Is There Any Practical Difference?
Is your device still running on SATA 2 hard drive? You may wonder whether there is practical difference between SATA 2 and SATA 3. In this post, MiniTool explains SATA 2 vs SATA 3 to you and you can determine whether to upgrade to SATA 3 after reading this post.
A Brief Introduction to SATA
SATA, the abbreviation of Serial ATA, is a computer bus whose main function is to transfer data between the motherboard and a large number of storage devices (such as hard disks and optical drives).
Formulated by the «Serial ATA Working Group» in November 2000, SATA is designed to replace the old PATA (Parallel ATA or formerly known as IDE) interface. Comparing to the old PATA/IDE interface, SATA interface has the following advantages:
- In terms of data transmission, SATA is faster and supports hot swap. Hardware can be plugged in or removed while the computer is running.
- In terms of reliability, SATA bus has a stronger error correction capability, because it uses an embedded clock frequency signal.
This can check the transmission instructions (not only the data) and correct detected error automatically.
Since the formulation of SATA, the released mainstream SATA standard includes SATA I (also known as SATA 1.0 or SATA 1.5Gb/s), SATA II (also known as SATA 2.0 or SATA 3Gb/s), SATA III (also known as SATA 3.0 or SATA 6Gb/s), and SATA Express (also known as SATA 3.2 or SATAe). Their specific speeds are as follows:
- SATA 1.0:5 Gb/s, 150 MB/s
- SATA 2.0: 3 Gb/s, 300 MB/s
- SATA 3.0: 6 Gb/s, 600 MB/s
- SATAe: 16 Gbit/s, 1.97 GB/s
If you want to know more about SATA speed, please read the following post:
SATA Speed – Everything You Should Know
SATA 2 vs SATA 3
Nowadays, the mainstream hard drive interface is SATA 3.0. But if your PC is very old, it may also offer SATA 2.0 port.
SATA 2 vs SATA 3 Socket: How to Distinguish Them
How to distinguish between SATA 2.
0 socket and SATA 3.0 socket on PC? You can use the following methods.
Way 1. Check the PC Manual
This is the most direct and simplest way. If you still have the PC manual in hand, this method is recommended. Otherwise, try other methods.
Way 2. Use Software
Some programs like AIDA64, DiskInfo, etc. can help users get information (including the port type) about hard drive. If your PC doesn’t offer both SATA 2.0 port and SATA 3.0 port, this method is very useful.
Way 3. Check the Motherboard Model
If you know the model of your PC, you can then get the model of the motherboard easily. Search the motherboard model online and you will find a diagram of the motherboard bus. Through this way, you can check whether your PC uses SATA 2.0 or SATA 3.0.
Way 4. Check the Mark on PC
This method may require you to disassemble your PC, if the mark is not on the PC shell, but on the motherboard.
But if your PC offers both SATA 2.0 and SATA 3.0 ports, only Way 1 and this method can distinguish them. The mark of the motherboard may be like the following picture.
What Is the SATA cable and the Different Types of It
SATA 2 vs SATA 3 Speed
If your PC has SATA 3.0 port and it’s easy to access this port, you can upgrade to SATA 6Gb/s SSD directly without considering SATA 2 vs SATA 3. But if your system was built before SATA 3 existed, or your laptop is designed in a way that you need to disassemble it to access the SATA III HDD bay and you are too scared of breaking it, you may want to know SATA 2 vs SATA 3.
I’m planning on installing a SSD into my laptop by putting it into the laptop’s optical bay drive. But I found out the optical drive only supports Sata II…So will I notice a difference in speeds between Sata II and Sata III? —forums.anandtech.com
In terms of theoretical SATA 2 vs SATA 3 speed, there is a big gap. SATA 3 is twice the speed of SATA 2.
But when it comes to SATA 2 vs SATA 3 real speed, I need to explain it according to the storage media.
1. SATA 2 vs SATA 3 HDD Speed
If the storage media is HDD, SATA 2.0 will not lower the speed of the HDD and SATA 3.0 will also not make the HDD faster. To prove this point, you can search SATA 3 HDDs on Amazon, although most HDDs will not tell you their real speeds. I sought out a SATA 3 HDD that lists its real speed. Look at the following picture:
As you can see, the real speed is 190 MB/s, which is far slower than 300 MB/s of SATA 2.0 interface. Therefore, there is no need to upgrade from SATA 2.0 HDD to SATA 3.0 HDD.
If you want to benchmark SATA 2 hard drive and SATA 3 hard drive, you can use MiniTool Partition Wizard free feature Disk Benchmark.
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How to Measure Disk Performance Easily [Step-By-Step Guide]
2. SATA 2 vs SATA 3 SSD Speed
Nowadays, more and more people are switching from HDD to SSD.
Is there a big speed difference between SATA 2 SSD and SATA 3 SSD? Should I upgrade from SATA 2.0 SSD to SATA 3.0 SSD? In the following contents, I will explain them one by one.
If the storage media is SSD, the SATA 2 vs SATA 3 speed gap may be large. Please look at the following picture:
As you can see, the speed of SATA 3 SSD is twice that of SATA 2 SSD. But I don’t recommend you to upgrade from SATA 2 SSD to SATA 3 SSD deliberately. Why? As we all know, switching from HDD to SSD can improve PC performance, especially the booting speed, but that’s due to IOPS.
In fact, the IOPS of SATA 2 SSD is not much less than that of SATA 3 SSD. In addition, if your PC doesn’t offer SATA 3 port, installing SATA 3 SSD on SATA 2 socket can only make the SSD run on SATA 2 speed.
Note:
1. SATA 3 is compatible with SATA 2. A SATA 3 SSD can be inserted into a SATA 2 socket and vice versa.
2. If either the SSD or the socket is SATA 2, they will run on SATA 2 bus when connected.
3. Nowadays, SATA 2 SSD may be more expensive than SATA 3 SSD, mostly because SATA 2 has been deprecated and seldom manufacturer will produce SATA 2 SSDs.
In terms of SATA 2 vs SATA 3 gaming, many people report that there is no noticeable improvement even if you switching to SATA 3 SSD.
What’s the difference between solid-state drive and hard drive? Which one to use for your PC? Read this post to learn more on SSD VS HDD now.
Read More
Should I Upgrade to SATA 6Gb/s PC?
If your PC doesn’t support SATA 3 but you want to use SATA 3 SSD very much, here are two ways you can take:
- Upgrade the motherboard or buy a new SATA 3 PC. Whether your PC can run on SATA 3 SSD with the speed of 6 Gb/s, it is determined by the motherboard. But this method is not recommended if your PC can work normally still. After all, replacing motherboard or PC will cost a lot of money.
- Use PCIe to SATA adapter. If your PC has an extra PCIe socket, you can use PCIe to SATA adapter to convert the PCIe socket into one or more SATA 3.
0 sockets.
PCI vs PCIe: What’s the Difference and How to Distinguish Them?
If you plan to upgrade the motherboard or use PCIe to SATA adapter to make your PC support SATA 3.0, please migrate your system and apps onto the SATA 3.0 SSD. Otherwise, the PC performance will not improve. To migrate system more easily, I still recommend you to use MiniTool Partition Wizard. Here is the guide:
Free Download
Step 1: Insert the SATA 3 SSD into the computer. Install MiniTool Partition Wizard and open this software. Go to its main interface and click on Migrate OS to SSD/HDD in the action panel (the above link is a Trial Edition, and the OS migration feature is not free).
Step 2: Choose the right method to migrate the system disk and click Next. Option A allows you to clone the whole system disk, while option B only allows you to migrate the OS.
Step 3: Choose the SATA 3 SSD as the destination disk and then click Next.
Step 4: Review changes and click the Next button. In this step, you can keep default settings. But if the old hard drive is MBR style and you want to use GPT style in the new drive, please check the box before Use GUID partition table for the target disk.
Step 5: Read a note on how to boot from the destination disk and click the Finish button. Then, click the Apply button to execute pending operations.
Step 6: Restart the computer and press the BIOS key during the booting process to enter BIOS. In BIOS, change the boot order to make the SATA 3 SSD is at the first place. Save and exit BIOS. Then, the computer will boot from the SATA 3 SSD.
SATA 2 vs SATA 3: Other Differences
Apart from the above differences, there are other small differences between SATA 2 and SATA 3. For example:
- Improve Native Command Queuing (NCQ) command to improve isochronous quality of service for video streaming.
- The NCQ management feature can help optimize performance by improving quality of service for high-priority interrupts.
- Improved power management capabilities.
Here is a post illustrating SATA 2 vs SATA 3. If your PC still runs on SATA 2 hard drive and you want to know whether you should upgrade to SATA 3, this post may help you. Click to Tweet
Is this post useful to you? Do you have other ideas about SATA 2 vs SATA 3? Please leave a comment in the following zone for sharing. In addition, if you have difficulty in benchmarking hard drive or migrating Windows system, please contact us via [email protected]. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
SATA 2 vs SATA 3 FAQ
Are SATA 3 cables the same as SATA 2?
SATA 2 cables and SATA 3 cables look the same but are different in speed. You can hardly distinguish them, unless manufacturers make a mark on the cable or you find out the manual.
Will SATA 3 SSD work on SATA 2?
Yes.
SATA 3 SSD can work on SATA 2 socket, but the speed will be limited to SATA 2 (300 MB/s).
Is my HDD SATA 2 or 3?
Open Device Manager and check the model of the hard drive under Disk drives. Then, search the information of this hard drive online to see whether it is SATA 2 hard drive or SATA 3 hard drive.
Can I upgrade SATA 2 to SATA 3?
No, you can’t upgrade a SATA 2 directly to SATA 3. To get a SATA 3 socket, you need to replace the motherboard or use a PCIe to SATA 3.0 card.
Ortial 2.5″ 256GB SATA III 568 MB/s SSD (OC-150-256)
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SKU: B013-1374
Category: Solid State Drive
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| Hard drive | |
|---|---|
| SSD capacity | 256 GB |
| Memory type | TLC |
| Data transmission | |
| Read speed | 568 MB/s |
| Write speed | 522 MB/s |
| Random write (4KB) | 80000 IOPS |
| Random read (4KB) | 78000 IOPS |
| Data transfer rate | 6 Gbit/s |
| Endurance | |
| Mean time between failures (MTBF) | 2000000 h |
| Performance | |
| Interface | Serial ATA III |
| Component for | PC/notebook |
| Controller type | SMI SM2258XT |
| NVMe | No |
| SSD capacity | 256 GB |
| Read speed | 568 MB/s |
| Write speed | 522 MB/s |
| Memory type | TLC |
| Random write (4KB) | 80000 IOPS |
| Random read (4KB) | 78000 IOPS |
| Mean time between failures (MTBF) | 2000000 h |
| Data transfer rate | 6 Gbit/s |
| Design | |
| Component for | PC/notebook |
| SSD form factor | 2. 5″ |
| Features | |
| Interface | Serial ATA III |
| Component for | PC/notebook |
| Controller type | SMI SM2258XT |
| NVMe | No |
| SSD capacity | 256 GB |
| Read speed | 568 MB/s |
| Write speed | 522 MB/s |
| Memory type | TLC |
| Random write (4KB) | 80000 IOPS |
| Random read (4KB) | 78000 IOPS |
| Mean time between failures (MTBF) | 2000000 h |
| Data transfer rate | 6 Gbit/s |
| SSD form factor | 2.5″ |
| Operational conditions | |
| Operating temperature (T-T) | 0 – 70 °C |
| Storage temperature (T-T) | -40 – 85 °C |
| Operating relative humidity (H-H) | 5 – 95% |
| Storage relative humidity (H-H) | 5 – 95% |
| Technical details | |
| Interface | Serial ATA III |
| Operating temperature (T-T) | 0 – 70 °C |
| Storage temperature (T-T) | -40 – 85 °C |
| Operating relative humidity (H-H) | 5 – 95% |
| Storage relative humidity (H-H) | 5 – 95% |
| SSD form factor | 2. 5″ |
| Weight & dimensions | |
| Width | 100 mm |
| Weight | 60 g |
| Height | 6.8 mm |
| Depth | 69.8 mm |
| Packaging data | |
| Quick start guide | Yes |
| Packaging content | |
| Quick start guide | Yes |
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Ssd SATA 2 — what is this drive and who still needs it 5 SATA Revision 2.0 (up to 3Gb/s)
What is SATA
The term under consideration is an abbreviation for the phrase «Serial ATA» and denotes a serial interface for data exchange with any information storage device.
If the reader is not familiar with the abbreviation «ATA», then it is derived from the abbreviation of the words «Advanced Technology Attachment» (translated as «advanced technology connection»).
SATA is the next step in the development of the familiar (and already obsolete) parallel IDE interface, which is now known as «PATA» (Parallel ATA). Later in the article, I will explain the difference between SATA two and SATA three.
The main advantage of SATA over PATA is the use of a serial bus compared to parallel, which has significantly increased the interface bandwidth. This was facilitated by the use of higher frequencies and good noise immunity of the cable used in the connection.
SATA uses a 7-pin connector for communication and a 15-pin connector for power.
At the same time, SATA cables have a smaller area compared to PATA cables, have lower air resistance, are resistant to multiple connections, are compact and easy to use. In their implementation, it was decided to abandon the practice of connecting two devices to one loop (a well-known IDE practice), which made it possible to get rid of various delays associated with the impossibility of simultaneous operation of connected devices.
Another advantage of SATA is that this interface produces much less heat than IDE.
Typically, the SATA interface is used to connect hard disk drives (HDD), solid state drives (SDD), as well as a CD drive (CD, DVD, etc.) to a computer.
The history of the development of SATA
The SATA interface replaced the IDE in 2003, having experienced a number of significant improvements in the course of its development. The very first version of SATA allowed data to be received at a throughput of 150 megabytes per second (for comparison, the IDE interface provided only about 130 MB / s). At the same time, the introduction of SATA made it possible to abandon the practice of switching jumpers (jumpers) on the hard drive, which is well remembered by experienced users.
The next step in the development of the SATA interface was the SATA 2 interface (SATA revision 2.0), released in April 2004. Its bandwidth compared to the first specification has doubled — up to 300 MB / s.
A feature of the second version of Serial ATA was the inclusion in it of a special technology for increasing performance (NCQ), which made it possible to increase the speed and number of processing of simultaneous requests.
Modern (and dominant today) is the SATA 3 specification (SATA revision 3.0), which provides speeds up to 600 megabytes per second. This version of the interface appeared in 2008, and now, in fact, is dominant on the market. At the same time, this interface is backward compatible with the SATA 2 interface (devices that worked with SATA 2 can be connected to SATA 3 and vice versa).
Speed difference between SATA2 and SATA 3
SATA connectors
SATA devices use two connectors: 7-pin (data bus connection) and 15-pin (power connection). The SATA standard provides for the ability to use a standard 4-pin Molex connector instead of a 15-pin power connector (at the same time, using both types of power connectors at the same time may damage the device).
The SATA interface has two data paths, controller to device and device to controller. LVDS technology is used for signal transmission, the wires of each pair are shielded twisted pairs.
There is also a 13-pin [source not specified 4158 days] combined SATA connector used in servers, mobile and portable thin storage devices. It consists of a combined connector of a 7-pin connector for connecting the data bus and a 6-pin connector for connecting the device’s power supply. To connect to these devices in servers, a special adapter can be used.
Slimline SATA
Since revision SATA 2.6, a flat (slimline) connector has been defined, designed for small devices — optical drives for laptops. Pin #1 of the slimline indicates the presence of the device, allowing hot swapping of the device. The Slimline signal connector is identical to the standard version. Slimline power connector has a reduced width and reduced pin spacing, so SATA and slimline SATA power connectors are completely incompatible with each other.
The slimline power connector pins supply only +5V, not providing +12V and +3.3V. [2]
There are cheap adapters available to convert between SATA and slimline SATA, a variation of the Mobile Rack.
- 6-pin slimline SATA power connector.
- Back side of SATA slimline optical drive.
SATA Revision 2.0 (up to 3 Gb/s)
SATA Revision 2.0 specification (SATA II or SATA 2.0, SATA/300) operates at 3 GHz, provides throughput up to 3 Gb/s gross (300 MB/s net for data with 8b/10b encoding). It was first implemented in the nForce 4 chipset controller from NVIDIA. Theoretically, SATA/150 and SATA/300 devices should be compatible (both a SATA/300 controller with a SATA/150 device and a SATA/150 controller with a SATA/300 device) due to support for speed matching (down), however, for some devices and controllers require manual setting of the operating mode (for example, on Seagate hard drives that support SATA/300, a special jumper is provided to force SATA/150 mode on).
- SATA revision 2.5
Released in August 2005, SATA revision 2.5 consolidated the specification into a single document.
- SATA revision 2.6
Released in February 2007, SATA revision 2.6 includes a description of the Slimline connector, a compact connector for portable applications.
Disk interfaces: SATA and NVMe
An interface is a set of ways to connect to the motherboard, methods and rules for how a disk interacts with the rest of the PC. This includes the types of physical connectors, and data transfer protocols, and data transfer methods.
Parallel IDE connection interface
An illustrative example of an interface in relation to HDD drives is IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics), or ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment). Conventionally, this is a simple way to connect a hard drive to the motherboard through a cable of 40 or 80 cores.
This is what the IDE ports on the HDD look like.
The photo clearly shows the IDE connector.
We mentioned that the interface also includes data transfer methods. There are several such methods for IDE. For example, PIO (Programmed input / output), when data is transferred between devices through the processor, or DMA (Direct Memory Access), when the processor is not used for data transfer.
Information is transmitted through the IDE interface in parallel, when each bit of data goes along its own signal line — over a physical channel. Therefore, for the interface, the connection goes through a 40- or 80-wire loop. Data is transmitted in portions equal to the number of channels.
From the minuses of the solution: parallel channels influence each other, which leads to distortion of messages. This problem is solved in the SATA interface, which has become an evolution of the parallel IDE.
SATA 9 serial communication interface0090
SATA, or Serial ATA (SATA), is a serial way to transfer bits of information.
With it, the bits go one after another, one bit at a time.
The motherboard may have multiple SATA connectors. This allows you to connect multiple hard drives that will work at the same time, which was not possible in the IDE.
This is what SATA connectors look like.
SATA interface transfers data faster than IDE. SATA has fewer pins and chips, and they’re less likely to overheat.
The SATA connection interface has become more common in SSD drives. Initially, the interface was developed for HDDs, the head of which can access only one cell of one plate (pancake) of the disk. Therefore, SATA devices have only one channel and a low data transfer rate. This read speed is offered by different SATA specifications:
- 1 — 150 MB / s;
- SATA 2 — 300 MB/s;
- SATA 3 — 600 MB/s.
This is the theoretical maximum speed, and it is several times lower than the speeds of the NVMe standard, which we will talk about later.
NVMe
NVMe, or Non-Volatile Memory Host Controller Interface Specification, is a specification for storage access protocols. Allows SSDs to read and transfer data through the PCIe slot, which we’ll cover below.
NVMe can provide write speeds up to 3.2 GB / s, which is 6 times faster than SATA 3. This performance is achieved due to several features:
- cables.
- To execute a command, NVMe accesses RAM only once, when SATA — twice.
- Threads are parallel.
- There are mechanisms for working with queues and interrupt handling — commands with a high priority will be processed faster.
Data transfer rate
Data transfer rate is one of the important parameters for which the SATA interface was designed to improve.
But this indicator in this interface has been constantly increasing and now the data transfer rate can reach up to 1969 MB / s. Much depends on the generation of the SATA interface, and there are already 5 of them.
The first generations of the serial interface, version «0», could transfer up to 50 MB / s, but they did not take root, as they were immediately replaced by SATA 1.0. the data transfer rate of which even then reached 150 MB / s.
The time of the appearance of the SATA series and their capabilities.
Series:
- 1.0 — debuted on 01/07/2003 — maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 150 MB/s.
- 2.0 — Coming in 2004, fully compatible with version 1.0, maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 300 MB/s or 3 Gb/s.
- 3.0 — debuted in July 2008, released in May 2009. Theoretical maximum speed is 600 MB/s or 6 Gb/s.
- 3.1 — Debut time July 2011, speed — 600 MB / s or 6 Gb / s. A more advanced version than in paragraph 3.
- 3.2, as well as the SATA Express specification included in it — release date 2013. In this version, there was a merger of SATA and PCIe devices. Data transfer speed increased to 1969 MB/s.
Iron experiment: fast SSD in an old system with a slow SATA II interface
We often hear that SATA 3.
0 — the most common interface in desktops and laptops — is hopelessly outdated and no longer contributes to the development of solid state drives. And what about the owners of older machines with an even more prehistoric SATA II connector, who are not averse to «rejuvenate» their computer without resorting to a complete replacement of components? Let’s check how fast and modern SSD gets along with old components. And how the system will change after such an upgrade.
Buying an SSD is the best way to speed up your old computer/laptop
The SATA II interface with a peak speed of 300 MB/s was introduced in April 2003 but is still in use today. Even today, it is really possible to find motherboards on sale in which only this port is soldered. You don’t have to go far for an example: the cheapest solutions based on the 760G chipset for the AMD AM3+ platform use exclusively SATA II. Therefore, it is not necessary to be surprised at the large number of people who want to somewhat speed up their old computer.
The ideal option is to buy an SSD. But users are asking a logical question: does it make sense to install a solid-state drive equipped with a SATA 3.0 interface in a system with SATA II, because modern models have long crept up to the bandwidth ceiling in terms of peak performance? Similar thoughts are often voiced both in the laptop upgrade topic and in the monthly Computer of the Month column.
What will an SSD drive give
Often, when upgrading an old hardware, the user proceeds not only from expediency, but tries to get the maximum benefit — to install a part that can then still be used on a new device.
These criteria are best met by a low-cost, low-capacity SSD for operating system installation.
However, too old computers and laptops are equipped with a SATA II port, the throughput of which is 2 times lower than the 3rd revision — only 300 MB / s. But even when connected through the SATA 3 port, some SSDs perform at the limit of its capabilities.
The interface becomes the “bottleneck” that prevents the entire system from accelerating.
Therefore, to connect to SATA, they take the cheapest SSD drives, the read and write speed of which is low. Turbo drives, which allow you to squeeze the maximum performance, are connected through interfaces that have a higher speed — PCI E or M.2.
However, I can’t help but note that the average PC user rarely activates the maximum data transfer rate — usually large data arrays that need to be read quickly are not processed.
The only exceptions are single-player and client online games, but not all of them. We are talking about AAA class video games of different genres — shooters, RPGs, action adventures, etc., where the computer has to load vast locations. Their download speed will depend on the bandwidth of the SATA II port.
Even at this speed, the SSD responds faster: it starts reading data instantly. Unlike a hard drive, which rotates magnetic disks and moves heads.
Although it takes a fraction of a second, in total it greatly slows down the work.
So is it worth connecting an SSD to SATA II
This solution will help if you want to speed up the operating system. For demanding games, this is more of a «dead poultice» than a real performance boost.
If possible, it is better to try connecting a more advanced solid state drive that connects via a 4-lane PCI E port. Of course, there is no 100% guarantee that such an assembly will work correctly, but you can squeeze out much more if you manage to » system board and drive.
Color coding for SATA connectors
Motherboard manufacturers use a color coding for SATA connectors that is not standardized and is used by them arbitrarily to facilitate the connection of disk drives by the user. In particular, the SATA0 connector, which is mainly used to boot the OS, can be highlighted in a separate color. Connector colors may differ between SATA ports powered by a controller built into the chipset and those using a separate SATA controller.
On boards with SATA support of different generations, the colors of the connectors are used to indicate ports with different bandwidths. Also, a separate color can indicate a port designed to work in eSATA mode. As a rule, for SATA ports on motherboards, dark blue, cyan, gray-white, red, orange and black colors are used, the meaning of which should be found in the manual for the motherboard or personal computer. A similar color coding was previously used for IDE connectors at the end of the life cycle of this standard, where the blue color of the connector usually denoted the primary IDE channel, black the secondary.
«Adapters» from SATA to IDE and from IDE to SATA
There are boards that allow you to connect SATA devices to IDE connectors and vice versa. These are active devices (which essentially mimic a device and a controller on the same chip). These devices require power (usually 5 or 12 volts) and plug into 8981 series Molex connectors. Their main difference is in the bandwidth, the SATA3 interface is twice as fast as SATA 2 (6 Gb / s and 3 Gb / s, respectively).
At the same time, solid-state drives (SSDs) that are rapidly gaining popularity only work with the SATA 3 interface, connecting them to SATA 2 reduces the speed of working with the device by half (but even in this state, the SSD is faster than the HDD).
In addition, SATA 3 runs at a higher frequency than SATA 2, while providing lower power consumption and better power management.
Further development of SATA
revision 3.2″ (2013) and «SATA revision 3.3» (2016), which made it possible to increase the data transfer rate to 8-16 Gb / s, further reduce power consumption, and also improve the performance of SSD drives. At the same time, PCI Express is used as a carrier interface.
Form factor and keys
The M.2 standard was developed as an update and enhancement to the mSATA format, allowing the use of larger printed circuit boards. While mSATA used Mini PCI-E module sizes, M.2 allowed for more card area usage, for example, M.2 allows for longer modules and double-sided placement of components on the board.
M.2 modules have a rectangular shape, on one side of the card there is a connector (75 positions with 67 pads with a pitch of 0.5 mm). On the opposite side is a semicircular hole for fixing. Each contact withstands voltage up to 50 V and current up to 0.5 A. The connector guarantees at least 60 connection-disconnect cycles. The M.2 standard allows modules with a width of 12, 16, 22, or 30 mm and a length of 16, 26, 30, 38, 42, 60, 80, or 110 mm. Initially, M.2 cards were produced in 22mm widths and 30, 42, 60, 80, and 110mm lengths.
| M.2 card keys and interfaces provided [2] :8 [7] :3 .0, I2C and DP ×4 | ||||
| B | 12-19 | PCIe ×2, SATA, USB 2.0 and 3.0, Audio, PCM, IUM, SSIC and I2C | ||
| C | 1 6-23 | Reserved | ||
| D | 20-27 | Reserved | ||
| E | 24-31 | PCIe ×2, USB 2.0, I2C, SDIO, UART and PCM | ||
| F | 28-35 | Future Memory Interface (FMI) 902 73 | ||
| G | 39- 46 | «Generic» (not used in M. 2 specification) |
||
| H | 43-50 | Reserved | ||
| J | 47-54 | Reserved | ||
| K | 51- 58 | Reserved | 59-66 | PCIe ×4 and SATA |
| S1 | 1.20 | Not allowed |
| S2 | 1.35 | Not allowed |
| S3 | 1.50 | Not allowed |
| D1 | 1.20 | 1.35 |
| D2 | 1.35 | 1.35 90 273 |
| D3 | 1.50 | 1.35 |
| D4 | 1.50 | 0.70 |
| D5 73 |
Key sections of map M.2 at positions B and M; you can also see the overlap of contacts on different sides of the M.2 module
There is a 75-pin printed-blade connector on the edge of the M.
2 board. To identify the board, key cutouts are made instead of part of the contacts of this connector. The mating part (M.2 slot) on the motherboard has appropriate plugs to prevent the installation of incompatible cards in the slot. As of April 2014, slots were implemented with a single blanking element in either position B or position M. For example, an M.2 module with two key cuts B and M can use up to two PCI Express lanes and is compatible with a large number of M.2 cards . M.2 cards with key in M position can use up to 4 PCI Express lanes. Both options — B and M — support the SATA interface. A similar keying system is used for M.2 cards with a USB 3.0 interface.
Types of M.2 cards are marked with a code according to the scheme WWLL-HH-K-K or WWLL-HH-K, where WW and LL are the dimensions of the module in width and length in millimeters. HH encodes whether the module is one-sided or two-sided, as well as the maximum allowable height (thickness) of the components placed on it, for example, «D2».
Part K-K designates key cuts; if the module uses only one key, a single letter K is used.
Most popular M.2 form factors as of 2016: 22mm wide, 80mm or 60mm long (M.2-2280 and M.2-2260) , less often 42 mm. Many early M.2 drives and motherboards used the SATA interface. Some motherboards also implement PCI Express. For SSDs, the most popular keys are B (SATA and PCIe x2) and M (SATA and PCIe x4). To connect expansion cards such as WiFi, 1630 and 2230 size modules and A or E keys are used.
In addition to plug-in expansion cards, the M.2 standard defines the variant of modules soldered to the motherboard during its manufacture.
- sources ://selectel.ru/blog/ssd-m2-nvme/
- https://itkompik.ru/gramotnost/sata.html
- https://www.ferra.ru/review/computers/experiment-ssd- in-sata-ii.htm
- https://infotechnica.ru/pro-kompyuteryi/o-nakopitelyah-informatsii/ssd-v-port-sata-2/
- https://planshet-info.ru/kompjutery/sata-2-i-sata-3-otlichija-foto
- https://ru.
wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2
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English (ru) — SSD Scope Manual
- SSD220S/SSD230S/SSD370S/SSD220Q/SSD225S/SSD250N
- MTE110S/MTE112S/MTE220S/MTE240S/MTE250S/MTE300S/MTE400S/MTE250H/MTE110Q
- MTS400S/MTS600S/MTS800S/MTS420S/MTS425S/MTS430S/MTS820S/MTS825S/MTS830S/MTS832S
- MSA230S/MSA370S
- ESD230C/ESD240C/ESD250C/ESD270C/ESD350C/ESD370C/ESD380C/ESD310C
- CFX650
-
CFE820
- Microsoft Windows® 11 (32/64 bit)
- Microsoft Windows® 10 (32/64 bit)
- Microsoft Windows® 8 / 8.1 (32/64 bit)
- Microsoft Windows® 7 (32/64 bit)
Note: Administrator rights are required to run the SSD Scope software.
Download and install SSD Scope
https://en.transcend-info.com/support/software/ssd-scope
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The installation process is started by double clicking on the file SSDScopeApp_Win_v4.
X_setup.exe. -
Select a language for the installer interface and click OK.
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Click Next to continue.
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To continue installation, check the box «I accept the agreement» of the Transcend license agreement (EULA) or check the box «I do not accept the agreement» to cancel the installation.
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Select the installation folder. Default folder: «C:\Program Files\Transcend\SSD Scope».
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To create a Start menu shortcut, select the Start menu folder. Default folder: «Transcend\SSD Scope» or check «Don’t create a Start Menu folder».
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If you want to create a desktop shortcut, check the Create a desktop icon checkbox.
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Installation information. Click the Install button to begin the installation process.
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If you already have «.NET Framework 4.5.2» or later installed on your computer, you only need to install the SSD Scope software (you can skip to step 10).
Otherwise, a window prompting you to download the .NET Framework will be displayed first. -
Please wait while installing SSD Scope.
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Check «Launch SSD Scope» if you want to launch SSD Scope immediately after installation. Click «Finish» to complete the installation.
Displays standard information about supported Transcend SSDs.
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Select the STATUS tab on the left sidebar.
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Select a Transcend SSD in the Drive field at the top to display the following information: Product Number (P/N), Serial Number (S/N) , Firmware Version (F/W Ver.), Support Interface, Current Interface, Capacity, and Lifetime.
S.M.A.R.T. is an industry-standard drive monitoring technology that detects potential hard drive problems before they cause them to fail.
View Information
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Select the STATUS tab on the left sidebar.
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Select the Transcend SSD in the Drive field at the top.
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Click the S.M.A.R.T. button below the drive information.
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A pop-up window will be displayed with the indicators of the S.M.A.R.T monitoring system.
Export information
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Click the Export button in the lower right corner of the window.
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Select where to export the file.
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The SSD Scope will create a .csv file with the current disk and system configuration in the selected location.
Firmware update
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Select the STATUS tab on the left sidebar.
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In the Drive field at the top, select the Transcend SSD whose firmware you want to update.
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The firmware version number will be displayed below the Upgrade section.
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If the latest firmware is installed, the Download button will be hidden.
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Press the download button if the firmware is not up to date.
The file is stored in the «Transcend_SSD_FW_Update_Package» installation directory.
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Select the PC Information tab on the left sidebar.
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The window displays detailed information about the current computer.
Performance Testing
The SSD Scope package includes a free utility to measure the speed of an SSD’s sequential and random read/write operations.
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Select the TOOL tab on the left sidebar.
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Select the Transcend SSD in the Drive field at the top.
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To start testing, click Start under the performance information box. To stop testing, simply click the Stop button.
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After the test is completed, the read and write speeds for the selected SSD will be displayed.
Diagnostic Scan
This feature allows you to perform a general assessment of the health of your Transcend SSD.
(Only SATA interface is supported.)
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Select the TOOL tab on the left sidebar.
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Select the Transcend SSD in the Drive field at the top.
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To start a diagnostic scan, click the Quick Scan button below the Scan section or the Full Scan button. To stop scanning, click the Stop button.
Secure Erase
To perform a secure data wipe in Windows, you need to follow 3 steps:
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Download boot image to USB using SSD Scope.
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Boot the system from a USB stick.
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Perform secure data deletion.
Preparation
- The USB stick must be at least 128 MB. Before restoring an image to a USB drive, back up all data on the USB drive. The restore operation will repartition and format your USB drive, so the data on it will be lost.
NOTE:
1. Secure Erase is the most reliable and secure method to erase all data from an SSD.
Therefore, we highly recommend that you back up your data before proceeding.
2. Performing a secure erase will permanently delete ALL data stored on ALL partitions on the SSD drive. Deleting an individual disk partition is not possible.
3. DO NOT turn off the device or power source during the secure erase process. This may cause damage.
Downloading the installation image from the SSD Scope to a USB stick.
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Insert a USB stick to make a bootable USB stick.
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Select the TOOL tab on the left sidebar.
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Click the Erase tab.
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Select the drive letter on which you want to create a bootable USB drive from the drop-down menu.
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Click the Secure Erase button and SSD Scope will start creating a bootable image on the selected drive.
(Note: this action will delete all data on the USB stick ) -
A reboot is required after creating a bootable USB drive.
Reboot with the USB drive installed to begin securely deleting data from the local drive.
System boot from USB stick
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Insert the USB stick you created into your computer.
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Install an SSD in the computer, then turn it on or restart it.
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During system boot, press the «Del» (Del) key on the keyboard until you enter the BIOS setup menu.
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Switch to UEFI mode and change the USB flash drive boot sequence in BIOS.
-
Please wait until the desktop window appears as shown below. The Secure Erase function will start automatically.
Performing secure deletion
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The SSD Secure Erase utility will automatically scan all drives and display them in the main window as shown below.
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Select the SSD you want to erase and click Erase. Confirm your choice in the dialog box and click Yes. The secure deletion process will begin.
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Click OK when secure deletion is complete.
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Secure deletion completed successfully. You can turn off your computer by clicking Yes and remove the bootable USB drive.
The clone function is designed to move an exact copy of all information stored on a desktop or laptop hard drive to a new Transcend SSD, including the operating system, all programs and data. Once the cloning is complete, simply swap the two drives and reboot your desktop or laptop computer. Windows will boot from the new SSD. This guide provides step-by-step instructions for migrating a full copy of the operating system from your old drive to a new Transcend SSD using the Transcend System Clone app.
WARNING: Before you begin the cloning process, we recommend that you read these instructions carefully.
Operating system compatibility
- Microsoft Windows® 7 (32/64 bit)
- Microsoft Windows® 8 / 8.
1 (32/64 bit) - Microsoft Windows® 10 (32/64 bit)
- Microsoft Windows® 11 (32/64 bit)
Supported file systems
- FAT16 / FAT32 / exFAT / NTFS
Hardware requirements
If your new SSD is smaller than your current hard drive:
-
Example B:
The capacity of the new SSD is 128 GB, the capacity of the current hard drive is 160 GB, and the partition where the OS (C:) is installed is 20 GB.
In this configuration, the function will only clone the partition where the operating system is installed. Other hard disk partitions must be backed up manually. -
Example B:
New SSD = 128 GB, current HDD = 160 GB, OS partition (C:) = 150 GB.
System Clone does not support this configuration. For disk cloning to succeed, the capacity of the OS partition on the hard drive must be less than the capacity of the SSD.
If the capacity of the new SSD is equal to or larger than your current HDD:
Transcend System Clone will clone the entire drive (all partitions) to the new SSD.
In addition, the clone function allows you to expand the volume of the disk (Extend Disk) so that it takes up all the free space of the new SSD.
Follow these steps to start cloning:
Note: Do not disconnect the current drive from the computer until the cloning process is complete.
STEP 1: Connect the new SSD to the computer
Connect to a desktop computer
- Turn off the computer and unplug the power cable from the power supply.
- Following the PC manufacturer’s instructions, remove the PC case cover.
- Place the SSD in the 3.5″ mounting bracket.
- Carefully rotate the SSD mounting bracket and secure the SSD with the four supplied low head screws.
- Locate the 3.5″ drive bay on your desktop computer.
- Place the mounting bracket in an available 3.5″ drive bay and secure it with the supplied pan-head screws. The SATA connectors on the drive must face the inside of the computer case.
- Connect the SATA data and power cables to the SSD. If the power supply does not have a SATA power cable, use the bundled adapter to connect power to SATA drives.
- Power on the computer and wait until the operating system detects the SSD.
Laptop connection
- Connect both ends of the USB-SATA cable to available USB ports on your computer.
- Connect the single end of the USB to SATA cable to the SSD.
- Please wait while the operating system detects the SSD.
STEP 2: Start system cloning
- Close all running applications before starting the cloning process.
- Select the SYSTEM CLONE tab on the left sidebar.
- If you have one or more internal (connected to the SATA interface) or external (connected to the USB interface) solid state drives with sufficient free space, the program will display them in the Destination drop-down list. If the destination disk has partitions, the partition information will be displayed on the screen.
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Select the destination disk from the Destination drop-down list. There are two additional clone settings:
- Only Clone OS: Check this box if you only want to clone the OS partition.
- Extend Disk: If the capacity of the new SSD is larger than the capacity of the original HDD, this feature will extend the last partition to take up all the remaining free space on the SSD. If this item is not checked, unallocated disk space will remain on the drive.
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Click «Start» to begin the cloning process. The screen will display the percentage of completion of the operation and the remaining time. Disk cloning may take some time.
STEP 3: Swap Drives
After successfully completing the cloning process to the new SSD, shut down the computer, remove the currently used drive, and replace it with a new SSD.
- Make sure the computer is turned off.
- Remove the original hard drive from the desktop or laptop and install a new solid state drive.
- Replace any removed covers and boot the computer.
Users can change the following settings as needed.
- System TRIM Setting
- Minimize program window on Startup
- Start program at Windows Startup
- Poor health notification
-
Question. SSD Scope cannot detect my drive.
Answer: The device may not be properly connected to the computer. Reconnect the device to make sure the connection is secure and the correct port is selected.
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Question. SSD Scope won’t launch after double-clicking this app’s shortcut.
Answer: You may not have administrator rights on the computer you are using. To run SSD Scope in Windows 7 or Vista, click the Allow button when prompted for administrator rights.
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Question. Unable to update firmware. The message «The server name or address could not be resolved» is displayed on the screen.
Answer: The computer may not be connected to the Internet.
To successfully complete the firmware update, you need to check the operation of the Internet connection. -
Question. What is the difference between «Quick Erase» and «Full Erase»?
Answer: Both functions securely delete data on the SSD and ensure it cannot be recovered using standard methods. Hard Erase algorithms are based on more stringent data erasure standards, which make it impossible to recover deleted information even with the use of special technologies.
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Question. Can I clone two Windows operating systems from my original hard drive to an SSD?
Answer: Transcend System Clone supports cloning drives that contain only one OS. Drives running multiple operating systems are not supported.
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Question. Why can’t I clone an OS partition from the logical drive of my original hard drive?
Answer: Transcend System Clone cannot clone only the OS partition if the source drive’s OS partition is on a logical disk.
