What is the difference between the interfaces of SSD SATA3.0, M.2, PCIE /NVME,MSATA? Leave a comment

Solid state drives(SSD) and mechanical hard disk(HDD)

The poor reading and writing experience tells us that mechanical hard disk is doomed to be obsolete. The transmission performance of SSD SSD is several times higher than that of HDD mechanical hard disk, and the system experience has been improved. It is doubted that SSD has dominated the main storage market after years of development.

SSD Interface Classification

In this storage hit, in order to achieve faster speed and better experience, the connection of SSD is also constantly evolving, such as SATA, M.2, PCIE/NVME, MSATA, etc. What’s the difference between these connectors? What platform is suitable for?

(1)SATA 3.0

As the most widely used hard disk connection before, SATA 3.0 has the most advantage of maturity. Ordinary 2.5 inch SSD and HDD hard disk make the theoretical transmission bandwidth of this connection 6Gbps. Although the bandwidth of new connection 10Gbps is much lower than that of new connection 32Gbps, ordinary 2.5 inch SSD also has no such demand, and the read and write speed of more than 500MB/s is enough. Although the specification of SATA 3.0 connector is outdated, the performance requirements of ordinary users are not harsh. SATA 3.0 will be the mainstream choice for a long time. The suitable platform is also relatively broad. Basically, there are problems with devices with SATA connection and SATA SSD connection.

Representative products include: Samsung 850EVO, Samsung 850PRO, Yingruida MX300, Toshiba A100, MEMOBOSS-HL081, etc.

(2)PCIE/NVME

In the traditional SATA hard disk, when we perform data operation, the data will be read from the hard disk to the memory, and then the data will be extracted into the CPU for calculation, and then written into the memory and stored in the hard disk; PCIE is not the same. The data is directly connected to the CPU through the bus, eliminating the process of adjusting the memory to the hard disk, and the transmission efficiency and speed are doubled. To put it simply, we can understand the two channels as two identical cars. The cars in the PCIE channel are like driving at the same speed, and the cars in the SATA channel are like driving on the rough road. Obviously, the transmission speed of PCIE SSD is much faster than that of SATA SSD.

Although PCIE SSD has many advantages, it is not suitable for every device. PCIE SSD has higher overall cost due to the problems of flash memory and master control quality, which is higher than traditional SATA SSD. In addition, because PCIE will occupy the bus channel, and the number of CPU channels in the gateway and mid-tier platforms is small, it is not suitable to add PCIE SSDs. Only top platforms such as Z170, X79 and X99 can fully play the performance of PCIE SSDs. In general, if you are a rich man with good money, then PCIE SSD!

Representative product: Intel 750

(3)M.2-NGFF:

M.2 Connect, originally known as NGFF, is 22mm wide, 2.75mm thick for single flash memory, and 3.85mm thick for double flash memory. However, M.2 Connect has rich scalability, the maximum length can be 110mm, and the SSD capacity can be increased.

M.2 connector is also divided into two types: Socket2 and Socket3. The former is connected with SATA and PCI-Ex2, and the theoretical read and write speed reaches 700MB/s and 500MB/s respectively; The latter is designed for high-performance storage. It supports PCI-EX4, and its theoretical connection speed reaches 32Gb/s, more than five times that of SATA connection.

Representative products: Samsung 960PRO, Samsung 960EVO, Intel 600P, etc.

(4)MSATA :

In the early days, in order to better adapt to the environment of ultra-thin devices such as ultrathin devices, MSATA (mini SATA) connector developed for portable devices should be shipped. You can think of it as the mini version of the standard SATA connection, and the physical connection is the same as the mini PCIE connection.

MSATA connection is an important process of SSD configuration. However, MSATA still has some defects of SATA connection. If it is still a SATA channel, its speed is still 6Gbps. For many reasons, the MSATA has not been connected, and the anti-MSATA has been replaced by the M.2 SSD with more upgrade potential.

MSATA is on the verge of being eliminated. Moreover, M.2 connector is now the most popular, not only in the mobile platform, but also in the desktop platform with the popularity of 32Gbps M.2 connector on the 100-series motherboard. Of course, if you want to upgrade your notebook with MSATA adapter, consider

Representative products: kingston MS200 series MSATA SSD, etc.

m.2 ssd hard disk
m.2 ssd hard disk

In the 60 years of computer development, from the original punch card to today’s SSD, the storage medium has undergone earth-shaking changes. In recent years, SSD has developed rapidly. From the evolution of its form, we can see the evolution of its structure. Previously, it has SATA, mSATA, M.2, PCIE and other interfaces, which have been used in various platform devices. There are all kinds of products connected to the front SSD. Speed up as needed. I believe there will be one for you.

Market development of hard disk

The two giants of mechanical hard disk, Seagate and Western Digital, are not very good, so can’t they see the hot solid state hard disk? Of course not, but enterprise transformation is not a matter of two sentences. Both companies are also working hard, mainly through acquisition to promote the solid-state drive business of Huawei.

Although the demand for SSDs continues to soar, in the view of BS Tech, vice president of global marketing of Seagate, SSDs and HDDs will coexist for a long time and develop rapidly.

He believes that in the next five years, 90% of the world’s new notebooks will be pre-installed with SSDs to replace some of the mechanical hard disk requirements, and Seagate will also increase its investment in SSDs.

However, Seagate will continue to promote the research and development of mechanical hard disk, because the market demand for large-capacity mechanical hard disk is also strong.

The above is the difference between SATA3.0, M.2, PCIE and SSDs and the answer to the question of how to choose. I hope it can help you. If you have any questions, you can leave them in the comment box below. We will try our best to answer for our family. Thank you for your continued support, and please continue to pay attention to the following tutorials and software.

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