What's your latest tech purchase?

[djisas]

Noctua NH-U9S?

It's perfect for anything short of a massive 16 core cpu or any intel cpu...
It's the best cooler I could fit inside my case...

 

[sepheronx]

If its legit, but if you are getting good results then I guess its good. Maybe that's their new packaging?

This is the one I purchased

Amazon.ca

 

[freeagent]

Its nice to see this stuff becoming more available in Canada! There was one seller on there who had a bunch of 120mm Thermalright fans and I put 6 in my cart.. but then I bought an SN750 instead..

Aliexpress has a bunch of Thermalright stuff , most of it is kind of pricey. They have a few CLC's on there and a lot of fans.

 

[damric]

This little guy.

Keep running out of NVMe storage and M.2 slots on all of my motherboards. I bought one of these extremely cheap adapter cards and it worked out marvelously, so I ordered a bunch more. It has a copper mesh underside, and comes with its own thermal pad, and even a cute little m.2 screwdriver. I thought at first that it didn't come with an m.2 retention screw but it actually does, it was on the underside. Black PCB will look good in many builds.

 

[cst1992]

This little guy.
View attachment 184852

Keep running out of NVMe storage and M.2 slots on all of my motherboards. I bought one of these extremely cheap adapter cards and it worked out marvelously, so I ordered a bunch more. It has a copper mesh underside, and comes with its own thermal pad, and even a cute little m.2 screwdriver. I thought at first that it didn't come with an m.2 retention screw but it actually does, it was on the underside. Black PCB will look good in many builds.

How much did you pay for it? Where I am, it costs $13.69. Worth it?

 

[Ahhzz]

I'm drooling all over these new desks I'd love to make my next project building my own, but I've already got so many going on, it'll be a long while, if ever. In the meantime, my poor old K90 has moved to my server. I've spilled tea on it one time too many, and it's just got too many annoyingly slightly sticky keys. Dismantled the thing and cleaned it best I could, but it was just too annoying, and I had some rewards points burning a hole in my browser. So.....

K68 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard — CHERRY® MX Red

The CORSAIR K68 RGB ultra-durable mechanical keyboard combines vivid per-key RGB backlighting, up to IP32 water and dust resistance and CHERRY® MX keyswitches, allowing you to play on, whatever happens.

www.corsair.com

 

[damric]

How much did you pay for it? Where I am, it costs $13.69. Worth it?

$9.50 on newegg. Worth it for me. I needed more m.2 NVMe slots.

Here is one with a heat sink for $13

Amazon.com: GODSHARK NVME Adapter with Heat Sink, M.2 SSD Key M to PCI Express x4/x8/x16 Converter Expansion Card, Support 2230 2242 2260 2280, Compatible for Windows XP 7 8 10 : Electronics

Amazon.com: GODSHARK NVME Adapter with Heat Sink, M.2 SSD Key M to PCI Express x4/x8/x16 Converter Expansion Card, Support 2230 2242 2260 2280, Compatible for Windows XP 7 8 10 : Electronics

www.amazon.com

 

[Ahhzz]

$9.50 on newegg. Worth it for me. I needed more m.2 NVMe slots.

Here is one with a heat sink for $13

Amazon.com: GODSHARK NVME Adapter with Heat Sink, M.2 SSD Key M to PCI Express x4/x8/x16 Converter Expansion Card, Support 2230 2242 2260 2280, Compatible for Windows XP 7 8 10 : Electronics

Amazon.com: GODSHARK NVME Adapter with Heat Sink, M.2 SSD Key M to PCI Express x4/x8/x16 Converter Expansion Card, Support 2230 2242 2260 2280, Compatible for Windows XP 7 8 10 : Electronics

www.amazon.com

For older systems, do these provide enough increase in speed over the existing SATA slots to move to one if I already have an NVMe?

 

[cst1992]

$9.50 on newegg. Worth it for me. I needed more m.2 NVMe slots.

Here is one with a heat sink for $13

Amazon.com: GODSHARK NVME Adapter with Heat Sink, M.2 SSD Key M to PCI Express x4/x8/x16 Converter Expansion Card, Support 2230 2242 2260 2280, Compatible for Windows XP 7 8 10 : Electronics

Amazon.com: GODSHARK NVME Adapter with Heat Sink, M.2 SSD Key M to PCI Express x4/x8/x16 Converter Expansion Card, Support 2230 2242 2260 2280, Compatible for Windows XP 7 8 10 : Electronics

www.amazon.com

Heat sink is included, along with thermal pads, screws and bands(for holding the heatsink):

INR 1053.99 = $14.44 at current exchange rate.

For older systems, do these provide enough increase in speed over the existing SATA slots to move to one if I already have an NVMe?

You need at least a PCIe 3.0x4 slot. That'll give you 4 GB/s of speed max. For the 970 Evo Plus, you should get 3.5 GB/s speed.

My motherboard has a NVMe slot, but it's shared with 2 2.0x1 slots, limiting it to PCIe 2.0x2 speed (1 GB/s) and I get 820 MB/s with the 970 Evo Plus.
Fortunately, it's also a SLI-compatible board, so I could stick this in the secondary PCIe 3.0x16 slot. I'd lose 8 lanes on my graphics card, but that doesn't really matter much.

 

[Valantar]

For older systems, do these provide enough increase in speed over the existing SATA slots to move to one if I already have an NVMe?

Depends on the use case. For most uses, the speed difference between a good SATA drive and most NVMe drives is not really noticeable - but for some use cases, it can make a big difference. The biggest advantage IMO is future proofing and reducing clutter, but then I hate cable management

 

[cst1992]

Depends on the use case. For most uses, the speed difference between a good SATA drive and most NVMe drives is not really noticeable - but for some use cases, it can make a big difference. The biggest advantage IMO is future proofing and reducing clutter, but then I hate cable management

For modern PC builds, there is another advantage to having NVMe drives - it's made 2.5" and 3.5" drives obsolete.
That means if you have a SFF build and a modular power supply, you can simply do away with these larger drives and their cables and only use on-motherboard NVMe drives.
With capacities up to 8TB(!) available for NVMe drives, it's a viable option if it fits the budget.

 

[Ahhzz]

...


You need at least a PCIe 3.0x4 slot. That'll give you 4 GB/s of speed max. For the 970 Evo Plus, you should get 3.5 GB/s speed.

My motherboard has a NVMe slot, but it's shared with 2 2.0x1 slots, limiting it to PCIe 2.0x2 speed (1 GB/s) and I get 820 MB/s with the 970 Evo Plus.
Fortunately, it's also a SLI-compatible board, so I could stick this in the secondary PCIe 3.0x16 slot. I'd lose 8 lanes on my graphics card, but that doesn't really matter much.

I've only got two PCIe 3.0 slots, taken up by my vid card, so I guess I'll stick with the Samsung 860 EVO for now. One of these days, maybe I can sell a kidney and upgrade

 

[ThrashZone]

For modern PC builds, there is another advantage to having NVMe drives - it's made 2.5" and 3.5" drives obsolete.
That means if you have a SFF build and a modular power supply, you can simply do away with these larger drives and their cables and only use on-motherboard NVMe drives.
With capacities up to 8TB(!) available for NVMe drives, it's a viable option if it fits the budget.

Hi,
Card it's self is dirt cheap can't say obsolete seeing the price to add those m.2's is very high and shows there was never a budget lol
2.5" ssd's is a better viable option cables don't matter to most people they can be placed with double stick tape anywhere

 

[FireFox]

For modern PC builds, there is another advantage to having NVMe drives - it's made 2.5" and 3.5" drives obsolete.

My Motherboard has 3 X M.2 slots and i am using just 1, the other 6 drivers are 2.5

 

[cst1992]

My Motherboard has 3 X M.2 slots and i am using just 1, the other 6 drivers are 2.5


View attachment 185087

Yes, but they aren't brand-new that you specifically bought for your just-built PC.

 

[Valantar]

For modern PC builds, there is another advantage to having NVMe drives - it's made 2.5" and 3.5" drives obsolete.
That means if you have a SFF build and a modular power supply, you can simply do away with these larger drives and their cables and only use on-motherboard NVMe drives.
With capacities up to 8TB(!) available for NVMe drives, it's a viable option if it fits the budget.

Isn't that the same as

reducing clutter

? That's what I meant, at least I entirely agree that they've made 2.5" drives obsolete at this point - there's no real price difference currently, and the convenience of m.2 can't be beat. My current desktop has a 2.5" SSD in addition to the boot m.2, but I'll be retiring that to a portable enclosure and going all m.2 with my next upgrade cycle. Now that even ITX boards mostly have two m.2 slots there's little reason for anything else for the vast majority of PC builders/users.

 

[ThrashZone]

Yes, but they aren't brand-new that you specifically bought for your just-built PC.

Hi,
I don't see what difference that makes it sure doesn't take into account m.2's costs per gb is still too high
There is only one benchmark that cares what type ssd you run on and that is performance test 8-9 or 10 plus disk benchs

Otherwise performance comparison from 2.5" ssd is zero gain.
There is no point in blowing extra money on m.2 unless you move massive files around bottom line
Wiring is not an valid argument it is purely "I want an m.2" period.

 

[FireFox]

Yes, but they aren't brand-new that you specifically bought for your just-built PC.

Just the 970 evo and 2 x WD black are brand new, the funny part is that i bought 2 x WD Black 2.5 instead m.2

 

[Valantar]

Hi,
I don't see what difference that makes it sure doesn't take into account m.2's costs per gb is still too high
There is only one benchmark that cares what type ssd you run on and that is performance test 8-9 or 10 plus disk benchs

Otherwise performance comparison from 2.5" ssd is zero gain.
There is no point in blowing extra money on m.2 unless you move massive files around bottom line
Wiring is not an valid argument it is purely "I want an m.2" period.

There's not much of a price difference between entry level NVMe and SATA these days though. There's $1 between the cheapest 500GB 2.5" SATA SSD and the cheapest 500GB m.2 NVMe SSD on Newegg currently, and the NVMe drive has the lowest MSRP of the two. The NVMe drive also has 20GB higher capacity, for what that's worth. There are more options in lower price tiers for SATA drives, but they aren't generally noticeably cheaper than low-end NVMe drives. That being said there isn't much of a real-world performance advantage for the NVMe drives either, but they do still win in terms of convenience and clutter.

Price differences do (often) increase as you hit higher capacities, but that is mostly down to the higher capacity NVMe drives being higher tier products with faster controllers and more features. They also at times dramatically outperform their SATA counterparts even in real-world workloads, like when AnandTech compared the 8TB 870 QVO and the 8TB Sabrent Rocket Q. So YMMV, and there are indeed nearly always more expensive options to be found in the NVMe space, but that doesn't mean NVMe is generally more expensive than SATA these days - the difference is really, really small.

 

[FireFox]

There's not much of a price difference between entry level NVMe and SATA these days though.

Shouldn't a SATA drive cost less than a NVMe? or maybe i Bought 2 x WD PATA and that is why where so cheap

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
M.2 prices have come down but still I know people say m.2 are supposed to run hot but to me I don't like it at all
It took a 20.us heatsink to get these numbers on mine and it's still more not even being used than 2-2.5" ssd's being used lol
So yeah 50-70c+ m.2 these are temps I refuse to have on a gpu max temp lol so yeah hot potato just for the sake of being a m.2 no thanks.

 

[Valantar]

Hi,
M.2 prices have come down but still I know people say m.2 are supposed to run hot but to me I don't like it at all
It took a 20.us heatsink to get these numbers on mine and it's still more not even being used than 2-2.5" ssd's being used lol
So yeah 50-70c+ m.2 these are temps I refuse to have on a gpu max temp lol so yeah hot potato just for the sake of being a m.2 no thanks.

View attachment 185127

What does it matter as long as it's within the rated temperature range of the SSD? ICs don't fail due to thermals unless they run in excess of 100°C. 2.5" drives do have the advantage of not being placed close to other hot components of course, but ... it's not likely to matter whatsoever. I get that it feels uncomfortable, but that's just because we're not used to it. It's still fine.

Shouldn't a SATA drive cost less than a NVMe? or maybe i Bought 2 x WD PATA and that is why where so cheap

HDDs are obviously cheaper than any SSD, but there's not much reason for a 2.5" SATA drive to be cheaper than an entry level NVMe SSD. Flash costs the same, controllers pretty much do too (outside of the high end) and there's no casing and less PCB to spend money on, so it pretty much evens out. It used to be that even SATA m.2 drives were ~10% more expensive than their 2.5" counterparts, which just goes to show that it's about sales volumes and not actual costs.

 

[damric]

If anyone is curious about performance with the adapter,

Drive 1 is my main M.2 slot (ultra) Silicon Power A80
Drive 2 is my 2nd M.2 slot (PCH) Silicon Power A60
Drive 3 is the adapter on PCIE slot #2 Samsung P981

 

[cst1992]

There is no point in blowing extra money on m.2 unless you move massive files around bottom line
Wiring is not an valid argument it is purely "I want an m.2" period.

They're not that expensive.
Just a few years ago, I got an 850 EVO Samsung SSD that was 250 GB for INR 7399. When I got my 970 Evo Plus 500GB SSD last year, it was INR 9300 for 500GB, and it's now dropped to INR 8300.
That's 7x the performance, 2x the value per gigabyte, plus it's full-on NVMe M.2(it's not PCIe 4.0, but it's still fast enough), not SATA M.2.
With chip densities increasing and 4.0 SSDs becoming more common, the drives are only going to get faster and cheaper.

If anyone is curious about performance with the adapter,

Drive 1 is my main M.2 slot (ultra) Silicon Power A80
Drive 2 is my 2nd M.2 slot (PCH) Silicon Power A60
Drive 3 is the adapter on PCIE slot #2 Samsung P981

I've ordered mine too, let's see how it performs!

 

[tabascosauz]

Hi,
I don't see what difference that makes it sure doesn't take into account m.2's costs per gb is still too high
There is only one benchmark that cares what type ssd you run on and that is performance test 8-9 or 10 plus disk benchs

Otherwise performance comparison from 2.5" ssd is zero gain.
There is no point in blowing extra money on m.2 unless you move massive files around bottom line
Wiring is not an valid argument it is purely "I want an m.2" period.

Hi,
M.2 prices have come down but still I know people say m.2 are supposed to run hot but to me I don't like it at all
It took a 20.us heatsink to get these numbers on mine and it's still more not even being used than 2-2.5" ssd's being used lol
So yeah 50-70c+ m.2 these are temps I refuse to have on a gpu max temp lol so yeah hot potato just for the sake of being a m.2 no thanks.

View attachment 185127

Cooler isn't always better. The controller always prefers cooling, but the flash itself prefers to be within a reasonable range of say 25-85C when it's being used. There are negative consequences to flash endurance at temps below about 25C, there are papers on this.

My PM981 posts fairly different temperatures on its two sensors, and quite honestly it's what you want to see from a drive.

And the comment about wiring not being a legitimate reason reminds me a lot of people who say "why would you drive a midsize Ranger when you can drive a fullsize F150", like okay there Mr. HEDT there's a whole burgeoning SFF market just because it's not for you doesn't mean it doesn't exist

Yeah, you're right, I'd jump on another 2.5" sale in a heartbeat for the right price but NVMe prices just keep dropping and 2.5" prices haven't moved in about 4 years