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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. The ORICO M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure is made entirely from aluminum and boasts a 10-minute automatic sleep mode. Most M.2 drives aren't exactly pretty; they look like bare circuit boards with silicon chips grafted onto them. Some may be topped by a heat spreader or heatsink (usually an array of metal fins) that is equal parts practical and decorative. The most important thing to know about M.2, though, is what it is and what it isn't.
The data transfer speed will depend on what type of drive you’re using. For NVMe drives, you get a full 10Gbps maximum speed. If you’re using a SATA drive, this will top out at 6Gbps. You’ll also be limited to 2TB of drive capacity. That said, you get everything you need to get started. Along with the enclosure, there’s a pair of 15.7” USB Type-C to Type-C and Type-C to Type-A cables. Best Durability: StarTech.com USB-C M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Enclosure 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. 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.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. The StarTech.com USB-C M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Enclosure is drop-proof and waterproof for extreme durability. 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.)
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.
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 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.
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. One other form that NVMe drives take, the U.2 drive, is confined at the moment to just a handful of SSDs. Its physical interface is much more common in servers than consumer PCs. A few high-end motherboards may have onboard U.2 ports, but most will require a specialized U.2 adapter that plugs into an M.2 slot.South Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix is a relative newcomer to the consumer solid-state drive market, but you would never know that based on its first offerings. The SK Hynix Platinum P41, a PCI Express 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD, is its best yet. It dominated our PCMark 10 and 3DMark Storage benchmark testing, setting several new records in the process. The P41 supports 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption. SK Hynix provides a clone utility tool, the SK Hynix System Migration Utility, for its SSDs, in addition to Easy Drive Manager software, which lets you see detailed information on drive health, run diagnostics, and erase the drive. And the P41 can be had for a very reasonable price in its 1TB and 2TB capacities. Who It's For 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 T700 is for gamers, creatives, and professionals seeking the ultimate in solid-state drive performance that today only a Gen 5 SSD offers. Just know that being able to run a PCI Express 5.0 SSD at peak speeds can require a considerable additional hardware investment. You must be willing to buy a recent desktop with the hardware to support SSDs built on the PCIe 5.0 standard, upgrade an existing recent rig, or build one from scratch. By making such an investment and having the T700 serve as its brains, though, you're future-proofing your entire setup.
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