I
tcametoaclimaxwhen
benchmarkingX
motherboards.M.2SSDsarejust
horrible.ThereIwas,removing
tinyscrews,pullingoffaheatsink
halfthesizeofthemotherboard,
droppingsaidtinyscrewsjustalittle
toooften,alltoconnectoneSSD.
Surelytherehastobeabetterway?
Andthereis!It’scalledU.2.
Letmejuststatethatthere’snothing
wrongwiththeM.2interfaceitself.It’s
perfectlysuitedforalotofdevices.
Wi-Fi?Bluetooth?Thosekindsof
devicesarecompact,uselittlepower
andareperfectforadding
functionalityinconstrainedspaces
whereaPCIeadd-incardisn’tfeasible.
TheproblemisthattheM.2form
factor,specificallythe 2280 sizedone
that’seasilythemostprevalent,just
isn’tsuitedtohugethroughput,high
endenthusiastSSDs.
ModernNVMedrivesrunhot.Sohot
thattheycananddothrottletoprotect
themselves.Doyoureallywantyour
criticaldatasubjectedtothat?
Considerthatmodernenthusiast
systemsequippedwithAIOwater
coolinglackairflowacrosstheboard.
Thenthere’sthepositioningofmany
M.2slotsdirectlyadjacenttoahotGPU.
It’snotexactlyconducivetohavinga
coolrunning,longlifeSSD.Thiswill
onlybeexacerbatedbyPCIe4.0drives.
TheAorusPCIe4.0driveweusedfor
testingwithX570hasahefty,all
enclosingcopperheatsink.Whyequip
itwiththatifitdoesn’tneedit?
Witnessthelengthsdriveand
motherboardmanufacturersaregoing
tokeepSSDscool.Eitherdrivesare
comingwithpre-attachedheatsinksor
motherboardmakersareresortingto
coveringhalftheboardwithagigantic
coolingapparatus.AsweseewithX
motherboardselsewhereinthisissue,
chipsetfanshavemadeareturn.
Depending on the board, they aren’t
necessarilyjusttheretokeepthe
chipsetcool,they’retheretokeephot
NVMedrivescooltoo.
Afewyearsago,highendboards
camewithaU.2connectorbutnow
sadly,it’srelegatedalmostexclusively
totheprofessionalmarket.Essentially
itoffersthesamefunctionalityasM.2,
butconnectsviaacableinstead.
U.2driveshavesomanyadvantages.
Youcankeepthemisolatedfromother
hotcomponents,coolthemeasierand
preventthemfromthrottling,leading
toalongerlifeandhencekeepyour
datasafer.Manufacturerswon’tbe
constrainedbythe80mmwidePCB
andthereforeofferlargercapacities,
improvedheatdissipationproperties
and free up motherboard real estate. Atwobits
» CHRIS SZEWCZYK’S THOUGHTS, EXPERIENCES AND JOURNEYS THROUGH THE WORLD OF TECH.2.5-inchU.2drivecanbeinsertedinto
anycasethathas2.5-inchsupport(as
in,allofthem).
Forsomereason,somebody(who?)
decidedthatattachinganSSDdirectly
tothemotherboardwasagoodidea.Is
ittheaversiontohavingavisibleinch
ofcablecomingfromaport?Are
aestheticssoimportantthatthey
outweigheveryotherconcern?Why
notjustmakeanRGBU.2cable?
Problemsolved!
So,bigMultinationalCorporation,
canIhaveU.2drivesplease?They
won’tthrottle,they’recoolerandmore
convenient.Icanstashthemoutof
sightandI’dfeelsaferaboutmydata’s
integrity. Please? Pretty please?Why on Earth is M.
the dominant NVMe
SSD interface?
Chris Szewczyk explains why M.2 SSDs need to go
the way of the Dodo.
“Chipsetfanshavemadea return.
Dependingontheboard, theyaren’t
necessarilyjusttheretokeep the
chipsetcool,they’retheretokeep
hot NVMe drives cool too. ”
TheU.2connector,may
itconquertheM.2 for
our sanity.