KVR Audio

Timerider · Post by **Timerider** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:55 pm

Hello all,

After 5 years I’m finally upgrading my Windows 10 pc soon. Can anyone recommend a decent M.2 drive that performs well, I’m going for one of these, the Seagate Firecuda I understand is decent?

Thanks.

Pictus · Post by **Pictus** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 1:43 pm

Yes, they are decent.

paterpeter · Post by **paterpeter** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:11 pm

I have a WD Black sn850 and a Kingston KC2500, both 1TB. The WD is a beast (I mean seriously, it's rediculously fast) and the Kingston is great, too. I can recommend them both at their respective price points.

I just added a 2TB Crucial mx500 for plugin data (Komplete, Superior Drummer, samples etc). It's great for that purpose as well - just in case you're looking for a 2.5" SATA drive as well

Steve Bolivar · Post by **Steve Bolivar** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:16 pm

Pretty sure the entire range of Samsung SSDs is pretty well regarded. I've had 2 m.2s and 3 SATA SSDs in my rig for a few years now with no problems.

Timerider · Post by **Timerider** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 3:39 pm

Many thanks! I’m also upgrading to 64 gig of ram, as I’ll be using virtual instruments and audio samples. I also gather the M.2 drives take some load off the cpu, which is always a plus!

kingozrecords · Post by **kingozrecords** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 7:28 pm

You can consider the timetec brand should you be wanting to save money. Like in the case of Crucial, they are both a Hynix company and swap parts.

I've heard many good things said about Timetec and likely you could save money in the way of sata ssd, and likely M.2 also. They are now adding more aggressive models to their product line; and the speeds are beginning now to match that of crucial, kingston and even Samsung in some cases.

Timerider · Post by **Timerider** » Sat Aug 28, 2021 12:04 am

Thanks again, I’ll have a look into those! I looked at the WD Black SN580, it is indeed fast, albeit with a few heat issues.

Timerider · Post by **Timerider** » Sat Aug 28, 2021 8:17 pm

Steve Bolivar wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:16 pm Pretty sure the entire range of Samsung SSDs is pretty well regarded. I've had 2 m.2s and 3 SATA SSDs in my rig for a few years now with no problems.

Yes absolutely, it’s looking like the M.2 970 EVO PLUS!

digitalboytn · Post by **digitalboytn** » Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:31 pm

Those M.2 SSDs are more than decent...

The're funking brilliant...

I have my main drum and orchestral samples on them with velocity levels @ 128 and beyond and the libraries load in a heartbeat...

Once you have used an M.2 drive,you'll get the idea...

The're a smart solution and a positive step fowards

T-CM11 · Post by **T-CM11** » Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:38 pm

Timerider wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 3:39 pm I also gather the M.2 drives take some load off the cpu, which is always a plus!

I've never heard of that, and I don't know why that would be the case. Do you have a source for that information?
My knowledge of the subject is that, for any form of audio production, the difference between a slow SATA SSD and a fast M.2 SSD is 'negligible'. Maybe you'll notice a few seconds of difference when initially loading MANY gigabytes of audio data in one project, but I'm not sure.

If you're upgrading from a spinning HDD - within the same system - M.2 isn't the only option. Especially for higher capacity drives, SATA SSDs might be a more budget-conscious choice, without sacrificing (much) performance.

digitalboytn · Post by **digitalboytn** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:07 am

T-CM11 wrote: Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:38 pm If you're upgrading from a spinning HDD - within the same system - M.2 isn't the only option. Especially for higher capacity drives, SATA SSDs might be a more budget-conscious choice, without sacrificing (much) performance.

The M.2 drives load around 4 x faster than SSD's...

That's a significant performance upgrade

I have my OS on a regular SSD and the critical sample libraries are on the M.2 drives...

The M.2 drives are faster than a speeding bullet

Timerider · Post by **Timerider** » Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:34 am

digitalboytn wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:07 am
T-CM11 wrote: Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:38 pm If you're upgrading from a spinning HDD - within the same system - M.2 isn't the only option. Especially for higher capacity drives, SATA SSDs might be a more budget-conscious choice, without sacrificing (much) performance.
The M.2 drives load around 4 x faster than SSD's...

That's a significant performance upgrade

I have my OS on a regular SSD and the critical sample libraries are on the M.2 drives...

The M.2 drives are faster than a speeding bullet

Yes looking forward to seeing just how good they are! It begs the question as to what is next regarding hard drive technology!!!!

martians · Post by **martians** » Tue Aug 31, 2021 7:30 am

digitalboytn wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:07 am
T-CM11 wrote: Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:38 pm If you're upgrading from a spinning HDD - within the same system - M.2 isn't the only option. Especially for higher capacity drives, SATA SSDs might be a more budget-conscious choice, without sacrificing (much) performance.
The M.2 drives load around 4 x faster than SSD's...

That's a significant performance upgrade

I have my OS on a regular SSD and the critical sample libraries are on the M.2 drives...

The M.2 drives are faster than a speeding bullet

I hope everyone is aware that M.2 is just the name for the expansion card/connector and doesn't say anything about the speed of the drive.
NVMe M.2 is much faster, AHCI/SATA M.2 is just as fast as a regular SATA SSD.

Also, make sure your motherboard supports the drive you are looking for, and in the slot you want to use it in, if the motherboard has more than one M.2 slot. (Plus, look out for regular SATA-connections that get disabled when placing one or more M.2 drives).

digitalboytn · Post by **digitalboytn** » Tue Aug 31, 2021 9:14 am

martians wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 7:30 am
NVMe M.2 is much faster....

This is what I have installed

PC Upgrade, M.2 Drive.