M2/NGFF Drive usage...

[Endoframe]

Hey everyone.

Apologies to the mods if this is in the wrong place.

What does everyone think of using only M2 drives in a PC?

Is this something people would do? Would you buy a PC chassis with only M2 slots/bays? Say, 4?

 

[AFD]

I would be okay with using only M.2, or possibly M.2 with additional 2.5 or 3.5" HDD/SSD for secondary storage, depending on the build and space available.

Don't think I've ever seen a motherboard with more than one M.2 slot, though.. and using multiple M.2 to 2.5" SATA adapters to use in drive bays just seems kinda silly.


EDIT: Guess the ASRock Z97 Extreme6 has 2x M.2 slots, but is a full ATX board, so not exactly small-form factor.

 

[Phuncz]

I'm a "pro-activist" for M.2 because it finally chimes in the next generation into storage, after going from disks to flash chips.

1. with M.2 we can soon use NVMe which allows a less restricted platform which overcomes the limitations AHCI has. This allows even lower latencies, further bringing down the gap between storage and RAM.

2. it's form-factor is finally where it should be with M.2. While 2,5" SSD's are basically PCB's in a small case because of the HDD legacy, it is possible to make storage the least bulkiest component of the entire computer. This also means it's viable for everything from tablets to servers.

3. with the progress made on NAND chips, flash can finally start competing in terms of storage capacity and price/GB. Although this road is long, the step to consumer devices with SSD's by default is becoming smaller every month meaning it will replace HDD's at some point in the not so distant future. 1TB M.2 Type 2280 sticks won't be "out of reach" forever.

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I specifically bought the Asus Maximus VII Impact because it has a M.2 socket with PCIe 3.0 x4 support and all the lengths supported. As soon as the first NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD is launched, I'll be able to upgrade and have no need to upgrade my storage for the next 3-5 years I would reckon.

 

[Endoframe]

Yah that was our thinking too.

Essentially we would have the mount bays and support for M.2 drives instead of sata drives, and include a sata adapter (which can be replaced with something more modern later, when it comes out) purely as a space saving concern.
In addition, M.2 will be mainstream soon enough so we don't want to push people into having to buy sata drives.

Even in a (included) M.2. sata adapter we feel M.2 is the way to go, especially for SFF.

 

[yolostrats]

EDIT: Guess the ASRock Z97 Extreme6 has 2x M.2 slots, but is a full ATX board, so not exactly small-form factor.

Yea it's still a shame because they are different types for compatibility.

I also think it' the future. Its more of the same in a smaller package. I'm trying to design and build a mITX case and simply do not factor in storage at all. The only components I care about is the mobo (17cm square for mitx), GPU (long or short) and PSU. Just 3 components.

One 512gb SSD will be enough for a minimal size ITX machine. For bigger machines, the size saving is not as important and so not worth the premium.

 

[Phuncz]

Let's not forget cables, you can nix two cables by going from SATA to M.2 which is substantial in ease of installation when using <10L cases.

 

[Screes]

I'll never use an internal 2.5 or 3.5" drive ever again for a computer. M.2 has everything you need. Its fast, it takes up zero extra space inside an enclosure, it doesn't need extra cables to work, and you can get it in large sizes.

My only complaint is the lack of M.2 slots on itx motherboards, and the lack of m.2 SSD's. Though i have a feeling this is going to only be a temporary problem for the next year.