What SSD for this motherboard?

[jaydee]

I like the thought of a M.2 SSD for a future Skylake mini-ITX (fewer cables).

I was looking for relatively inexpensive LGA 1151 mini-ITX with displayport and found this:
Asus H170I-PLUS D3 for ~$120 after shipping
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-H17IPD3

It says it has:
M.2: 1x M.2 Port (type 2242/ 2260/ 2280), Support Both SATA & PCI-Express Mode

Would this work? I can't find which "type" it is:
SAMSUNG 850 EVO M.2 500GB ($185 for 500GB)

Also, what is the difference between the two Crucial MX200 models:
M.2 Type 2280SS (Single Sided) (about $187 for 500GB)
M.2 Type 2260DS (Double Sided) (about $196 for 500GB)

 

[shabby]

M.2: 1x M.2 Port (type 2242/ 2260/ 2280), Support Both SATA & PCI-Express Mode

1x? I don't like the sound of that.

 

[jaydee]

1x? I don't like the sound of that.

I am pretty sure it's only signifying that there is a quantity of one M.2 port and doesn't have anything to do with speed.

 

[larryccf]

from asus's website listing the specs "Lightning-fast M.2 with PCIe® 3.0 x4 interface", so it is PCIe 3.0 x4"

the only question you might want to read the owner's manual on, is whether it disables any sata ports when the M.2 socket is in use - all the mobo mfgrs use euphimistic lanuage like "shares bandwidth with sata ports "X" & "Y", when they should be stating they're disabled automatically when M.2 is in use

but so you're aware, those M.2 SSDs you listed are Sata SSDs, not PCIe - the SM951 or the soon to be released 950 PRO are NVMe and 4-5X faster than sata SSDs

fwiw

 

[shabby]

I am pretty sure it's only signifying that there is a quantity of one M.2 port and doesn't have anything to do with speed.

Hah you're right, almost seemed like they threw a slow m2 slot on that mobo.

 

[jaydee]

from asus's website listing the specs "Lightning-fast M.2 with PCIe® 3.0 x4 interface", so it is PCIe 3.0 x4"

the only question you might want to read the owner's manual on, is whether it disables any sata ports when the M.2 socket is in use - all the mobo mfgrs use euphimistic lanuage like "shares bandwidth with sata ports "X" & "Y", when they should be stating they're disabled automatically when M.2 is in use

but so you're aware, those M.2 SSDs you listed are Sata SSDs, not PCIe - the SM951 or the soon to be released 950 PRO are NVMe and 4-5X faster than sata SSDs

fwiw

Thanks for the heads-up. If I go with 500GB SSD, it's probably going to be the only hard drive in my system (I have a NAS for storage), so losing a SATA port is not a big deal in my case. At most, I would use one other hard drive.

I like the idea of PCIe speeds in an SSD, but I'm not sure how I would benefit. Copying speeds to/from the SSD isn't going to change because I don't have any other storage device that will come anywhere near that kind of bandwidth. And I'm not sure what applications take advantage of PCIe bandwidth over SATA, but I don't have any.

All that to say, if the price was close, I would consider it but at almost double the cost ($350 vs $185), I am not interested.