M.2 drives are all the rage right now because of their small form factor and high performance. But should you use one as your boot drive Here’s a look at the pros and cons.
Pros
Small form factor – M.2 drives are tiny compared to traditional hard drives, so they take up less space in your computer.
– M.2 drives are tiny compared to traditional hard drives, so they take up less space in your computer. Fast performance – M.2 drives offer much faster performance than traditional hard drives. This can be a major advantage if you use your computer for gaming or other high-performance tasks.
– Computer enthusiasts of all stripes and skill levels are likely familiar with common hard drive form factors like the big and bulky 3.5” mechanical hard disk drive (or HDD) and the slimmer and smaller 2.5” solid state drive (SSD). If you know about HDDs and SSDs, you likely also know about the SATA (or Serial AT Attachment) computer bus interface that’s typically used to connect drives to the computer’s motherboard.
– These remain the most common form factors and connection options, M.2 and NVMe drives are becoming more popular in modern PC builds.
– The M.2 form factor (formerly known as the Next Generation Form Factor, or NGFF) is a more modern type of internally mounted expansion card that replaces the previous mSATA (Mini-SATA) standard. Unlike standard HDDs and SSDs, M.2 drives aren’t connected to a motherboard via a cable, they’re instead plugged directly into the motherboard using a dedicated M.2 connector slot.
Cons
Limited storage capacity – M.2 drives have much less storage capacity than traditional hard drives, so you may not be able to store as many files on them.
– M.2 drives have much less storage capacity than traditional hard drives, so you may not be able to store as many files on them. Higher price
– M.2 drives are more expensive than traditional hard drives, so you may want to use a traditional hard drive for data storage and an m.2 drive for your OS.
– M.2 drives are more expensive than traditional hard drives, so you may want to use a traditional hard drive for data storage and an m.2 drive for your OS. Slower speeds when using SATA
– If you want the full performance of an m.2 SSD, you’ll need a computer with an m.2 PCIe slot and the proper connector/driver in order to run it at full speed (32Gb/s).
– Computers only have connectors that support up to SATA 3 speeds (6Gb/s). You can buy M.2 PCIe cards or dedicated expansion cards to increase your computer’s m.2 speeds, but most computers only have one slot, so it may be impractical if you have more than one hard drive or device connected to your computer.
– Performance is slow when using SATA
– If you use an m.2 SATA drive with a SATA 3 connector, the maximum speed is just 6 Gb/s (750 MB/s)
– Full performance requires PCIe connection – To get full performance from your m.2 SSD, you’ll need to connect it via PCIe slot on your motherboard which means that only desktop PCs will work as laptops won’t come with dedicated PCIe slots for storage devices
– Price – M.2 storage is more expensive than traditional storage devices
– Capacity – Although capacity has been increasing, they are still limited compared to regular hard drives. You’ll likely want a secondary hard drive if you’re looking to use an M.2 drive as your main storage device.
All in all, the pros of using an m.2 drive as your boot drive outweigh the cons, but it’s important to be aware of them before making a decision. If you’re looking for a fast and small form factor storage device, an m.2 SSD is a great option, but if you need lots of storage or your computer doesn’t have an m.2 PCIe slot, you may want to consider a different solution.
