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The Chatterbox => Computing => Topic started by: Spectere on November 08, 2016, 05:43:23 PM

Title: NVMe SSDs
Post by: Spectere on November 08, 2016, 05:43:23 PM
If the next build you're planning doesn't have a slot for it, reconsider your motherboard purchase.

I recently bought a laptop with a couple of NVMe M.2 slots and, uh...how does 2.3Gbyte/s reads and 1.2Gbyte/s writes sound? And yes, that's gigabytes, not gigabits. Windows barely has time to even draw the spinny circle before the welcome screen pops up. I'll bet if I dropped the POST tests on this sucker from thorough to fast, or none, boot times would be nigh instantaneous.

I'm having a case of serious SSD envy for my other systems now. SATA ain't fast enough, dammit.
Title: Re: NVMe SSDs
Post by: Bobbias on November 09, 2016, 02:12:46 AM
I didn't know you could control POST tests. I haven't touched anything worth more than ~$800 for the last like 15 years, so I have NO idea about half the stuff I'm missing out on when it comes to high mid range to high end stuff.
Title: Re: NVMe SSDs
Post by: Spectere on November 09, 2016, 09:13:31 AM
Yeah, most systems will let you switch between minimal and thorough tests. Most consumer grade hardware that I've seen defaults to minimal.

Thankfully, NVMe SSDs are pretty quickly approaching that ~$800 mark. They're still more expensive than SATA SSDs (seems like they're in the $0.70-0.80/GB range now) but they've come down quite a bit in the past year. M.2 PCIe slots have been getting more popular in motherboards, particularly in Skylake systems, and with the prices falling I think we're going to start seeing these more in mid-range systems in the next year or two. Here's hoping!
Title: Re: NVMe SSDs
Post by: Bobbias on January 14, 2017, 03:03:53 AM
Yeah, hopefully by the time I get everything sorted out and start looking to build something I'll have some nice new stuff to play with at somewhat reasonable prices. I'm thinking I'll budget 1500 or so, but honestly I don't know what it'll end up being, since that's a little while off anyway (gotta find somewhere to live with the GF and figure out what I'll be doing for a car before I consider a build.)
Title: Re: NVMe SSDs
Post by: Zephlar on January 16, 2017, 10:41:04 AM
Yeah, hopefully by the time I get everything sorted out and start looking to build something I'll have some nice new stuff to play with at somewhat reasonable prices. I'm thinking I'll budget 1500 or so, but honestly I don't know what it'll end up being, since that's a little while off anyway (gotta find somewhere to live with the GF and figure out what I'll be doing for a car before I consider a build.)

Yeah def sounds like build is going to be on the back burner. You guys living separate atm?
Title: Re: NVMe SSDs
Post by: Bobbias on January 28, 2017, 03:35:35 AM
Yeah, I'm (STILL) living at home, but she's been living in barrie (about 50km away, takes ~45 mins to drive) since we started college in 2008. My parents let me drive one of their cars, so I didn't have to move. She doesn't drive, so she had to move close to college.
Title: Re: NVMe SSDs
Post by: Spectere on September 15, 2017, 10:46:50 AM
So I ordered a second NVMe SSD for my laptop as a result of a sale ($200 for a 500GB Samsung 860 EVO!). Then, after receiving it, I wondered why I ordered it since I don't really need all that much fast solid state storage in my laptop (at least, not yet). Sure would be nice if I could drop it into my gaming rig, but that doesn't have an M.2 slot.

Waitasec, NVMe is just PCIe. Hmm...

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJuJRZIUQAE4zMK.jpg:small) (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJuJRZIUQAE4zMK.jpg)

Works like a charm! UEFI picked it up so it might even be bootable, but I haven't tried it (still using my venerable Intel 520!). Naturally, I ran ATTO on it and compared it to my 840 EVO (my 850 EVO is connected via 3GB/s SATA since I ran out of 6GB/s ports, so I didn't bother with that--clicky to enlarge):

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJuNR9_V4AAL7LK.jpg:small) (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJuNR9_V4AAL7LK.jpg)

3GB/s reads, 1.8GB/s writes. Acceptable!
Title: Re: NVMe SSDs
Post by: Alice on September 26, 2017, 04:23:08 AM
My new board has two Ultra M.2 slots :o I'll keep this in mind