Solid State Drives (SSDs) have rapidly become the storage of choice for performance-minded PC builds over traditional Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). With no moving parts, SSDs provide vastly improved speeds, durability, power efficiency, and size reductions compared to HDDs. However, with various interconnects, form factors, and memory types available, navigating the SSD landscape can quickly become confusing.
In this definitive guide, we’ll break down the most common SSD varieties to help you choose the perfect one for your use case and budget.
A Quick SSD Primer
Before diving into specific form factors and interfaces, let’s quickly recap how SSDs achieve their impressive gains over old-fashioned platter drives:
How SSDs Work
SSDs utilize NAND flash memory chips, retaining data even when power is removed. This solid-state design allows for very fast access times, with no mechanical actuators to move into position. SSDs connect to PCs via host bus interfaces like SATA and PCI Express. More advanced connection protocols allow SSDs to fully leverage the capabilities of flash memory.
Advantages of SSDs
Compared to HDDs, Solid State Drives provide:
- Faster boot, app/game loading, and data transfer speeds
- More reliable with no moving parts that can fail
- Much improved durability and shock resistance
- Lower power draw and better laptop battery life
- Smaller form factors available
Now let’s explore some of the most common SSD varieties on the market today.
SATA SSDs
SATA SSDs utilize the Serial ATA interface and physical connectors originally designed for HDDs. This makes SATA SSDs an easy drop-in upgrade for older PCs without native SSD support.
Typical use cases:
- Reviving an older PC by replacing a boot HDD
- Adding secondary storage to a mainstream PC
Pros:
- Low cost
- Reuse existing SATA cable infrastructure
- Sufficient real-world speeds for many users
Cons:
- Capped performance from legacy SATA interface
- Adds cabling clutter
Peak transfer speeds:
- SATA 3.0 = up to ~500MB/s
SATA SSDs like the Samsung 870 EVO remain viable options today for modest workloads like web browsing, media playback, and even 1080p gaming. For more CPU or graphics-intensive tasks though, other interfaces yield better performance.
M.2 SSDs
The M.2 form factor provides a small, versatile SSD design. Unlike 2.5” drives, M.2 units mount directly onto your motherboard—no cabling required. They are also much smaller than traditional SSDs and use less power.
Several available lengths allow flexibility for various PC case layouts. While physical connectors are uniform, performance can vary greatly depending on if SATA or PCI Express buses are leveraged. This catch keeps shoppers on their toes when selecting M.2 SSDs!
Typical use cases:
- Space-constrained small form factor (SFF) PC builds
- Performance-focused mainstream gaming rigs
- Adding fast storage to laptops with M.2 slots
Pros:
- Compact, versatile form factor
- Clean, cable-free setup
- Potentially blazing PCIe performance
Cons:
- Confusing capabilities for novices
- Can run hot without adequate cooling
- Need an M.2 slot on motherboard to support
Peak transfer speeds:
- SATA M.2 = 500 MB/s (like 2.5” SATA)
- PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 = ~3,500 MB/s
- PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 = ~7,000 MB/s
The WD Black SN850 M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD hits that 7,000 MB/s mark and remains one of the fastest consumer SSDs money can buy. But you’ll need one of the latest motherboards and desktop CPUs to unlock its full potential.
PCIe/NVMe SSDs
NVMe, short for Non-Volatile Memory Express, is actually a host controller interface and storage protocol—not a form factor in itself. It was designed from the ground up to fully exploit the massive parallelism of modern SSDs. NVMe utilizes the high-bandwidth PCI Express bus, avoiding legacy SATA bottlenecks.
Any SSD supporting this blazing fast interface qualifies as an “NVMe SSD.” But due to their shared architecture and peak performance, we‘ll focus on PCIe add-in cards. These full-length cards occupy standard PCIe x4 or x16 expansion slots, providing abundant airflow for sustained transfer speeds.
Typical use cases:
- Mission-critical workstation PCs
- High-end gaming rigs
- Data center and enterprise-level storage
Pros:
- Nearly unlimited performance potential
- Easy to upgrade later if needed
Cons:
- Overkill speeds for many
- Large cards consume expansion slots
- Enterprise-oriented can get very pricey
Peak transfer speeds:
- PCIe 3.0 x4 = ~3,500 MB/s
- PCIe 4.0 x4 = ~7,000 MB/s
The fantastic Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus offers up to 7GB/s reads and 6.85GB/s writes over its PCIe 4.0 x4 interface. Of course, few users truly require sustained, multi-gigabyte speeds offered by today’s cutting edge NVMe SSDs.
SSD Showdown: Budget vs. Top Tier Performance
To put a wrap on comparing SSD performance, check out this showdown between affordable SATA, high-end PCI 3.0, and bleeding-edge PCIe 4.0 models:
While entry-level SATA drives like the Crucial MX500 provide sufficient real-world speed for many, the latest PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs offer nearly 7X higher peak throughput for those needing uncompromising transfer rates. As always, choose the best SSD technology to match your computing requirements and budget.
The Bottom Line
We’ve just scratched the surface overviewing common solid state drive varieties available today. But this guide arms you with enough background to navigate form factors, interfaces, speeds and pricing as you shop. Here are some closing recommendations:
- For reviving older PCs, grab an affordable 2.5" SATA SSD like the Samsung 870 EVO
- Seeking high performance in a compact PC? Grab a speedy PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 M.2 like the WD Black SN850
- If money‘s no object, go for a cutting-edge PCIe 4.0 add-in card like the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus for future-proof performance
Still have questions? Drop them in the comments section below!
