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January 25th, 2025 15:54

Confused, just want the fastest drive I can get

Have a new-to-me Precision 5820 w/ Core I9.  Win10 Pro is currently installed on the SSD.  I want to migrate or install to a new SSD, with the fastest configuration/speed.

I am confused by M.2 / NVME / PCIe / Gen 3x4 / etc...

From what I have read, it seems like a PCIe card with an M.2 is the way to go??  But then I see this:

Dell SSD 256GB Class 35 M.2 2230 NVMe PCIe 3.0 Gen 3x4 Solid State Drive - Is this better/faster?  Do I need an adapter to make this work?  What is best?

thx

10 Elder

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28.7K Posts

January 25th, 2025 16:57

M.2, NVMe and PCIe are all applicable to the same drive.  They refer to different aspects (form factor, electrical interface, logic support) of the same thing.

If the system now has an M.2 drive, you can upgrade it to any PCIe3 (or 4) drive you want.  But if it doesn't have one now, you may need a Dell mouting kit to fit one.

(edited)

1 Rookie

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13 Posts

January 25th, 2025 17:08

@ejn63​ You must be referring to the mounting kit that goes in one of the drive bays?  It does not have one now.  So my question is still which would be faster - drive bay kit or PCIe card?

10 Elder

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28.7K Posts

January 25th, 2025 18:13

You'll need to check which interface each uses.  They're likely the same.

9 Legend

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8.1K Posts

January 26th, 2025 05:05

Re:  What is best?

When using Intel storage controller, both of flexbay and PCIe slot will have similar performance.  The SSD drive is determine factor, not the drive carrier or connection port.

The best is Dell SSD class 50.  Users often go for the cheaper consumer grade SSD with similar performance from Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, as they are OEM suppliers for Dell. 

4 Operator

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1.4K Posts

January 26th, 2025 14:18

Main thing is that if you want raw speed ( not for the boot drive ) you can easily go with a quad pci-e adapter, install 4 m.2 drives , and set the volume as windows storage spaces

1 Rookie

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January 26th, 2025 15:14

@mazzinia_​ " not for the boot drive " if this is where the 'raw speed' would come from, why not move the boot drive to it?

4 Operator

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1.4K Posts

January 26th, 2025 15:39

well, yes... but i was simply thinking to have the storage area benefitting from more speed. A single nvme m.2 drive is quick enough for boot, at 3138 reading / 2253 writing

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