What’s the difference of M.2 SATA and M.2 PCIe(NVMe)?

What’s the difference of M.2 SATA and M.2 PCIe(NVMe)?

The primary distinctions between M.2 SATA and NVMe lie in their interface protocols, transfer speeds, performance profiles, and applicable scenarios.

·         Interface Protocol: M.2 SATA utilizes the SATA interface and AHCI protocol, whereas M.2 NVMe employs the NVMe protocol. This implies that M.2 NVMe offers greater efficiency and performance in data transfer and processing.

·         Transfer Speed: Thanks to the optimization and efficiency of the NVMe protocol, the transfer speed of M.2 NVMe solid-state drives (SSDs) is typically much higher than that of M.2 SATA SSDs. M.2 SATA operates at speeds of around 500 MB/s, while M.2 NVMe can reach 7000 MB/s or higher, making it an ideal choice for high-end applications and scenarios demanding high-performance storage.

·         Performance: M.2 NVMe SSDs, due to their use of the NVMe protocol and PCIe interface, generally outperform M.2 SATA SSDs. The NVMe protocol significantly enhances the performance of SSDs by reducing CPU overhead, simplifying operational processes, lowering latency, and increasing the number of input/output operations per second.

·         Applicable Scenarios: M.2 SATA SSDs are suitable for everyday use and general office requirements, while M.2 NVMe SSDs are more appropriate for applications requiring high-performance storage, such as gaming, video editing, and professional workstations, offering faster load times and higher work efficiency.

·         Size: Common sizes for M.2 SATA and M.2 NVMe include 2242mm, 2280mm, but in addition to these, there are less common sizes such as 2230mm and 22110mm.

·         The often-mentioned M.2 B key refers to M.2 SATA, and the M.2 M key refers to M.2 NVMe. However, there are also M.2 SATA and M.2 NVMe with B+M Keys. Simply put, if a drive has a single notched key, it might be a B key or an M key. If it has two notches, it is definitely a B+M Key. For the differences between B+M Keys, please refer to the photo below:

Consumer-grade M.2 SATA is suitable for upgrading some older notebooks to enhance their performance. However, in the industrial field, M.2 SATA, like mSATA, has been widely applied. M.2 NVMe is now the mainstream in the consumer market, with PCIe 3.0, PCIe 4.0, and PCIe 5.0 speeds becoming increasingly faster. The current speed of 5.0 has already surpassed 12000 MB/s. Newer motherboards will gradually adopt PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 5.0. However, in industrial applications, M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 remains the mainstream. As development demands increase, it will gradually keep pace with the consumer sector.

The following are reference links to Qootec's related products.

Qootec M.2 SATA 22*42mm

Qootec M.2 SATA 22*80mm