# Will this new style solid state drive work in my desktop machine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-new-style-solid-state-drive-work-in-my-desktop-machine/734086 "2015-10-09T22:02:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-new-style-solid-state-drive-work-in-my-desktop-machine/734086/1 "2015-10-09T22:02:20Z")
I’m intrigued by [these new style high performance SSD drives](http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SM951-512GB-AHCI-MZHPV512HDGL-00000/dp/B00VELDBJ6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444426665&sr=8-1&keywords=SM951-NVMe) which kind of look like memory modules. > [@](#): > > It says they require > > M.2 Interface: PCIe 3.0 x4 lanes, up to 32Gb/s > • Sequential Read: 2150MB/s, Sequential Write: 1500 MB/s, Random Read (QD=4): 90K IOPS, Random Write (QD=4): 70K IOPS > • 512MB LPDDR2 DRAM Buffer Memory > • Works with most motherboards and notebooks with a compatible M.2 PCIe interface slot. Includes Z97 and X99 motherboards and pre-cylindrical Mac Pro. IMPORTANT NOTE: “NOT Compatible” with the MacBook, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro > • Supports Standard AHCI driver, APM and L1.2 Power Saving Mode, End-to-End Data Protection, Supports TRIM Command, RoHS Compliant, Halogen-Free Compliant [My board looks like this](http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t464/monkapotamus/IMG_0004_zpsfgsgh5k3.jpg). Not sure if any of those short slots labeled PCIe x 1,2,3 or the MSATA slot will take this drive. Can these two things work together? PC is an HP Pavilion i3 basic desktop model. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-new-style-solid-state-drive-work-in-my-desktop-machine/734086/2 "2015-10-09T22:16:09Z")
No. Your motherboard doesn’t have an m.2 PCIe slot (or m.2 SATA slot). But you do have an m-SATA slot in that photo. Lots of SSDs are available for that, just not the one you linked. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-new-style-solid-state-drive-work-in-my-desktop-machine/734086/3 "2015-10-09T22:16:35Z")
Looks like you’ll need the Lycom adapter as shown in the “Frequently Bought Together” section to plug it into a PCIe slot. No promises that it will work well without having the specific model PC - HP has been making “Pavillion” machines for years. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-new-style-solid-state-drive-work-in-my-desktop-machine/734086/4 "2015-10-09T23:55:57Z")
You’ve got plenty of room in your case : I recently did a “portable” desktop PC build, and I just used conventional 2.5" SSDs. The reason is that those M.2 slots actually consume 2 SATA ports. It’s cool that they now look like sticks of memory, but the packaging for things like 500gb Samsung EVOs are incredibly thin and light. The conventional packaging even protects the circuit traces inside from an inadvertent scratch with a screwdriver and finger oil, versus leaving it exposed with the M.2. drives. (not a huge deal, but damaging the device that has all your data on it is a bad thing) I wouldn’t bother with an adapter, that’s something else to go wrong. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-new-style-solid-state-drive-work-in-my-desktop-machine/734086/5 "2015-10-10T02:17:58Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > … > But you do have an m-SATA slot in that photo. Lots of SSDs are available for that, just not the one you linked. [Here’s](https://www.google.com/shopping/product/4271074752540663264) one. These are the same form factor as 2.5 inch SATA hard disks, so as long as your computer will take one of those, this one will drop right in. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-new-style-solid-state-drive-work-in-my-desktop-machine/734086/6 "2015-10-10T13:03:58Z")
Nah. That’s just SATA. [This](http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-mSATA-2-Inch-MZ-M5E250BW/dp/B00TGIVTP2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444482191&sr=8-1&keywords=msata+samsung) is one. ---
**Author:** ![goldmund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a4c791/32.png) [@goldmund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldmund)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-new-style-solid-state-drive-work-in-my-desktop-machine/734086/7 "2015-10-11T16:24:45Z")
**gotpasswords** has the correct answer. The SATA drives top out at 6.0Gb/s, and in practice most drives will deliver 550MB/sec. A PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter has 4x985MB/s, around 31GB/s. [Here](http://www.legitreviews.com/addonics-m-2-pcie-ssd-adapter-x110-review_165632) is a review of the drive you linked, used with a PCIe adapter. According to them: > [@](#): > > The Samsung SM951 512GB AHCI M.2 PCI SSD ran great on this adapter and we were getting 2260 MB/s read and 1599 MB/s write speeds on the Addonics adapter. > Read more at [Addonics M.2 PCIe SSD Adapter X110 Review - Legit Reviews](http://www.legitreviews.com/addonics-m-2-pcie-ssd-adapter-x110-review_165632#YU6IDk6OGTpFfGEO.99) Make sure you put this in the x16 slot if you go this route.