a video card on the M.2 connector, but Intel is already selling its over fast memory Optane customers.

Does my computer support an M.2 slot?

If your computer was manufactured and built in the last few years, then it almost certainly has an M.2 slot. Unfortunately, the flexibility of the format does not mean that the slot itself is as easy to use as any other USB device. As a rule, cards with an M.2 slot are quite long. Before purchasing an M.2 SSD drive, check the board dimensions according to the specifications and make sure that your computer or laptop has room to install them. In addition, M.2 devices have different connectors. Let's look at these 2 factors in more detail.

What is the length of the M.2 card?

For desktop PCs, length is usually not an issue. Even a tiny Mini-ITX motherboard can easily accommodate an M.2 board, the length of which ranges from 30 to 110 millimeters. Typically, motherboards have a hole for a small screw that holds the board securely in place. The length of the supported M.2 chip is indicated next to the mount.

All M.2 drives use a fixed width of 22 millimeters, so the size difference is only expressed in length. Currently the following options are available:

• M.2 2230: 30mm;
• M.2 2242: 42 mm;
• M.2 2260: 60 mm;
• M.2 2280: 80 mm;
• M.2 2210: 110 mm.

Some motherboards offer the ability to attach a screw at any of these intervals.

What connectors do M.2 drives use?

Although the M.2 standard uses the same 22mm wide slot for all cards, it is not the same for all devices. Since M.2 is designed to be used with many various devices, it has some connection differences:

• B Key: The gap on the right side of the card (to the left of the host controller) is used, with six pins to the right of the gap. This configuration supports PCIe x2 buses.
• M Key: uses the gap on the left side of the card (right side of the main controller), with five pins to the left of the gap. This configuration supports PCIe x4 bus connections for double the data throughput.
• B+M Key: uses both of the above gaps, with five pins on the left side of the card and six on the right. Such cards are limited to PCIe x2 speed.

What is needed to install an M.2 card?

Most M.2 cards are SSD drives and are automatically recognized by your operating system based on AHCI drivers. For Windows 10, most Wi-Fi and Bluetooth cards are also automatically recognized and installed standard drivers. However, you may need to enable the M.2 slot through a setting in your computer's BIOS or UEFI. You will also need a screwdriver to secure the device with a screw to the motherboard.

Is it possible to add an M.2 card to a PC if it does not have a slot?

This is not possible for laptops because modern devices have a very compact design and do not allow any unplanned device inside the case. You're in luck if you're using a desktop PC. There are adapters on the market that use the PCIe x4 slot on your motherboard.

Remember, if your motherboard can't boot from PCIe, then you won't be able to use the M.2 drive as a boot drive, meaning you won't benefit from much speed. If you want to take full advantage of an M.2 drive, it's best to use a motherboard that supports the new standard.

Greetings to all, dear readers of the blog site! In 2002, the SATA interface appeared, which is now used to connect the vast majority of hard drives and SSDs. Over the past 16 years, it has been updated three times, while maintaining backward compatibility. In 2009, a compact version of this interface appeared - mSATA, which is located directly on the motherboard.

Support for Connector m2 on motherboards began in 2013. In terms of its purpose, it is very similar to mSATA, but it allows you to bypass the bandwidth limitation SATA interface. Since the mSATA standard is based on SATA 3, its throughput is only 600 MB/sec, while modern SSDs already operate at speeds of 3000 MB/sec and higher.

This is what an SSD looks like in M2 form factor

Using the M2 connector, you can install not only an SSD in your computer, but also other ngff devices: Wi-Fi cards, Bluetooth, NFC and GPS expansion cards. With this type of connection you will get rid of numerous wires running from the drive to system board. Thus, you save space inside system unit, improve its cooling and simplify maintenance.

SSD drives, using the M2 connector, are similar in appearance to RAM strips - they are just as thin and are inserted directly into the computer’s motherboard. It is noteworthy that initially the m 2 connector was used in laptops and netbooks, because their cases are thin enough to install full-size devices there. Then, the m2 connector began to be found on regular motherboards - on stationary PCs.

Connector m 2 uses an interface type such as PCI Express to communicate with the motherboard. Just don’t confuse it with the PCI Express connector itself, of which there may be several and which are located below the video card connector and are present even on older motherboards. This is a little different, although there are SSDs that connect via a PCIe port. And here’s what the M2 connector looks like on the motherboard:

Peculiarities

SSD drives designed for the M2 connector are available in different sizes: 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280 and 22110. The first two digits indicate the width, and the next two indicate the length (in millimeters). The longer the strip, the more chips can be placed on it, the greater the disk capacity will be. Despite such a variety of form factors, the most popular is 2280.

The m2 connector on modern motherboards may have different positions. We are talking about some “keys”. Again, we can draw an analogy with RAM strips: DDR3 memory differs from DDR2 in the location of the keys - small cutouts in the strips and the slots themselves, respectively. The same here, small cutouts can be located in the left and right parts port.

Connector m2 can have two keys: B and M. It turns out that they are not compatible with each other. However, you can find motherboards with a B + M (combined) connector. In addition to the PCIe interface, the m2 port also supports SATA mode. But the speed is SATA mode will be significantly lower than in PCI Express. The keys usually determine what type of interface will be used.

In ordinary hard drives(HDD) controller communicates with the operating system via the AHCI protocol. But, this protocol is not able to use all the capabilities of modern solid-state drives. This prompted the emergence of a new protocol called NVMe. The new protocol is characterized by low latency and allows you to perform more operations per second, while minimizing the load on the processor.

How to choose m2 SSD

At purchasing an SSD drive operating via the m2 interface, be sure to pay attention to the following things:

• Port size m2. Select a disk so that it can be installed in the motherboard, so that nothing rests anywhere.
• Key type - B, M, or combined. Both the motherboard and the SSD drive itself must have compatible keys. SATA m2 SSD drives are usually available with “M+B” keys, and PCIe m2 SSDs are available with “M” key.
• Interface version and number of lanes: PCI-E 2.0 x2 has a throughput of 8 Gbit/s, and PCI-E 3.0 x4 has a throughput of 3.2 GB/s.
• Which interface is supported - PCI Express or SATA. Of course, PCIe looks preferable because it allows you to work at higher speeds. The possibility of installing an M2 SSD in SATA mode should be indicated in the instructions for the motherboard.
• Support for the NVMe protocol is desirable. If it is not there, then AHCI will do.

An SSD drive that meets all the parameters will be much faster than one connected simply via SATA ports. This solution may be required in games and programs that require the disk to high speed read/write. The best option there will be a drive using the PCIe version 3 interface with four lanes and the NVMe protocol.