How to Choose the Right SSD to Buy
Whether you’re upgrading your computer or building a new one altogether, understanding how to choose between the different types of SSDs can be a little confusing. Luckily, it’s actually a lot easier than it sounds and depends mostly on what your hardware supports. In this article, I’ll cover the different form factors and speeds to help you understand what type of SSD you need to buy for your system.
Types of SSD form factors
The first thing we need to pay attention to is the SSD form factor. You’ll see several form factors available, including M.2 drives, 2.5-inch drives, and even mSATA, PCIe, and U.2 SSDs. This confusing mess of options is actually not that difficult to navigate, since most computers these days will use one of two main form factors: M.2. and 2.5-inch drives.
2.5″ drives are more like old-school hard drives and will require a SATA cable to connect them to the motherboard. Cases usually also have space to mount them, and are one of the most common types of drives you’ll find on the market.
The other most common type is M.2 SSD . This SSD uses a dedicated M.2 slot on the motherboard. Most new motherboards have room for at least one M.2 connector. SSDs, although older systems will likely use SATA connections made possible by 2.5-inch drives.
Less common drive types, including PCIe, will require an open PCIe slot on the motherboard (for example, where you can insert a graphics card or wireless card). Some older systems and laptops also use U.2 SSDs , and some older compatible hardware will use mSATA. Before you buy anything, check which drives your hardware supports.
How to choose a form factor
As I noted above, most modern desktop systems will offer support for both M.2. and 2.5-inch drives, although 2.5-inch drives are often the cheapest option. However, before you buy it, make sure your motherboard has a free M.2 slot. If you’re using an older desktop computer, then you’ll probably have to use a 2.5-inch drive, although you can sometimes add a PCIe to M.2 adapter here if you have an open PCIe 3.0 slot.
If you’re trying to increase the memory on your laptop, you’ll have fewer options. Most laptops have specs listed somewhere online, although you’ll have to do some research to find out if it supports M.2. slot, 2.5-inch bay, or requires one of the less commonly used types, such as a PCIe SSD.
Speed selection
Now it’s time to talk about speed. SSDs offer two main speeds: NVMe and SATA. SATA is the older and slower of the two options. The average read and write speed here is in the range of 500 MB per second, making them much faster than standard hard drives. Even though they are slower than NVMe, they are usually the most recommended because they are the most compatible with older systems and are usually the most cost-effective.
However, the fastest SSDs come in the form of NVMe SSDs. These SSDs are about five to six times faster than SATA SSDs, with some newer options reaching speeds of up to ten times in some cases. The important thing to remember here is that NVMe drives require a PCIe lane to integrate with your motherboard. As such, you should pay special attention to whether the NVMe SSD is designed for PCIe 3.0 or PCIe 4.0 (sometimes stylized as PCIe Gen 4), since your motherboard design should also match any SSD you buy. For example, the Samsung 990 Pro series is an M.2 NVMe SSD running on PCIe Gen 4.
As with form factor, you won’t always have the option to choose between them. In many cases, especially when upgrading, it will all depend on what your current hardware supports. If you’re building a completely new computer, you’ll have a little more choice in this matter. Just make sure your motherboard and other PC components support the SSD you purchase. However, in most cases, a SATA SSD will be your safest choice.