Looking for an SSD solution to go with my M7 Formula (confused by the mPCIe Combo)

[likwidsolutions]

I don't know if this should be posted here, or under storage devices, but since the M7 boards (at least most I believe) support the mPCIe Combo III Card which is confusing the heck out of me, I figured I'd post on the MB section.

So right now I am just using a 1TB WD Black HDD. I have a WD Black^2 which is a 2.5" Dual Drive (not Hybrid), with a 120GB SSD and a 1TB HDD but it's not working right and is being replaced by WD right now. I am thinking of possibly selling or returning it though because I will be getting a new one when it comes back from WD. Before I got my current build, just about a month ago, I was using an iMac which obviously has limited expandibility, but I tend to use a lot of space for saving videos for streaming. At the time I had a 4TB Seagate Backup Plus with a Thunderbolt Adapter (the drive crashed, and I lost everything because my iMac's HDD also crashed and was getting fixed, terrible timing). So right now the only space I am using is about 500GB, but I KNOW it will hit past 2 or 3 eventually, but I can always add more storage in the end, so that's why I am thinking of swapping out the WD Black^2 for a standard SSD (hopefully a 500GB).

Here's my problem, I have this nice Motherboard, with many options, and I figure if I am going to exchange the Black^2, I should try to get the fastest SSD solution possible, as long as it doesn't sacrifice use of other peripherals (right now I only have 1 GPU, a GTX 970 from EVGA and Gigabyte's Thunderbolt II adapter with 2 TB and 2 Display Port adapter which was cheaper than Asus'), however I do plan to add a USB Type C and/or USB 3.1 card if and when I get a device that is capable of using it. Speaking off which, not to get too off topic, are there ANY devices that use USB-C or USB 3.1 yet? I've been looking it up and I can't find a HDD, Flash Drive, Phone, or anything that uses either.

So from what I understand, SATA III bottlenecks a lot of the fastest SSD's out there, and there are plenty of PCIe SSD solutions, but which one? Also there's mSATA which I don't really even know what it is, and the mPCIe Combo III Card which just confuses the heck out of me. I know with the combo card I'd be limited by the physical size, therefore also limited in storage and value (since a drive with more space that can fit in there would cost more), and I don't even know how to go about finding the right size which I've been doing for a while now. I have read that a lot of people will use that as a spot for a small SSD as Cache to their larger storage devices. I wouldn't be opposed to getting a 32-64GB SSD as Cache, and a standard SSD for OS and other high tasks programs, or using the smaller drive as JUST an OS bootdrive. I have also seen the option to mount a 2.5" SSD onto a PCIe Card to take advantage of PCIe speeds, which seems like the best solution as far as speed and value goes. The more I research it, it seems like the more confused I get because all of these different options are just confusing me lol. Thanks for any help and sorry if this is a little long.

[likwidsolutions]

Oh yeah, the reason I had the Black^2 to begin with was because my iMac was limited to only 1 Drive, and I was going to replace it, but I ended up not and just selling it and building my current rig. I wasn't and still am not a hardcore PC gamer mainly because of KB/M but I have another solution, not to mention PC games have been more supporting of using controllers in the past few years, and since Macs cost more, I was able to build my current rig for about the amount I sold the iMac for (the only thing I miss is that 2560x1440 display, I have a terrible little TV I have next to my rig, but I usually just use my TV for my display.

On the KB/M. I understand and don't mind a Mouse, but when I game on the PC, I like to use an analog joystick (my PS3 Move Navigation controller) and my Logitech G502 Mouse which provides WAY more buttons than either the PS4/XB1 have, so MOST games will work with it, excluding MMOs which I just can't stand, so if it's available on consoles or just doesn't require a TON of buttons, that setup is fine. Or if precision isn't as much of an issue, I just use a controller. Precision really only matters to me in online gaming, otherwise it's not a problem and just makes today's easy games easier with a mouse; I like to play my games on Hard mode because games do seem to get easier and then it's just not fun.

[Puffnstuff]

In reality you should just get a sata 3 ssd and enjoy the immense speed difference it offers over mechanical drives. If you use the m2 slot you will sacrifice the use of your pcie slots and in real world conditions you will not be able to tell the difference between it and sata 3.

[likwidsolutions]

Thanks for the reply. I decided to go with a PCIe expansion with a 2.5" SSD to have an NVMe Drive.