ssd form factor, correction: SSD interface type

[stuck]

I'm still waiting for the supplier of my PC to send me a replacement SSD under warranty. When it does arrive it will be another unbranded 256 GB 2.5in SATA device.

Given the poor life of the original I'm wondering if I should just splash some cash I buy decent SSD. If I do that I'm likely to go for the current equivalent of the Samsung 850 PRO that I got when the HDD in stuckling2's laptop died a few years back. That one is still going strong.

However, Google searches now turn up SSDs in form factor other than the 'regular' 2.5 SATA shape. If I understand what I've read then it seems that SSDs are moving over to PCIe form factor. So should I consider one like that instead?

I guess for my light use I'd not notice any improvement in performance that the PCIe ones apparently provide. Also I might depend on whether the motherboard in my box can boot from an SSD in a PCIe slot.

While I'm digging into that, anyone care to comment?

Ken
SUBJECT EDITED in the light of Stuart's comment

[StuartR]

I guess you are thinking of M2 SSD drives. The issue with using one of these is not the form factor, it is a totally different interface!

[stuck]

I guess you are thinking of M2 SSD drives. The issue with using one of these is not the form factor, it is a totally different interface!

OK, I've edited the subject line of my OP.

Meanwhile I'm still interested in any comments on the merits of using this 'latest and greatest' interface over 'tried and trusted', especially when the motherboard is not latest and greatest, it's whatever Dell fitted to their 9010 mini-towers.

Ken

[StuartR]

My guess is that you won't be able to use an M2 SSD, because your motherboard would need to have an M2 slot to support it. M2 SSD drives look a bit like PCI cards and fit into PCI slots.

[Argus]

As you probably know it is a bit complicated. True, PCIe is a bus standard and M.2 is a form factor. But M.2 SSDs comes in different shapes, module sizes. And not all M.2 SSDs are using the PCIe interface. And then we have PCIe using AHCI for SATA and the new interface, PCIe SSDs through NVMe.

Getting the right form factor (module length) and key for the connector (B, M or B & M) makes it a bit more complicated than just buying a 2.5" and plug in a SATA cable.

There are different M.2 sockets providing a different amount of PCIE Lanes (PCIe ×2 and PCIe ×4) which determines the performance of the disk. This is related to the total amount of PCIe lanes on the motherboard. Then of course there are adapters for the PCIe slots, but again depending on slot it might not get the performance as expected (if being able to boot from it). (Then there is another problem with location, in high end systems: throttling if the drive gets too hot.)

I'm not too optimistic when it comes to branded prebuilt PCs in this regard (and the documentation, tech. manuals etc. are many times less than informative). For a start try to find a M.2 connector on the mini tower board.
https://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/70/sha ... debook.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[stuck]

Thank you. The complications outlined in Argus's post has convinced me that I'll be happy with a SATA interface device. Simple is always good.

Ken