M.2 NVMe question 2x vs. 4x speed question.

[Format _C:]

I replaced my Inland 256GB drive that I got for my new Ryzen 7 3700X build back in March with a KINGSTON RBUSNS8154P3256GJ3 that I pulled from my new Asus F512DA to replace with a 1TB one anyway the Inland one only showed up as "PCIe SSD" but the transfer mode stated "PCIe 3.0 x4 | PCIe 3.0 x4 however the Kingston I replaced it with only show as "PCIe 3.0 x2 | PCIe 3.0 x2"

My question is while the Kingston is only 2x can it be faster then the cheap 4x Inland one? To me the whole computer feels much faster and things load more quickly then they did before I can't find much details on the Kingston probably since it was made and sold for OEM use so it is not a mainstream consumer model.

I did not do a reinstall of Windows 10 I used clonezilla and I cloned the Inland to an external HDD and I then cloned the Kingston to another external HDD to save the OEM image from the Asus notebook I then copied that image from the HDD to the source SSD both are 256GB

Thanks

 

[zandor]

There are two kinds of performance for storage devices - throughput and latency. The number of lanes and PCIe spec just tells you maximum theoretical throughput. It could be the 2x drive has lower latency/better access time/random IO performance. You don't tend to feel total throughput much doing "normal" stuff on the Windows desktop. It also has a very limited impact on most games once you get up into the NVMe performance range. A 2x drive could still move close to 2GB/s, which would put it close to a lot of cheap 4x drives which are also around there. If it's better at random IO/has lower latency it could easily feel faster.

 

[Format _C:]

There are two kinds of performance for storage devices - throughput and latency. The number of lanes and PCIe spec just tells you maximum theoretical throughput. It could be the 2x drive has lower latency/better access time/random IO performance. You don't tend to feel total throughput much doing "normal" stuff on the Windows desktop. It also has a very limited impact on most games once you get up into the NVMe performance range. A 2x drive could still move close to 2GB/s, which would put it close to a lot of cheap 4x drives which are also around there. If it's better at random IO/has lower latency it could easily feel faster.

I don't game much and when I do I use consoles for that (please don't hate me lol!) My desktop I only use the NVMe for OS and programs everything else is on my other spinning drives my laptop however only has one drive so a bigger one is a must for me it does have a spot for a regular SATA drive and I did get the required adapter and bracket to do so but the case won't close with the drive installed why??

The PC boots much faster and it generally more responsive then with the cheap Inland SSD I would to find more information about the Kingston but being an OEM specific part I can't seem to find much about it.

 

[zandor]

IIRC there is more than one size of 2.5" drive -- regular and slim or something like that. I've never needed to worry about it personally since I'm not a heavy laptop user at all and my current one has 500GB, which is plenty. At any rate, I think there is more than one size (thickness) of 2.5" drive and some of them, particularly SSDs, have a piece of plastic or something stuck on the bottom that can be removed.

 

[TheSlySyl]

I was using an NVME in an X2 slot for a while. Worked fine for game loading and the like, but there was a noticeable difference when I moved the same drive to an X4 slot.

Was still considerably better than a SATA SSD at X2 though.

 

[Format _C:]

IIRC there is more than one size of 2.5" drive -- regular and slim or something like that. I've never needed to worry about it personally since I'm not a heavy laptop user at all and my current one has 500GB, which is plenty. At any rate, I think there is more than one size (thickness) of 2.5" drive and some of them, particularly SSDs, have a piece of plastic or something stuck on the bottom that can be removed.

I did know the older ones were thicker like 12.5MM or more where as the newer ones are 9.5MM like the old 500GB spinning drive I tried to use but I could not get the cover closed (well it did but the plastic snaps would not engage the latches and the screws would not go in either)

I was using an NVME in an X2 slot for a while. Worked fine for game loading and the like, but there was a noticeable difference when I moved the same drive to an X4 slot.

Was still considerably better than a SATA SSD at X2 though.

I think both slots are 4x in my X570 Aorus but I do remember my old GA-Z97-UD3H only being 2x still this drive seems faster to me however I did notice the CPU fan spin up sometimes when seemly doing nothing with the resulting temperature spike I don't know if the 2x drive is the issue or something else?
I'm using the AMD Wrath Prism cooler the Ryzen 7 3700X was shipped with and the fan on it is extremely loud at higher RPMs.