The FASTEST SSD Technology Explained - M.2, U.2, and MORE
The FASTEST SSD Technology Explained - M.2, U.2, and MORE
2017-01-22
everybody's heard of MDOT - SSDs these
little tiny doodads that manage to be
many times smaller and many times faster
than traditional computer hard drives or
even regular SATA SSDs but there is
understandably a ton of confusion that
exists around how to choose one and
install it in your existing system so
let's figure that out shall we if you
haven't seen nerd sports yet check it
out all the episodes are available now
for free over at youtube.com slash
channel super fun before we get started
though we need to differentiate between
physical standards and protocol
standards this right here is a mini
displayport cable and this right here is
a Thunderbolt cable but they look the
same this USB type-c port is running at
USB 2.0 speeds this one is USB 3 which
can be 10 or even 20 times the speed and
this one is Thunderbolt 3 which is
faster still and comes with a host of
other capabilities so backing up them
because most cables are just a physical
electrically conductive wire connecting
point A to point B nothing would prevent
a you know piece of coat hanger from
connecting between a receiver and a home
theater speaker or let's say an Ethernet
cable from being used to carry an HDMI
diddle video signal in fact that product
exists okay but back to computer drives
again n dot 2 is one of several physical
connector standards that allows an SSD
to be attached internally to your
computer this motherboard right here
conveniently gives us a great example of
all of them so what you're looking at
right now is
theta or serial ata this connector
suffers from more latency because of its
indirect connection to the CPU right
here is the basically dead SATA Express
standard that uses two PCIe lanes which
are better because they're connected
more directly to the CPU but has a very
bulky connector and no drive support to
speak of this one right here is U dot
two which uses four PCIe lanes twice as
many as SATA Express but has all but
disappeared outside the enterprise space
and finally this one right here is n dot
two which has basically one out versus
the other next-gen connectors at this
point thanks to its performance it also
uses a maximum of four PCIe lanes as
well as its compact form factor that
allows it to be used not just for
desktops but also for ultra-thin
notebooks but and getting back to the
whole lesson on protocol versus physical
standards most of these physical
connections support multiple protocols
that is to say more than one way for the
computer to communicate with the drives
controller over the physical wires and
if you aren't using an nvme protocol
drive in your MDOT 2 slot you might not
be getting the full experience so if
your computer has a PCIe MDOT 2 slot and
you can see the difference here between
an nvme capable one and an ahd i only
one here they're usually labeled then
it's simple you just plug it in maybe
configure a couple settings in the bios
and poof it's off to the races but then
what if you don't have a PCI Express
MDOT to file on your motherboard ok well
step one make sure you don't have one
some motherboards even hide this
connector on the back and it's small
enough that it can be pretty easy to
miss then step 2
ensure that your motherboard actually
supports booting to an nvme drive in
general anything z97 or x99 chipset and
newer will have that support and if it
does and you still want to use a drive
then you want to pick up one of these
little guys these cards plug into a PCIe
slot on your motherboard just like a
video card sound card etc consult your
motherboards manual to find out how many
lanes each slot has and what speeds they
operate at more is better and I've got a
couple different versions here
silverstone has an nvme only one and one
that supports both an nvme and a HCI
remember that's the same protocol as
theta over a slightly different m2
connector that are reasonably priced
then there are more premium options like
the wings from angel bird that looks a
little cooler and includes a thermal
shield and pad to keep the drive from
overheating we're going to use this SP
505 and controller based nvme SSD from
Corsair for our demo here once
everything is hooked up you can move the
mounting screw around depending on the
length of your nvme drive and then you
just need to make sure you're running
the latest UEFI bios on your board and
go through the same steps as our
previous board that supported it
natively going back further than the
last couple generations of boards things
get a little dicey theoretically all the
way back to P 67 days you can install an
nvme SSD in one of these PCI Express
cards just like this but you won't get
the full benefit unless it's a newer one
because you won't actually be able to
boot from the drive and right now nvme
drives are a little bit too expensive
for most people to want to use them as a
steam library and various yet another
wrench to throw in the spokes of this
whole ordeal
while the connector on the motherboard
may be capable of both n B&E
and ahci operation i'm not aware of any
nvme MDOT two drives that will work
across either protocol so if you have an
nvme board you want to get an MDD drive
or maybe you could run an HDI one and if
you have an ahd I only MDOT two slots
then you will need an ahci so more
protocol overhead SSD just like this one
and don't expect to get earth-shattering
performance out of it
we are working with rock cat
look at that it's like it's spin move or
whatever to give away their cross
headsets designed for multi platform
multi-use multi-purpose you saw
multi-platforms
some of its features include large 50
millimeter neodymium mega drivers it
comes with dual microphones one
designated for PC and one designated for
mobile the mics are detachable and plug
into a port on the underside of the left
ear cup and they've got quick access
volume controls memory foam ear pads a
light 185 gram profile and to enter all
you need to do is watch this video and
enter through the link in the video
description the giveaway will run for
seven days from today seven days so move
fast so I hope that clears things up and
you guys have a better understanding of
MDOT - now I sure do because I had to do
all this research to make this video so
thanks for watching guys if you just
like this video hit that dislike button
but if you liked it hit the like button
get subscribed maybe even consider
checking out where to buy the drive
their accessories we featured add Amazon
at the link in the video description
also down there is our merch store where
you can buy cool shirts like this one
hmm like that or our community forum
which you should totally join now that
you're done doing all those things are
probably wondering what to watch next so
check out our latest video right there
over on channel super fun I think it's
like RC car bowling or some nonsense
like that pretty fun
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.