M.2 vs SSD Caddy

harryturtleface

New Member
I was looking online and found a boat load of information about M.2’s and SATA SSD’s. I have an Acer E 15 E5-575 with an M.2 slot and an optical drive. My question though; is it worth it to have a SATA SSD in my optical drive while still keeping the hard drive and installing a M.2? And if not which one should I do first?
 

ssal

Active Member
The M.2 SSD is going to cost you about the same as a SATA SSD would. Then, there is additional cost of the caddy and the loss of the optical drive, although there is really no practical use of the optical drive for most of us today since everything is coming from streaming and downloading.

I think it would be a lot more hassle free if you just install the M.2.

BTW is it M.2 nvme, or sata? With nvme, it is 4x faster than sata ssd (not that it matters that much for most of the applications).
 
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harryturtleface

New Member
The M.2 SSD is going to cost you about the same as a SATA SSD would. Then, there is additional cost of the caddy and the loss of the optical drive, although there is really no practical use of the optical drive for most of us today since everything is coming from streaming and downloading.

I think it would be a lot more hassle free if you just install the M.2.

BTW is it M.2 nvme, or sata? With nvme, it is 4x faster than sata ssd (not that it matters that much for most of the applications).
Thank you. But as you said; I don’t use the optical drive. I’d rather have a SSD in there instead of a DVD player I’m never going to touch. My main question is; should I just replace the HDD, install a SATA SSD and a SATA M.2, or replace the optical drive with the SSD and install and M.2 while still keeping the HDD?
 

Intel_man

VIP Member
BTW is it M.2 nvme, or sata? With nvme, it is 4x faster than sata ssd (not that it matters that much for most of the applications).
Loading applications is a bit snappier if that makes sense. Not the same jump as HDD to SATA SSD, but it's definitely there.
 

ssal

Active Member
Thank you. But as you said; I don’t use the optical drive. I’d rather have a SSD in there instead of a DVD player I’m never going to touch. My main question is; should I just replace the HDD, install a SATA SSD and a SATA M.2, or replace the optical drive with the SSD and install and M.2 while still keeping the HDD?
If your M.2 is nvme, it makes the most economic and logical sense to add a nvme SSD to the M.2. No hassle of buying a caddy and mounting a SSD in the caddy. I think the M.2 mount is a lot more sturdier too.

If your M.2 is SATA, then the problem is that M.2 SATA cost more than a regular 2.5" SATA SSD. You may save some money with a 2.5" SSD in a caddy.
 

ssal

Active Member
Loading applications is a bit snappier if that makes sense. Not the same jump as HDD to SATA SSD, but it's definitely there.
I have both. I don't find the nvme loads programs like Excel, Firefox, Lightroom, Photoshop, Premiere or Davinci that much faster than the SATA SSD. I guess, unlike reading/accessing file in video editing, the computer doesn't just read the app. It has to go thru the ram and CPU as well.

Even in 4K video editing (I think it's the most demanding application I do), the nvme offers only a very slight improvement in access.
 
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