SSDs are fast, quiet, energy-efficient, and vibration-resistant—making them the top choice in many systems. Still, in some ...

M.2 SSDs support both SATA and NVMe modes. SATA SSDs use the same 6 Gbps interface as a hard drive, which means sequential read speed goes up to around 500-550 MB/s.

Want true next-gen SSD performance? Start with a compatible rig—and one of our top tested PCI Express 5.0 M.2 drives. Here's ...

The first is a SATA SSD, which comes in a 2.5-inch form factor and connects to your motherboard with the same cables and ports as a SATA HDD. The second (and newer) is the M.2 SSD.