SATA devices max out at about 550 MB/s. When the M.2 device is PCIe and provides NVMe, it’s quite a lot faster than SATA. NVMe can perform at up to a few GB/s, and have substantially lower latency than SATA.
My Aurora R11 also came with only a Toshiba A200 HDD, taking ~2 minutes to boot Windows 10.
I installed two (2.5" SATA) Samsung 860 Evo SSDs, and migrated the OS to one of them (both are connected to the mobo using a black port; the blue port is left empty). Now the system boots in ~22 seconds. If I disconnect the HDD, it boots in only 13 seconds.
(I did not buy an NVMe SSD because the M.2 slot is right next to the graphics card, preventing me from installing a big Sabrent heatsink.)
redxps630
9 Legend
•
15.4K Posts
0
December 10th, 2020 10:00
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
1
December 10th, 2020 11:00
With what you have already purchased, this would be my recommendation.
C-Drive NVMe-SSD 512gb Windows and Apps (and a few favorite games). 256gb if you must.
D-Drive SATA-SSD 512gb Large Games. Games and levels will load fast.
E-drive SATA-HDD 1.0tb Media files, Data, and backups. Can also be in external USB-3 enclosure.
2.5inch SATA SSD is 5-times faster than old spinning-platter HDD. Also, it uses less power, runs cooler, and is more reliable.
M.2-PCIe/NVMe-SSD is 5-times faster than even a SATA-SSD. You want machine booting from one of these and Windows running from it.
AuroraHasManyFans
1 Rookie
•
118 Posts
0
December 11th, 2020 03:00
My Aurora R11 also came with only a Toshiba A200 HDD, taking ~2 minutes to boot Windows 10.
I installed two (2.5" SATA) Samsung 860 Evo SSDs, and migrated the OS to one of them (both are connected to the mobo using a black port; the blue port is left empty). Now the system boots in ~22 seconds. If I disconnect the HDD, it boots in only 13 seconds.
(I did not buy an NVMe SSD because the M.2 slot is right next to the graphics card, preventing me from installing a big Sabrent heatsink.)