Bought a new PC for family - question about SSD via PCI-E

itwasntme001

I bought a PC for my family which was a really good deal for the spec.  The only thing that needs improving is to add a SSD as it only has a HDD so want to buy and install a SSD straight away as a boot drive etc.

The chipset is a Z370 and CPU is i5-9400 and GPU is a GTX 2080.  There is a m.2 NVME slot that can be used for a PCIE or SATA drive which is what I will do and I am specifically looking at a PCIE one given the speed.  I have a couple of questions:

- What SSD would you recommend as a PCIE one and size of 250GB?  Looking for good quality/performance for the money so I think around £50-60 should be enough?

- I understand that there is a limited number of PCIE lanes that can be used and since some are already taken up by the GPU, various controllers, USB etc, and since the SSD PCIE requires 4x lanes, would I have enough lanes for the SSD so that nothing gets compromised?

Thanks!

Mikeyd94

If you're only looking to use the m.2 SSD as a boot drive you can pretty much choose anything that fits your size requirements. I always try to buy from a reputable company such as WD, Barracuda or Samsung. Samsung are typically more expensive when you get into the Pro models which aren't completely necessary.

M.2 is definitely the way forward, when you compare the read and write speeds conventional 2.5" SSD's are left behind, 3100mb/s read for an m.2 vs 560mb/s on a 2.5". Motherboards are optimised to make the most out of the PCIE lanes available, because you're only going to use the m.2 for booting, you'll find the power draw from a single GPU fairly low so you won't see much of a performance drop, the biggest limitation will be what read/write speeds the motherboard can actually use.

An important thing to consider is how you're going to run the system. I have a dual boot PC with Windows and Mac, I use a 1tb m.2 for the Mac as you cannot easily configure the m.2 for boot and default a 1tb internal HDD as the main storage drive (not without creating a Fusion drive but who wants one of those!). With Windows, it's running on a 500gb m.2 boot and I use a 2tb 3.5" HDD as main storage (setting the HDD as default is much easier on Windows), that way I can install apps and programs onto the m.2 and run all other files from the HDD as they're fairly small files. This gives me the best of both as I can quickly run programs from the m.2 drives without having to clog them up with all the files. 

If you wanted to go for a setup similar to mine, double your budget and get a 1tb m.2, the read and write speeds are slightly lower but in real world use you shouldn't notice any obvious difference.

If you have a look at scan.co.uk, they have 250gb Seagate Barracuda 510 for around £60. There is also a 1tb WD blue SN550 for around £120. Always worth checking Amazon too if you have prime.

n.b I have noticed you have a GTX 2080 which is a fantastic gaming card, if you are planning to game on it, store them on a standard 3.5" HDD, you get much more storage for a cheaper price and you won't notice any difference in the way they run compared to an SSD.

Hope this helps and I haven't confused you more.

grumpycrab

itwasntme001 said:

- What SSD would you recommend as a PCIE one and size of 250GB?  Looking for good quality/performance for the money so I think around £50-60 should be enough?

Mikeyd94 said:

M.2 is definitely the way forward

I assume the above poster means PCIE is the way forward rather than the form factor (M.2). I have no recommendations as to which brand to go for - Samsung or Sabrent possibly.  Would be interested to know how you plan to install it.  Image from the HDD or clean install.  And use SSD just as a boot and program drive and media on HDD?

itwasntme001

Thanks for the replies, very helpful.  I am looking at the Samsung EVO plus 970 250gb.  Probably can go for a bit cheaper WD blue one but the Samsung is only £15 more.

The SSD will be Windows boot and program drive with the current HDD for media/storage etc.  The PC will be used for video rendering/editing which I guess can use the SSD for that to take advantage of the speed and the final edited video thereafter moved over to HDD for storage.

Windows will be installed as a clean install from USB boot onto the SSD.

So given the SSD I am looking at uses 4x lanes for PCIE, would the m.2 have this many lanes as spare un-utilised so that the full speed of the SSD can be achieved without sacrificing speed/functionality on other things using PCIE lanes?  I think the answer is yes but want to double check.

TheRightOne

itwasntme001 said:

I bought a PC for my family which was a really good deal for the spec.  The only thing that needs improving is to add a SSD as it only has a HDD so want to buy and install a SSD straight away as a boot drive etc.

The chipset is a Z370 and CPU is i5-9400 and GPU is a GTX 2080.  There is a m.2 NVME slot that can be used for a PCIE or SATA drive which is what I will do and I am specifically looking at a PCIE one given the speed.  I have a couple of questions:

- What SSD would you recommend as a PCIE one and size of 250GB?  Looking for good quality/performance for the money so I think around £50-60 should be enough?

- I understand that there is a limited number of PCIE lanes that can be used and since some are already taken up by the GPU, various controllers, USB etc, and since the SSD PCIE requires 4x lanes, would I have enough lanes for the SSD so that nothing gets compromised?

Thanks!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07K1MDMF3/ref=twister_B07RPNXHVD

or

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/13025788241

Would be my first choice at the £50 price point

They have a 512 GB for £75; https://www.cclonline.com/product/264398/ASX8200PNP-512GT-C/Solid-State-Drives-SSDs-/ADATA-XPG-SX8200-Pro-512GB-M-2-2280-PCIe-Gen3-x4-NVMe-Internal-Solid-State-Drive-SSD-/SSD0896/