M.2 Cache Drive needed????

[PsychoAMD]

I have the Gigabyte Z77-UD5H Motherboard. I recently decided to get an SSD drive after they have finally dropped cheap and fast enough. I was wondering what the benefit of adding an M.2 cache drive? Can this drive only be used for cache? I asked my friend and he said it can only be used for cache so if anyone could explain this technology for me a little better i'd appreciate it!


https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-CrossFireX-NVIDIA-Motherboard-GA-Z77X-UD5H/dp/B007R21JK4

 

[Pandur]

Your motherboard have a msata slot, this is the predecessor to the m.2 slot and they're not compatible!

That being said, you can buy msata ssds today that are up to 1TB capacity (Samsung 850 evo is one example) and you can run it as a standalone drive. Just ignore the cache stuff, that's old info from back when even a 16GB msata ssd cost an arm and a leg.

Just don't confuse msata with m.2.

 

[Olga-SAN]

I have the Gigabyte Z77-UD5H Motherboard. I recently decided to get an SSD drive after they have finally dropped cheap and fast enough. I was wondering what the benefit of adding an M.2 cache drive? Can this drive only be used for cache? I asked my friend and he said it can only be used for cache so if anyone could explain this technology for me a little better i'd appreciate it!


https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-CrossFireX-NVIDIA-Motherboard-GA-Z77X-UD5H/dp/B007R21JK4

you'll end up with something like samsung evo (pro?) 960 mounted into PCIe bracket because you don't really have m.2 slot

check this out

https://www.starwindsoftware.com/blog/benchmarking-samsung-nvme-ssd-960-evo-m-2

they benchmarked m.2 with an asus bracket at it's 0% difference in between pcie and m.2 attachment