I'm gradually upgrading my gaming PC, and my next priority is adding more storage. My current motherboard has only one M.2 slot and supports up to PCIe Gen 3, so I'm considering replacing it with a board that has at least two M.2 slots. That way, I could keep my existing drive installed and add another one rather than replacing it. I'm looking for a suitable SSD of around 2TB for gaming. I have store vouchers available, but I'm wary of buying a used SSD without being able to check its health first.
I'll also be changing the motherboard and case, so I'm wondering whether I should improve the cooling at the same time. My upgraded components may produce more heat, and the shop has several liquid-cooling options available. Would an all-in-one water cooler provide a meaningful advantage over my current fans, or would better air cooling be sufficient?
2 Answers
An M.2 PCIe adapter is probably the simplest upgrade if the lower PCIe slot is accessible and compatible. A newer SSD will be limited to roughly Gen 3 speeds by the motherboard, but that usually isn’t a major drawback for gaming because loading times don’t scale dramatically with higher sequential speeds. Check the adapter, motherboard slot, and GPU clearance before buying. For cooling, liquid cooling isn’t automatically better or necessary; a good air cooler and adequate case airflow are often enough unless your processor runs especially hot or you want the aesthetics of an AIO.
Before replacing the motherboard, check whether your case and spare PCIe slot have enough room for an M.2 PCIe adapter card. It can let you add another NVMe drive for much less than the cost of a new motherboard. You could also consider buying a single 4TB NVMe drive if that works out better for your storage needs.
That could be a good option. I’m mainly wondering how much the older motherboard’s PCIe Gen 3 limitation would affect the drive’s speed compared with upgrading the board as well.