Question Smart to go with an M.2 SSD (via PCIe 2.0 adapter) vs SATA SSD?

[rseiler]

I'm looking to dump my aging spinning data drive soon currently in an older system and am wondering if I should tangle with an adapter for one of my PCIe 2.0 slots so that I can use an M.2 NVMe SSD (not as a boot drive, which is SATA SSD). If the adapters are flakey, I won't, but otherwise it's attractive, I think, though I understand that even with a x16 slot it'll be limited to x4 speed. It's not really about speed for me but I like the idea of it being more suitable for a modern system some day.

It's an Intel DZ68BC with these slots. Currently only H is used (video), so I was thinking D.

https://imgur.com/aZbV1bd

If it's worthwhile, are there any go-to adapters that you can recommend?

 

[Tech Junky]

To reduce your possible headaches skip the M2 idea on a system this old and go with a 2.5" SSD on a SATA port. I think you'll have some issues using a card to adapt the drive.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

It's not really about speed for me but I like the idea of it being more suitable for a modern system some day.

If you plan to reuse the M.2 drive in a new system eventually, then by all means, go right ahead with an adaptor. There really shouldn't be any difference between the passive ones you need, so just choose the one that best fits economically.

Just be warned, you'll either sacrifice 8 of your GPU lanes, or you'll be bottlenecked be the DMI 2.0 link to the PCH. It's not a big deal, but everything else connected to the PCH has to use the same link, f.x. USB, SATA and so on.

 

[Shmee]

It is a fair idea, and should still be faster than a SATA SSD. What m.2 did you have in mind, and what OS are you using on this system? If the OS is older than Windows 10 or a modern Linux distro, NVMe drivers could be a tad troublesome.

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm looking to dump my aging spinning data drive soon currently in an older system and am wondering if I should tangle with an adapter for one of my PCIe 2.0 slots so that I can use an M.2 NVMe SSD (not as a boot drive, which is SATA SSD). If the adapters are flakey, I won't, but otherwise it's attractive, I think, though I understand that even with a x16 slot it'll be limited to x4 speed. It's not really about speed for me but I like the idea of it being more suitable for a modern system some day.

It's an Intel DZ68BC with these slots. Currently only H is used (video), so I was thinking D.

https://imgur.com/aZbV1bd

If it's worthwhile, are there any go-to adapters that you can recommend?

I went from a SATA SSD to an M.2 SSD in my Haswell-era system and I have noticed zero difference in performance. The M.2 benches a bit faster (something like 800MB/sec compared to 550MB/sec with a decent SATA SSD), that's it.

In case anyone is wondering, I had to get a higher capacity SSD for my Win10 install because 256GB doesn't store many modern games these days, and I went for M.2 because it'll be a better choice when migrating to my next platform upgrade. It seems like a cruel joke to make a 980 PRO run at PCIe 2.0 but there it is

I think you should just go with SATA rather than run the risk of oddness with adapters and such. I would have done the same in your position but my board has an M.2 slot so I knew there wouldn't be any shenanigans trying to get it to boot from it.

 

[Shmee]

I went from a SATA SSD to an M.2 SSD in my Haswell-era system and I have noticed zero difference in performance. The M.2 benches a bit faster (something like 800MB/sec compared to 550MB/sec with a decent SATA SSD), that's it.

In case anyone is wondering, I had to get a higher capacity SSD for my Win10 install because 256GB doesn't store many modern games these days, and I went for M.2 because it'll be a better choice when migrating to my next platform upgrade. It seems like a cruel joke to make a 980 PRO run at PCIe 2.0 but there it is

I think you should just go with SATA rather than run the disk of oddness with adapters and such. I would have done the same in your position but my board has an M.2 slot so I knew there wouldn't be any shenanigans trying to get it to boot from it.

What board do you have? As you kind of pointed out, many Haswell era boards had an m.2 slot, but it was limited to PCIe gen2, often with only 2 lanes. This might be the issue. On the same board, you may have a PCIe gen3 slot, x4 or longer, that would greatly enhance the m.2 drive's speed with an adapter. Keep in mind gen2 x2 would be limited to about 1000MB/s max, while the gen3 x4 is about 3800MB/s.

 

[mikeymikec]

What board do you have? As you kind of pointed out, many Haswell era boards had an m.2 slot, but it was limited to PCIe gen2, often with only 2 lanes. This might be the issue. On the same board, you may have a PCIe gen3 slot, x4 or longer, that would greatly enhance the m.2 drive's speed with an adapter. Keep in mind gen2 x2 would be limited to about 1000MB/s max, while the gen3 x4 is about 3800MB/s.

Asus Z97 pro gamer. Apparently PCIEX16_2 is 3.0 capable, but if I get the 6700 XT that I'm considering getting then it's a triple-slot card and I'd lose access to that slot. - edit - hmm, some are triple slot, some aren't. Having said that, a dual-slot card cooking an M.2 drive still doesn't seem like a great idea.

There's also the problem of finding a controller card with a decent enough chipset to make the whole thing worthwhile, and that controller card isn't likely to come cheap IMO.

 

[igor_kavinski]

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-NVMe-PCIe-Aluminum-EC-PCIE/dp/B084GDY2PW/

Use it in the x16 slot.

BIOS update may be required.

Don't expect it to feel amazing, unless you want to pick up the 118GB Optane drive from Newegg and use that for the pagefile and temp/scratch drive. Even then, you may only notice the difference under heavy paging with RAM at 95% usage.

 

[Shmee]

If using a video card, I would use the adapter card in the gen3 x8 slot, as long as the GPU you have isn't too big to crowd out the adapter card. Though you don't need to get more than an x4 adapter for a single m.2 drive, as they all only use up to 4 lanes anyway.

I would personally not worry too much about brand, just get one that is gen4 compatible, in case you use it in a new system later. They are all pretty cheap. And AFAIK, most of these cards don't have controllers, they are just PCIe pass through from slot to the m.2 drive.

https://www.amazon.com/AMPCOM-Adapter-40Gbps-Desktop-Speed/dp/B0876MLNY6/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1MYWIDSPFJ5WH&keywords=pcie%2Bm.2%2Badapter%2Bcard&qid=1672655419&s=electronics&sprefix=pcie%2Bm.2%2Badapter%2Celectronics%2C120&sr=1-4&th=1

 

[igor_kavinski]

https://www.amazon.com/AMPCOM-Adapter-40Gbps-Desktop-Speed/dp/B0876MLNY6/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1MYWIDSPFJ5WH&keywords=pcie%2Bm.2%2Badapter%2Bcard&qid=1672655419&s=electronics&sprefix=pcie%2Bm.2%2Badapter%2Celectronics%2C120&sr=1-4&th=1

Looks great!

 

[mikeymikec]

@Shmee Do you know if they use a particular controller chip, and how well that fares in both performance and reliability terms? I remember in the earlier days of SATA that quality differed greatly between chipsets as well as compatibility issues.

I'm also wondering if I switch from M.2 to a PCIe M.2 card whether that will cause Linux or Win10 to have problems / need reconfiguring.

The one igor mentioned is available on Amazon UK but not the one you mentioned apparently.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I'm using some obscure branded adapter card in my Z97 mobo. The quality was so bad that the mini screw driver included with it was unable to remove the fastening screw and I ended up destroying the ridges of the screw so now it's impossible to remove it. My NVMe SSD's screw hole is touching that screw and it's being kept in place with a sticky tape. Other than that, everything works fine. The SSD is detected in the BIOS in its own NVMe section but there is no configurable option there. It just shows the model string it gets from the NVMe to display there.

 

[Shmee]

@Shmee Do you know if they use a particular controller chip, and how well that fares in both performance and reliability terms? I remember in the earlier days of SATA that quality differed greatly between chipsets as well as compatibility issues.

I'm also wondering if I switch from M.2 to a PCIe M.2 card whether that will cause Linux or Win10 to have problems / need reconfiguring.

The one igor mentioned is available on Amazon UK but not the one you mentioned apparently.

I am pretty sure most of these don't have controllers, which makes them different from HBA cards or SATA ports on the motherboard. For most single m.2 adapter cards, I suspect they are just a signal extension from the PCIe lanes in your motherboard's PCIe slot, to the m.2 slot on the card. Basically like a riser card or extension cable.

Now there are some cards that take multiple m.2 drives, that may have special chips for putting them in RAID or something. These are a different story however, and are more specialized and more expensive.

 

[mikeymikec]

I am pretty sure most of these don't have controllers, which makes them different from HBA cards or SATA ports on the motherboard. For most single m.2 adapter cards, I suspect they are just a signal extension from the PCIe lanes in your motherboard's PCIe slot, to the m.2 slot on the card. Basically like a riser card or extension cable.

Now there are some cards that take multiple m.2 drives, that may have special chips for putting them in RAID or something. These are a different story however, and are more specialized and more expensive.

That makes sense, thanks for the information.

 

[rseiler]

Thanks for all the answers, everyone. I just got online today so am going to digest the responses and then respond to them.

 

[rseiler]

Just be warned, you'll either sacrifice 8 of your GPU lanes, or you'll be bottlenecked by the DMI 2.0 link to the PCH. It's not a big deal, but everything else connected to the PCH has to use the same link, f.x. USB, SATA and so on.

Ah, wouldn't have thought of that. I'll think about what that means. Put here for reference:

https://cdn.hw-lab.com/vendor/intel/z68/z68-block-diagram.png

It is a fair idea, and should still be faster than a SATA SSD. What m.2 did you have in mind, and what OS are you using on this system? If the OS is older than Windows 10 or a modern Linux distro, NVMe drivers could be a tad troublesome.

No idea on the drive yet, so I'm open to any of the majors with a decent warranty. Win11.

I think you should just go with SATA rather than run the risk of oddness with adapters and such. I would have done the same in your position but my board has an M.2 slot so I knew there wouldn't be any shenanigans trying to get it to boot from it.

This system's BIOS wouldn't even support that, so it would have been a big lift on the part of an adapter board interjecting itself early enough in the boot to make it happen (not even sure it's possible). Fortunately, if I do this it's just as a secondary drive, so a "passive" board would theoretically work.

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-NVMe-PCIe-Aluminum-EC-PCIE/dp/B084GDY2PW/

Use it in the x16 slot.
BIOS update may be required.

Thanks, Sabrent is a brand that I've used in other contexts at other times, but a BIOS update would be a problem since this system hasn't had one since the Clinton administration, so that's one of the things I'll be looking at carefully. It's not even UEFI.

 

[Tech Junky]

Unless you're going to rebuild to something more current KISS it and use the SSD option. You can put it in a new system and add an nvme for more speed later.

 

[kschendel]

I used something very like that Sabrent adapter in an old 2010 Mac Pro for a few years. I'd expect it to work fine. There are no electronics on the board, just a few passive components. m.2/NVMe to PCIe is mostly just a pinout adapter.