technically, storage via pcie bus will be faster than via sata... sata only up to 6gb/s... while pcie can go up to 10gb/s or 32gb/s on gen3x4.. correct me if i'm wrong here

when you compared performance, you are comparing speed. i'm not sure what you wanna know if you took speed out of equation.

yes there are real performance difference if you get m.2 ssd which supports pcie 2.0 x4 and above. (it's like 2x sata ssd raid0) lesser than that there is only slight difference. again, this difference is subject to your usage and expectations.

although it's not necessary for common usage, it's better to use m.2 pcie ssd mounted on a pcie adapter with heat sink. for instance, samsung 950 pro has auto throttling mechanism, so when the chip is overheating, it will throttle to sata speed. so it's safe to use in m.2 form. to avoid throttling, use the adapter.

This post has been edited by horns: Jan 3 2016, 12:40 AM

I do know a bit about the speed difference for both, just like to see whether there are additional bonus/let-downs to it.

but thank you for your explanation, basically if i were to opt the m.2 ssd, it is better to mount it to the pcie adapter to avoid throttling. gotcha


btw, is this the adapter you were talking about?

ok hehe imo in m.2 form, the main downside is overheating of controller.

i use bplus m2p4a currently. it's good. apparently it supports pcie 3.0 x4 also.
- http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/M2P4A.html
- taobao link: http://world.taobao.com/item/37633868328.htm

i have posted an image about bplus m2p4a previously, https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...post&p=71040951

after all this while, there might be other options. previously this was the only one with heatsink.

edit: btw, you need some thermal pads to ensure proper contacts between the ssd and heatsink. for some sata ssds, their aluminum case is actually used as heat spreader.

This post has been edited by horns: Jan 3 2016, 11:43 AM

Noted and thanks

will update again when i've got all the stuff together

I just realize, heatsink for SSD?

sweet

yeah if you looked at most hhhl versions of m.2 pcie ssds, usually they are covered with heat sinks; there is a thermal pad between the m.2 ssd and the adapter in kingston hyperx predator also.

for common usage, many said it's ok to run in bare m.2 form. however, i just don't wanna risk it.

at first i wanted to run it using the on the board interface since it is a snug fit on the MB cause my graphics card is a dual slot version and it kinda hides it bit but better consult some experts first.

but oh well, won't risk it, guess I'll have to sacrifice my last pcie slot and kill off the dream of running two graphics card in SLi XD

there was a testing where they tested does M.2 or PCIe based SSD require any heatsink

apparently the end result goes as
1. everyday day to day read writes with transfers here and there, no throttling
2. high end synthetic benchmarking and workloads, ssd got throttled

yeah. i rather not doing that.

nope. check this: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/...-M-2-Drive-725/ (especially how fast the temperatures rise in the video)

that's just large file transfers. i do that frequently. i don't call a file transfer a synthetic benchmark, or a heavy workload?

edit: for reference, here are the links to samsung xp941 and sm951 also.

in xp941's article, you will see that with heat sink, the max temperature is about 50c+ it's much better than over 100c, placed very near to our mobos and components near-by.

This post has been edited by horns: Jan 3 2016, 11:58 PM

jeesus 98C

on a random note, when i game, my SSD goes 52C. not sure should be concerned...

yeah. it's not really just about samsung m.2 ssds if you watched all videos in each article. check out the user comments also. the overheating affects longevity of the drive directly.

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50c+ is fine. most manufacturers advertise that the operating temperature is good if not more than 70c. one way to reduce the max temperature is to have a good air flow in your pc case.

btw...

any m.2 models (120/128GB version) that you think you can recommend me that will go with the adapter?

Trying to find XP941s and SM951s in LYN, can't seem to find a seller

uh? maybe i'm lucky. i just went to garage sales, click on hdds and ssds garage sales, and type sm951 in the quick search field, i found this: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/3593258 (clawhammer sells a lot of good stuff imo. he's still very active here)

go for sm951, not xp941 (older, slower)

looking at the price, i think you should go for 256gb. 256gb is better anyway. (much closer to top speed that can be found in 512gb)

alright thanks

will consider

nice hopefully ces 2016 will bring more exciting stuff about ssd hehe

dude, the one in ur previous post about the heatsink for ur ssd... was it come as it was purchase or u mod it urself?
and, what was the name of the soft-padded thingy again? i noticed there were used lots in gpu and laptop as well...
u know where to bought it in our place ehh? I mean, the soft padded thingy

it's an adapter with heat sink. the link has its package specification. the soft-padded thing is called thermal pad, sometimes called thermal gap filler. i already told you guys everything lol except for where i got my thermal pads, because it's not available anymore from where i got it from. (fujipoly GR-m, conductivity of 6W/mK. i initially bought it for future replacement of pads on gpu vrms) however with a quick search i think you can find it else where. alternatively, iinm you can get some from lelong.my too (i think the conductivity is around 3W/mK)

as for the thickness of thermal pads, 0.5 to 1.5mm should be good. (mine is like 1.3mm)

on a side note, regarding thermal pads used in gpu, from what i have read normally a pad with conductivity of 3 to 5W/mK should be good enough. of course if you wanna have really good stuff there are top of the line pads from fujipoly, like their XR series (up to 17W/mK) but the price is kind of on the high side (very high). in the case of XR-m (with the highest conductivity), its texture is relatively hard. if i wanted to go for that series i will go for XR-e (11W/mK)

edit: just did a refresh about thermal pads and found out a good stuff from gelid (released in September last year). now you can get gelid gp-extreme (12W/mK) at performance-pcs.com (0.5mm and 1.0mm @USD 5.99) i think the price is good, compared to fujipoly's.

edit.2: it's recommended by ekwb that a small drop of thermal pastse, like mx-4 or gc-extreme, is applied to chips first. it's said that this will furher improve heat conductivity.

This post has been edited by horns: Jan 5 2016, 11:51 PM

Thanks bro, this is informative... will look thru the link and the store u suggested... when wanna have table talk and drink?

yeah i hope my tiny research can help some people. that's what we do here right? to share

haha yeah one day we will do this

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at ces 2016, some news:
1. samsung is setting up herself as trend setter again. this time, pushing ssds with high capacities. we will see 850evo and pro up to 4tb in 2016. 950pro will have 1tb.
2. marvell and silicon motion announced new and updated controllers so expect more new players coming in for their own offerings. silicon motion controller SM2246EN (sata) now support 3d mlc nand chips. marvell's 88NV1140 (released in 2014) now supports nvme 1.2, and it can use your system memory as cache. (this means the ssd itself doesn't come with own ram, thus helps reducing production costs)

read these and more at thessdreview.com.

besides ssds, there are plenty of nice stuff awaiting. swiftech h320x2 looks nice haha