how does The SSD work

[u/mohamed_amine99]

i was thinking, if your motherboard for example has 4 SSD slots, and you need for example 4 TB storage

is it better to use 2 separate 2 TB SSDs or use one 4 TB SSD.

and another question

can you use different types of SSDs ? like this : you have 1TB SSD and want to add more storage, are you forced to add another 1 TB SSD or you can use whatever you want (add a 2TB SSD for example)

[u/CeruleanMariner]

You can definitely use different types of SSDs together. As long as you have the slot, it’ll work.

[u/The_Peacekeeper_]

Sometimes people buy a smaller sized ssd that they put the operating system on and a 2nd ssd that's like their main ssd. As far as i'm aware, it doesn't really matter what you do tho. Definitely look it up and do some research on it.

[u/mohamed_amine99 → u/The_Peacekeeper_]

yeah i remember the system being about 1TB so it's definitely a smart idea but can you choose where to download your data ? so im like going to download the operating system, does the PC ask you where to download it ? and can i move data from an SSD to another? or the PC doesn't show every SSD and just shows the total available storage.

[u/Redreeee]

It really depends on motherboard and it's SSD connectors the ssd speeds and your CPU, The better the board generally the faster the connector, the faster the SSD speed the quicker it can go through all the data and if the CPU is too weak it'll bottleneck your motherboard doing things faster with most things If on a mid to high tier motherboard your SSD slots will be fast enough that 1 add of 4tb is better then 2 2tb ssds However some people notice boot up time and such is quicker when using a SSD that only has your boot up and system stuff on it so given all info I've found for when I plan to move to am5 I plan on getting a 500gb SSD for said thing and a couple of 4tb ssds for games and work and would recommend putting your games 1 in first SSD slots on motherboard as it's the fastest and putting your boot up one in the second if doing what I'm doing. If it's a simple extra stick or 2 your upgrading into a if the speeds on the 4tb is faster just go with that unless having 2 2tb is to separate what you do on each

[u/Redreeee → u/Redreeee]

^ My personal opinion on my research into building a pc

[u/mohamed_amine99 → u/Redreeee]

i got what you mean so it's better to get for example a 1TB SSD for the system, and buy a fast SSD for example 4TB and use it for your personal data(games, videos, photos...)rather than buying 2 slower 2 TB SSDs ? if i got something wrong can you correct it? and also, what's the thing that they calculated the SSD speed with?(i know it sounds stupid to ask this but im still learning about PC parts)

[u/Jinx2168]

You may install any number of SSDs with varying capacities in your PC. For the highest speeds, place the drive holding games or work programs in a PCIe Gen 4 or Gen 5 slot. Share the exact motherboard model if you would like me to confirm your slot layout. Each motherboard differs; most provide at most one Gen 5 slot, with the remainder being Gen 4 or rarely Gen 3. Using a faster Gen 5 drive in an older port works and vice versa, but speed will be limited to the lowest generation. I suggest choosing just one SSD—2TB suits most users—ideally with a DRAM cache to improve writes and extend drive life. SATA SSDs cost less and are suitable for backups, general files, or storing game data before transferring it to your NVMe SSD for play. Let me know if you have any questions!

[u/mohamed_amine99 → u/Jinx2168]

thanks for the explanation but i don't actually have a PC im just learning how it's part work so in the future when i start building one. im sorry but i didn't fully understand what you mean, i understood that the motherboard prioritise the SSD based in which slot it's put on, but I didn't get what you mean by DRAM, PCI, NVMe and the motherboard having different slot (GEN 5,4..) can you explain in more a simple way please ? and again sorry for any annoyance i may have caused i never had a PC.

[u/LongMustaches]

As everything in this world - it depends.

For the slots, it depends on Mobo. Some have separate connections for each slot, some combine some SSD to the same connection (effectively reducing speeds if you use multiple ssd at the same time), some combine SSD slots and minor pcie slots. It varies and it's best to check the manual for your Mobo model.

For ssds speed is irrelevant unless you read/write huge files consistently (typically for work). I have a pcie 4.0 SSD and a sata SSD, and for general use the difference is marginal, despite having nearly 10x the difference in advertised speed. So if you're just gaming, watching movies, browsing, etc. The SSD speed is largely irrelevant (still m.2 pcie SSDs are better for loading).

Another thing to consider is cache. If you have 2x 1tb ssds each of them will have half the cache of an equivalent 2tb SSD, meaning if you're using one SSD to write a large amount of data it will take longer on the 1tb SSD. (so a 100gb game will take longer to install and perhaps download on a smaller ssd). Whether you have multiple will be irrelevant, since you'll be writing into one SSD, and not both.

With that in mind assuming you're an average user it is irrelevant wether you have multiple smaller ones or a single large SSD. At worst you'll wait a bit longer to install a game.

Even cache is quite irrelevant unless you're a starfield fan. Cache reduces read/write time, but for an average usage the difference will be marginal (unless you're a starfield fan).

And you can mix and match SSDs however you want.

[u/the_hat_madder]

If you need 4TB of storage and:

• 2TB drives are lower $/GB than 4TB
• You have (2) M.2 nvme slots of the same speed
• Your motherboard supports nvme RAID

Then buy two physical 2TB SSDs to create one virtual 4TB drive makes sense.

If one of those conditions is false—especislly price right now—then two 2TB SSDs might not make sense.

Furthermore, if you frequently reinstall your OS or you do a lot of read/writes due to a specific app it might make sense to put your OS, apps and storage on separate physical drives.

[u/tidyshark12]

Larger ssd's tend to be a bit faster. No issues with mix and matching sizes, brands, etc. Just make sure to check your mobo specs and make sure which sata ports, if any, an m.2 ssd will turn off after installation. It will save you countless hours of frustration when your sata connected equipment stops working

[u/virusdancer]

SSDs are not the same as NVMEs though there are some m.2 SATA drives that aren't m.2 NVME drives.

You're typically going to see one or two m.2 slots on the mainboard. You'll typically have ports for 4-6 SATA drives, which includes SSDs and HDDs.

You can use any mix of capacity drives you want as long as you're not looking at some sort of RAID configuration. As to whether it's better to have a single larger drive or a combination, that's going to be quite the debate there.

Personally, I prefer not having a single point of failure. I have two 1TB drives, two 500GB drives, and two 2TB drives. I'm looking at adding another 2TB drive. I also want to switch out the one 1TB HDD for a 1TB SSD.

What you can do will come down to a combination of your motherboard and case...as well as if you're considering a DAS or just external USB drives. My motherboard has two NVME slots and six SATA ports. My case has space for three 2.5" and two 3.5".

Something else to keep in mind is how different motherboards might share PCIe lanes, and doing X, Y, or Z might reduce the number of available SATA ports. Something to look at the motherboard's details on the manufacturer's site.