Need help to choose between M.2 and SATA 3 SSD

I have a dell inspiron 5567 with 1TB mechanical hdd. I am planning to install an ssd of 128GB and set it as boot drive.
Now as this laptop do not have M.2 slot, i have an option of using a M.2 caddy to install M.2 SSD in either optical drive slot or internal hdd area.
I need suggestions to choose between M.2 SSD ( like Samsung EVO 960/970) or a 2.5'' SSD ( like Samsung EVO 860). In either case, my selected drive will be used just for booting.
Keep in mind, I dont have a M.2 slot, i will use a M.2 caddy.
Thank you in advance

 

waste of money, M.2 caddy is the same speed as normal 2.5" SSD.

 

Most people dont have a a specific need for m.2 speeds to begin with.

Just get a regular Sata3 SSD and call it a day.

 

Dont forget that you cant use an NVMe SSD in a caddy and expect it to work, you need to use SATA m.2 SSD's.

 

Why wont a NVMe SSD work in a caddy?
I have seen some adopters for M.2 to SATA (Link below)


https://sgcdn.startech.com/005329/media/products/gallery_large/SAT32M225.main.jpg

https://sgcdn.startech.com/005329/media/products/gallery_large/SAT32M225.B.jpg

 

A normal SSD will not achieve the theoretical SATA 3 speed of ~750MB/sec, will a NVMe SSD achieve ~750MB/sec when plugged into SATA 3 port using an adopter, converter or caddy?

 

Pci-e and SATA drives use different signaling, you can't put pci-e into SATA. Also while that's the theoretical max once you take real world values into account just over 550MB/sec and is the best you will see.

 

As already said, NVMe uses the PCIe, those caddys are only SATA to m.2 adapters, and only support SATA interfaces, there is no way to convert SATA into a PCIe interface.

 

I didn't say it would and no it wouldn't.

 

thanks everyone. i would consider a SATA 3 SSD like Samsung EVO 850 ( 250GB for Boot).

 

@Syed Adeel 1 I'd suggest m.2 SATA SSD + adapter if you're planning to keep the SSD for a long time - because you will be able to use it in almost any machine, unlike 2.5" SATA SSDs which could only plugged in larger/budget/old laptops.

 

yes now i have decided to go for Samsung Evo 860 M.2 or Crucial MX500 as both uses SATA 3.
Actually i was confused about NVMe and M.2. I thought both are same thing but i was wrong.

I concluded that M.2 is a conector which can be SATA or NVMe, so one should confirm that his/her laptop will support NVMe or not. My dell inspiron 5567 do not support NVMe so i have to consider SATA SSD (either M.2 or 2.5")

 

@Syed Adeel 1 yes, your conclusions are correct. Good luck!

 

Not to further complicate things but there are nvme caddies. they use a different connector which is commonly referred as the u2 connector but some of us may recall it as the sata-express convention.

I'm not sure why they would'nt just make a m2 nvme slot available instead but remember the times where the Dell laptops used to come with a mSATA ssd hooked to the 2.5' bay with a homebrew structure.

oh and i wouldnt recommend nvme via these caddies as I heard the Lenovo ones were restricted to 2 lanes . I'm unsure if its a lenovo specific issue or not though.

stick to sata based SSD and in terms of perf - always remember that the only diff b/w 2.5' and m2 is the form factor.

while it is a good idea to future proof by buying a m2 form factor - unless you are after a 1tb ssd - just go for the 2.5' form factor and more importantly a very proven brand - there is bery little to separate performance between the tier 1 SSDs performance wise like Crucial vs Samsung vs WD/Sandisk and lets face it - i consider them to also be similiar in terms of reliability.

You can pick up a decent used 2.5' WD Blue or samsung 850 in that is still under warranty on eBay (just make sure the seller has the receipt as part of the deal). you'd be stunned by the price difference while i know it's not an apples to apples comp - snagging a 1 year old used drive (ask for the smart readouts too) saved me $70 vs a brand new 500gb crucial mx500 m2.

I got them registered and with the receipt scanned - the tradeoff was worth it as i still have 4 years of warranty to back me up.

.just make sure you do not buy an OEM version as firmware updates would be tough unless you have the same laptop brand.

So jin the unlikely event of a failed drive - ii'd evaluate them based on their RMA process. I have no input on that so far unfortunately...

supportwise though - it does seem like Samsung has the edge with their data migration software which is probably the best cloning software even when compared to commercial products like Acronis.