An NVMe port or slot uses the M.2 form factor and allows the NVMe drives to connect to the system’s PCIe lanes. It is a compact form factor derived from the mSATA form factor, which is almost obsolete these days. The NVMe slot adheres to the M.2 form factor that determines its physical structure and […]
Most modern computers come with the M.2 NVMe slots. Even the low-end motherboards and laptops support NVMe SSDs based on their PCIe generations. My motherboard, which is MSI Pro Z690-A, has 4 M.2 NVMe slots, three with Gen 4.0 x 4 interface and one with Gen 3.0 x 4. However, in older systems, you may
Solid State Drives have different types, form factors, interfaces, NAND flash, capacities, and prices. People are generally confused between the different terminologies and their compatibilities. NVMe SSDs are perhaps the most popular and still highly misunderstood SSDs out there. I keep seeing people asking the difference between NVMe and SSDs which isn’t even a right
M.2 is a form factor used by SSDs, Wi-Fi cards, network cards, etc. NVMe, on the other hand, is a protocol/interface used by PCIe-based SSDs to read and write data. People are confused between these two, but there is nothing to be confused about. I will clarify that in this article. M.2 just decides the
In PC building, form factors, interfaces, and protocols are the three most important things for ensuring system and component compatibility. I have already differentiated M.2 NVMe vs M.2 SATA and M.2 SATA vs 2.5″ SATA SSDs. But, this one is dedicated specifically for M.2 drives. The confusion is between the interfaces and protocols. Regarding the
SSD is one of the easiest upgrades in your computer when you know the right drive to choose. But, it can be a really complex thing when you don’t have any idea of what to look for. Things can become even worse when you don’t even know the terminologies. So, here is my beginner’s answer
