When you want your computer to boot up quickly or your favorite programs to load fast, you install a solid state drive. There are a variety of SSDs you can install in your computer, but one of the fastest and most reliable SSDs for your PC is of the M.2 (pronounced M-dot-2) variety. Unlike an internally mounted SSD or a portable SSD, an M.2 SSD plugs directly into a dedicated M.2 slot on the motherboard.

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An M.2 drive is no wider than an inch with varying lengths, and they’re only a millimeter thick. Having a direct connection to the motherboard means M.2 SSDs don’t need to be plugged into a power or data cable. Laptop manufacturers favor M.2 SSDs because of their size, as they’re easier to fit into a laptop’s casing, especially ultrathin laptops. Moreover, M.2 SSDs can support PCIe-based non-volatile memory express (NVMe) drives, allowing for data transfer speeds between devices as fast as 20Gbps. SATA SSDs only transfer data as fast as 6Gbps.

Anyone who frequently moves files from their computer to an external device would greatly benefit from NVMe SSDs. If you’re building your own PC and want to install an M.2 SSD, be aware that not every motherboard supports M.2, so you’ll need to find a motherboard that does.

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Computer components can be overwhelming when you find out how many different varieties there are of a single component. M.2 solid state drives, for example, come in a couple of different forms, including SATA and PCIe. SATA has been widely used for connecting storage devices to the motherboard since 2000, but it is widely considered the lowest grade of SSD due to its slower speeds. SATA wasn’t originally intended to support the SSD architecture, which is the leading cause of its comparatively poorer performance than other SSD models, and manufacturers have been gradually replacing SATA SSDs with other, more optimal interfaces.

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An M.2 SSD that interfaces directly with the PCIe bus provides superior data transfer speeds to SATA. In fact, it’s one of the biggest differences between a SATA and PCIe SSD. An M.2 PCIe SSD has a higher bandwidth since it uses 2x and 4x data lanes. Then there’s the NVMe protocol. Where SATA wasn’t designed for SSDs, the NVMe protocol was designed specifically for SSDs, and when you get an NVMe M.2 SSD that interfaces with the PCIe bus, you get the fastest SSD on the market.

With a PCIe bus, the NVMe M.2 SSD can support 1x, 4x, 8x, and 16x lanes, making it an invaluable tool for anyone who requires unparalleled responsiveness from their storage device.