What Is The M.2 SSD Drive & Why All The Hype?
In the last few decades, technology has seen some monumental changes. From computers that took up an entire room to micro-computers smaller than spare change, we’ve come a long way.
The most consistent theme in this evolutionary story has always been “more,” whether that’s more power, more speed, or more efficiency. However, in the unique case of component size, less is more.
When it comes to computer storage components, the trick is to fit as much storage as possible in as small of a package as possible,while keeping it easy to quickly access.
Today, we’re diving into the latest advancement in this area: the M.2 SSD. The M.2 SSD is a small form factor PCIe-based drive that can come in several forms, namely the SATA SSD or PCIE NVMe SSD.
This little storage drive has been creating quite the buzz online. Whether you’re well versed in computer storage or just beginning your research, we’re here to help with all of your major questions about this motherboard upgrade.
What are M.2 drives, and what do they do differently? Is it worth the hype? Should you consider an upgrade? Perhaps most importantly — will it help your computer run games faster and smoother?
Read on for all those answers and more in today’s WTFast computer gaming guide!
What Is an SSD?
First things first: Let’s do a quick primer on SSDs. Solid State Drive (SSD) is a storage component in a computer that is used to store, read, and write files.
In other words, it can hold information and let you access it quickly.
An SSD is just one kind of drive. You’ll recognize other drives such as hard drives, flash drives, and USB drives. CDs and DVDs are also a kind of drive, and some formerly-popular drives are now completely obsolete, like floppy discs.
To say there’s a complex history behind drives would be an understatement.
For today’s guide, the main thing you need to know is the difference between hard disk drives (HDD) and the latest kinds of SSDs.
SSD vs. HDD
HDD were the dominant storage component for decades. In recent years, even through some difficulties, SSDs have started to take over. Now, SSDs are projected to be the dominant form by far — and finally cheaper than HDDs — within the next few years.
Hard drive disk storage relies on physical components and mechanical processes as it writes your data onto an actual disk. This means HDDs are larger and slower than SSDs. In some cases, however, they do have greater storage potential.
SSDs are becoming the norm thanks to their vastly smaller size and faster process times. While there are plenty of HDDs still out there, it’s more than likely that your computer uses an SSD already, especially if you’ve chosen a device built for gaming.
If you are still using a hard disk drive and want to game with better performance, one of the first upgrades you should look to make is from an HDD to an SSD.
An SSD will be much faster and more reliable, with speed being the most important factor when it comes to your gaming.
What Are the Benefits of SSDs?
Solid state drives have numerous benefits that have brought them to the top and made them standard going into 2022 and beyond.
Speed
First and foremost, SSDs are built for speed. For day-to-day tasks, this might be convenient but unimportant. For demanding tasks such as gaming and processing video footage, though, it’s of utmost importance.
The differences between HDD and SSD speeds are monumental. Among SSDs, there are many different kinds of drives that can have widely varying speeds depending on your budget and needs.
Which type of connection you go with – SATA or NVME – is also crucial. You can find regular 2.5-inch SSDs or the M.2 for either type of connector.
Size
As portability and life-on-the-go become more and more essential, laptop gaming and smaller gaming components have been increasing in demand, too.
SSDs are much smaller than HDDs — and in the case of the M.2 — are now smaller than ever before. That makes them a vastly superior choice not just for laptops, but also for desktops where you may benefit from extra space for other components and better airflow for cooling.
Mobile Efficiency
Portability is also enhanced by the lower power requirements and better resilience of SSDs compared to alternatives like HDDs.
Dropping a laptop with an HDD is a death sentence for your data. Thankfully, with an SSD, your data is more than likely to go unscathed.
Is an M.2 That Much Better Than Other SSDs?
The M.2 SSD interface was once called the Next-Generation Form Factor (NGFF), but you won’t hear that much anymore. These days, it’s usually classified as the M.2 form factor.
Using an adapter, you can plug this powerful SSD into your computer for faster data transfer, better processing speed, and extra storage thanks to more NAND flash cards. You can even upgrade your flash memory with an expansion card. That’s a big upgrade from an HDD.
Long story short – you should definitely be using an SSD if you’ve previously been using an HDD. You’ll see huge jumps in load times for your games, boot times for your operating system, and other processes like working with high-definition footage. There are plenty of configurations to choose from, including the M.2 PCIE 3.0 and PCIE 4.0, mSATA, Samsung 970 EVO Plus,
What’s the Difference Between SSD Types?
You might be wondering, “Does the difference between the types of SSDs measure up in the same way?”
When it comes to SSDs, there are M.2 and 2.5-inch versions to choose from. The main difference is their size and power. Both are small (much smaller than HDDs), but the M.2 makes better use of its space to give you a bit of a boost. However, you’ll need a motherboard with an M.2 slot to use an M.2 SSD.
Benchmark tests show the difference between M.2 and 2.5 SSDs are pretty much only noticeable on paper. In other words, you’re not going to feel a significant difference as you game or go about your daily tasks.
What About Connectors?
The other important consideration with SSDs is whether you go for a SATA M.2 connector or an NVME (non-volatile memory express).
While SATA drives can work on one task at a time, NVME cards can work on tons of tasks at once. For those working with 4K+ footage or other extremely intensive processes, this can make a big difference.
Still, for most daily uses — including gaming — multitasking is hardly relevant. So, gamers might benefit from an M.2 NVME SSD, but it’s also possible that other storage devices will do the trick for your gaming PC, too.
Ultimately — unless one or two seconds difference in load time, transfer speed, and write speed is worth it to you — it may be best to opt for a budget SSD and put the extra funds into a different part of your build.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with going for the best SSD if you can afford it — and M.2 NVME drive is technically the best. This drive can hold more NAND chips, which means it’s at the top of the game when it comes to high-performance speed, low latency, and lots of storage capacity.
Just plug it into your circuit board, and you’re good to go.
Why Is My Gaming Computer Still Slow?
Upgrading your storage components will make a huge difference if you’ve been using an HDD. But among different SSDs? You’re not going to notice much.
If you don’t have a powerful enough CPU, are using an old Windows PC that runs on an outdated version of Intel, or just need more processors for your daily tasks, you might need to upgrade more than just your drive.
However, there are lots of other factors that could be slowing down your computer and your games while you play — which can be really frustrating. Thankfully, we’ve got some solutions other than SSDs for you to check out too.
Hardware Issues
There are a plethora of parts in your computer that contribute to your speed and stability while gaming.
Everything from your graphics card and RAM to your cooling capabilities adds up to determine whether you’ll be gaming at top gear or stuck with lag. However, you don’t always have to upgrade to expensive new parts.
Be sure to check that you’ve installed the latest graphics drivers for your GPU, and check that there’s not excessive dust or airflow blockage causing your computer to overheat.
You should also close down any hefty background programs that might be competing for processing power while you game. A bunch of chrome browser tabs or some video footage processing will definitely slow your game down.
Network Issues
If you’re gaming online, chances are your lag comes from network issues. Sometimes, the game server is having issues of its own, so you can always check their server reports. Otherwise, there are a few steps you can take to optimize your connection.
Like with your hardware, you’ll want to cut out competing activities. Pause those update downloads and maybe take a break from watching HD streams on your second monitor. Your network has a limited bandwidth, so you want as much of that open to your gaming as possible.
You should also use a wired internet connection if possible. Wi-Fi is almost always slower and tends to be less stable as well.
That’s a lot of potential solutions, but there’s also a super simple one-stop-shop to take care of network lag for good: WTFast.
We’ve seen lag cause countless avoidable losses in our own games, and we know how frustrating it is when your internet connection fails you.
That’s why we built our GPN — the top-of-the-line way to control your online game connection.
Our service isolates your gaming performance data and sends it on the fastest route available, resulting in vastly lowered ping, reduced connection drops, and fewer lag spikes.
The best part: WTFast’s GPN is super easy to set up. Just install the client, choose your game, and start playing!
VPNs are another common option many people try, but they simply aren’t built for speed like our GPN. Plus VPNs are capable of masking activity and bypassing restrictions, which some games flag as potential hacking, botting, or fraud. Our GPN stays up to standard for security measures in any game you play with us.
Conclusion
Using the best and most expensive SSDs may not make a huge difference for your gaming, but our WTFast GPN definitely will. Try our secret weapon today to see what it can do for you!
For more helpful guides and services, keep coming back to WTFast.
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