What is an M.2 SSD drive?
M.2 SSD drive represents solid-state drives that are generally faster than traditional, 2.5-inch SSDs and go up to 2TB in storage size. While SATA SSDs have a maximum speed of 600 MB per second, M. 2 PCIe cards have an average speed of 4 GB per second. Usually, M.2 SSD drives are not connected to a motherboard via a cable because they are plugged directly into the motherboard using a dedicated M.2 connector slot.
M.2 SSD structure
M.2 SSDs sizes are:
- M.2 2280 SSD is 22 mm wide and 80 mm long.
- M.2 2230 SSD is 22 mm wide and 30 mm long.
- M.2 2242 SSD is 22 mm wide and 42 mm long.
- M.2 2260 SSD is 22 mm wide and 60 mm long.
- M.2 22110 SSD is 22 mm wide and 110 mm long.
What is the M.2 slot?
M.2 slot represents a 22 mm width motherboard slot. You can use both slots for M.2 SSD. The 22 mm width is critical to note, as it is the norm for work areas and workstations. An 80 mm or 110 mm length card can hold 8 NAND chips for 2 TB of limit.
M.2 SSD vs. SSD
Differences between M.2 SSD and SSD are:
- M.2 SSD is from 3-7 times faster because while average M. 2 PCIe cards have a maximum speed of 4 GB per second, SSDs have 550 megabytes per second (MBps)
- SSDs are connected to the motherboard via cable, while M.2 SSD is plugged directly into the motherboard using a dedicated M.2 connector slot.
Is M.2 faster than SSD?
Yes, M.2 is faster than SSD up to 10 times. While SATA SSDs have a maximum speed of 600 MB per second, M. 2 PCIe cards have an average speed of 4 GB per second.
M.2 SSD vs. SATA
Differences between M.2 SSD and SATA are:
- While SATA drives have a maximum speed of 600 MB per second, M. 2 PCIe cards have a maximum speed of 4 GB per second
- SATA SSDs are connected to the motherboard via cable, while M.2 SSD is plugged directly into the motherboard using a dedicated M.2 connector slot.
- SATA is typically 4 inches wide, 1.03 inches tall, and 5.79 inches long while M.2 SSD is ultra-thin (several millimeters).
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