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You can use these PCIe 4.0-based SSDs in PCIe 3.0-only systems, but they'll just dial down to PCIe 3.0 speeds. So should you opt for one? If you'll be assembling or upgrading a late-model AMD or Intel PC with the right chipset, by all means. Hardcore gamers and content creators working on today's newer PCs will stand to gain the most. If you have a PCIe 4.0-capable slot for one, get one; otherwise, 3.0 will likely do you fine. We've already mentioned one you know—SSD. It stands for "solid-state drive," a storage drive made up of flash memory in modules called NANDs and governed by a controller chip. (The name NAND comes from a type of logic gate in Boolean algebra; we'll try to explain terms as we go along, but if you need a refresher in SSD lingo see our rundown of 20 terms you need to know.) Unfortunately, SSD shopping has been complicated in recent years by the emergence of three new technologies: M.2, PCI Express (abbreviated PCIe), and NVMe. All three are centered around making SSDs smaller or faster. They also make buying a solid-state drive more challenging than ever. The StarTech.com USB-C M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Enclosure is drop-proof and waterproof for extreme durability.
The ORICO M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure is made entirely from aluminum and boasts a 10-minute automatic sleep mode. The thermal pad inside the housing provides good temperature protection. The 10Gbps data transfer is just what you’d expect for a USB Type-C enclosure. It supports up to a 2TB drive, which was somewhat disappointing. But there’s a 20-inch USB Type-C to Type-C cable, so you’ll have plenty of reach to plug into your devices. Final Verdict An unapologetically bright RGB-lit PCIe 3.0 NVMe M.2 SSD, the S40G will bling up your PC if you're an enterprising builder. Its 4K read and write speeds should keep most gamers happy, too. Of course, to show off the lighting, you will need to have an open-frame rig, or one with a transparent-sided case. If you've already RGB'd your keyboard, mouse, video card, motherboard, case, and headphones, and are at a loss for what's left, the Spectrix S40G makes enough sense both in performance and looks to belong in any lighting-obsessed custom PC builder's arsenal. Why did SSDs take so long to get so small? Actually, from a strict manufacturing viewpoint, they never needed to be that big in the first place. Classic 2.5-inch SSDs have a lot of dead space inside, as memory chips are much smaller than rotating drive mechanisms, but they were designed to fit into existing bays to replace hard drives. In the move from bulky desktops to ultra-slim laptops and tablets, one thing came clear: That fatter kind of drive would have to go. An M.2 drive reduces an SSD to its essentials: just a strip of a circuit board studded with silicon, much leaner and easier to fit into tight spaces.If you're a custom PC builder with RGB-lighting fever, and have RGB-ified just about every inch and corner of your system, perk up: ADATA has brought pretty lights to the internal SSD final frontier. The XPG Spectrix S40G is the most flamboyant NVMe drive we've seen to date. With the S40G's fine 4K write speeds, top-notch sequential-read speeds, and respectable durability rating, ADATA makes having a top-of-the line, over-the-top SSD affordable and fun, in one fell swoop. Who It's For The SK Hynix Platinum P41 is a worthy choice for anyone looking to buy a high-performance PCI Express 4.0 NVMe SSD without breaking the bank. It blew away several of our benchmark records. The P41 provides AES hardware-based encryption and a clone utility tool as well as SSD management software. Just be forewarned that with its blistering speed, you will want to add a heatsink, the one item of note that it is missing. Of course, these are just the basics. To truly understand these enclosures, we’re going to have to take a much closer look. Once we’ve given them a thorough evaluation, we’ll know enough to deliver a verdict. Let’s get started! Best Overall: UGREEN M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure Also, make sure that if your system supports and you're shopping for an NVMe drive, any PCI Express drive you're considering is specifically an NVMe model. Merely using the PCI Express bus is not necessarily a guarantee of that; PCIe M.2 SSDs existed before NVMe, and though all current models support NVMe, some oldies are still on the market. Today's mainstream solid-state drives are PCI Express 3.0 and 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 devices, and they leave the fastest SATA-based drives in the dust.
Now let's reiterate an important point: You may know an M.2 solid-state drive's length and capacity, but that doesn't tell you about the bus or interface it makes use of. That detail is vital to know—just as important as making sure the drive physically fits in the space you have.
SATA-based M.2 SSDs are all well and good, but mostly restricted to economy models these days—PCI Express is where the cutting-edge speed is. Your system specifically needs an M.2 slot that supports PCI Express to use these drives; some desktop motherboard slots support both kinds. A given laptop might support only M.2 SSDs that use the SATA bus, which limits what you can do in terms of upgrades. The only reason you'd upgrade in that situation would be to boost the available storage capacity. The Samsung SSD 990 Pro, the company's flagship PCI Express 4.0 NVMe internal solid-state drive, gets high marks for raw speed, everyday application performance, a strong software suite, and hardware-based encryption. The heatsink-equipped version of this drive performed slightly better than the non-heatsink version (which we tested using our testbed's motherboard's heatsink) in most of our benchmarks. A few other recent internal SSDs have outpaced it in our gaming benchmarks, but its overall capability and deep feature set make this Samsung SSD a versatile drive well-suited for creative tasks. Who It's For The USB port supports the USB 3.2 data transfer standard. This allows you to read and write files at a rate of up to 10Gbps. The enclosure itself will support up to a 8TB drive. That’s a larger capacities than most enclosures will allow. A pair of 12-inch cables are included for connecting to your computer or other device. Both are male-to-male, and one is USB Type-C to Type-C, while the other is Type-C to Type-A. As we discuss in our parallel roundup, The Best M.2 Solid-State Drives, M.2 drives are differentiated by a four- or five-digit number listed in their names or specifications. The number is a measurement in millimeters, with the first two digits being the drive's width and the remaining two or three digits telling you how long it is.
Depending on what you need, any one of these M.2 SSD enclosures could be the best choice. But what sets one apart from another? Here’s what we’ve learned about each of these enclosures. Third on our list was the ORICO M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure. This is a more affordable enclosure that can get you set up on a budget. It’s compatible with both SATA and NVMe SSDs, so you don’t have to worry about what type you’re using. And while it only supports up to a 2TB drive, you get the benefit of a 10-minute auto-shutoff timer to save power. In recent years, M.2 drive technology has been changing how we think about storage. Traditional storage has either been internal or external. Yes, you can swap out a traditional 2.5” or 3.5” internal drive if you want to. But there are multiple steps involved. An M.2 drive is a drop-in solution that can be implemented not just in full-sized PCs but in portable systems.
SK Hynix Platinum P41
The first generation of M.2 PCI Express SSDs made use of a PCI Express x2 interface with throughput higher than SATA 3.0, but not enormously so. That's changed. Today's mainstream M.2 drives support PCI Express 3.0 x4 (four lanes of bandwidth), working alongside a technology called Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe). The idea behind NVMe is to accelerate performance further, especially with hardy workloads. An M.2 slot on an MSI AMD-based motherboard, showing multiple mounting points One thing we appreciated about the design of the UGREEN enclosure is the easy, tool-free installation. The outer shell of the case is hollow, and you can slide it off with a little effort. Once you’ve pulled out the inner case, you install your M.2 drive in the enclosure. It’s large enough to fit any standard-sized NVMe drive: 2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280 will all fit. We started out our list with the UGREEN M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure. This enclosure accepts any length NVMe SSD, and installation takes just a few moments. That’s convenient if you intend to swap different drives in and out of your enclosure. We also appreciated the large, 8TB maximum capacity, which is great for archives. WATCH THAT BOOT. If your desktop is getting a PCI Express/NVMe drive for the first time, verify with the motherboard or PC maker that the drive will be bootable. It's unlikely, but a BIOS upgrade may be required to get you there. (This is an issue with older motherboards, not current ones.)
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