NVME and SATA SSD compatibility for new pc
Galaxy
Posts: 562
Ryzen 7 8C/16T (I am not a Ryzen fanboy but the deal is/was many times better than Intel.)
RAM is 16X2 = 32GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE® LPX 16GB (16GBX1) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHZ C16 MEMORY KIT - BLACK
MB is
https://www.asrock.com/mb/amd/b450m steel legend/
NVME 1TB ssd is (for boot drive and Daz library)
https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-blue-sn550-nvme-ssd#WDS100T2B0C
There is another M2 slot available. Should I buy another 1TB similar chip or I need to buy different product for other m2 slot?
N.B. I already have a 6GB (other GPU spec. does not matter much for Daz Studio lol) and other less than 6GB nvidia GPUs.
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Comments
Please note that I am still thinking is boot drive and Daz Library in a same drive is a good idea...
Needless to say first time I enterd into Ryzen world I hope it will give similar performance as i7 at better price and I purchased this motherboard by mistake, Otherwise I prefer atx instead of microatx, by the way pc case is full tower big case.
Considering the sizes that Daz libraries usually end up with, I would recommend getting a large capacity 7200RPM HDD for your Daz Library. I have had my Daz library on a SSD and noticed no difference in content loading times. Keep the MVME SSD for your most frequently used programs.
As for adding a second M2 drive, check the motherboard manual before getting one - on my motherboard adding a M2 drive disabled one of the PCI-E slots so it was an either/or choice. With a more modern motherboard, it may not be an issue, but a good idea to check first.
This is why I am in dilemma, should I replace it or not.
Replace it because:
It is matx but not atx
It will disable a sata port for 2nd m2
This motherboard looks modern but it is probably not modern enough.
Dilemma because:
I do not prefer return things once I purchased however it was a mistake due to limited time deal and I purchased it few minutes earlier. Due to aggresive govt. import tax hardware price is much higher in my country (if compared to cheap USA price) Therefore deals are very helpful.
Upgrade is not required within few years because cpu is already 8 core 16 thread.
I can upgrade or install more ram stick in future.
I will not install any sound card and nvlink is out of my budget therefore available pcie slot is sufficient.
My guess is it will require M2 ssd which contain 2 cut out for 2nd slot.
Losing one internal SATA port by using NVMe in the 2nd M.2 port isn't a show stopper. If the board already has 6 SATA ports, you're down to 5 Do you really need 6? If so, you can always buy a PCIe to SATA card that has one or more internal SATA ports in addition to some external ones. Assuming of course that you have an empty PCIe slot to use.
mATX boards function just as well as a full ATX board. However, full ATX boards do often come with more card slots and bells & whistles like diagnostic switches, more RGB light ports, more fan ports, more space around the CPU to avoid crowding with a huge cooler, and of course, bigger price tags. If you upgrade your board, make sure it's compatible with your CPU chip and the cooler you've selected. I settled for mATX and after building my system I have 5 internal drives (3 SATA and 2 M.2-NVMe), and still have one PCIe slot left and two internal SATA ports left but I do wish that I'd gotten a full ATX board so that I could have another one or two PCIe slots for future add-ons.
I have two internal M.2 NVMe SSDs (500GB and 1TB) I've got the OS on the 500GB one, and the 1TB one (just recently added) is currently empty.
I have one internal SATA 1TB SSD. My active DAZ library is on it.
I also have two internal 2TB SATA Hard Drives for redundant backups and long term archival of one copy of my DAZ software and model downloads. (the 2nd archive copy of DAZ s/w & model downloads is on an external drive and maintained manually.)
This machine is not my daily workhorse. It is mostly just my DAZing machine but it can web browse or email as a backup to my 10 year old everyday mundane workhorse if necessary.
I would not bother getting an m.2 SATA drive. Get a standard SATA SSD or get a HDD.
Note that you cannot get a second PCIE m.2 for that motherboard. You'd have to get a SATA one and that is pretty pointless compared to a standard 2 1/2" SSD.
Dilemma cleared, this MB is sufficient, though my next purchase most probably will be ATX MB. Thanks for detailed description of disk management. Currently I have 1 NVME m2. Other m2 not purchased yet due to compatibility confusion. And one standard SSD 2.5. Totaling 3 disk (1NVME + 2 SATA) and probably in future another Hard Disk for back up of selected important files. Grand total 1NVME+3 SATA.
For disk management or Daz Library management I will use another disk for large contents such as shaders, hdri etc. as Dim Reaper also suggested for another disk. I will also use this NVME too, otherwise it will left almost empty. .
I am curious to know, why? Currently M2 SSD price is also better than 2.5 standard SSD and m.2 is wireless and probably uses less power.
Because of price.
1Tb 2 1/2" Samsung $115US
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-860-evo-series-1tb/p/N82E16820147673?Item=N82E16820147673&quicklink=true
1Tb m.2 SATA Samsung $150US
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-860-evo-series-1tb/p/N82E16820147678?Item=N82E16820147678
Exact same drive from the exact same brand from the exact same etailer. only difference is the form factor.
I bought a WD Blue 500GB M.2 for the OS and Program Files and a 1TB WD Blue for games (Steam, etc.). My Daz library is on an SSD. In my experience you don't see much benefit to using an M.2 over SSD (or even HDD) with Daz as the fetch times are pretty minimal compared to other much discussed issues (number of morphs load time problem). You really won't notice the difference, so buy what's cheapest.
I have also been thinking about it. My drive has started to become full from all the assets. I know that DAZ has to load everything for a character when it loads but always wondered if this had any impact on loading times.
Disc speed will have some effect, but probably not much. For most things the biggest delay iss etting the data structures up once the file contents have been read - especially figures with lots of relationships between morphs or morphs and other properties.