Summary
Steps for verifying drive types supported by Intel NUCs.
Description
Unable to determine if the M.2 drive slot on my Intel NUC is compatible with NVMe drives, does my NUC support an M.2 SATA or NVME drive?
Resolution
Things to consider:
- Not all M.2 drive slots support an NVMe connection as some will only support SATA.
- This factor may limit your SSD's read/write speed because a M.2 drive slot that only supports SATA will not be able to make use of the full speed capability of a NVMe drive.
- You can still put an M.2 NVMe SSD on an M.2 slot as it will fit, but if the M.2 slot is SATA only, your throughput speed will be limited.
- A SATA III has a max throughput of 600MB/s while an NVMe Gen3 has a max of 3500MB/s. Due to the huge difference in speed, it is important to check the compatibility before buying or installing an NVMe SSD.
To check if your NUC model is compatible with an NVMe SSD, follow the steps below.
- Go to our product website and find your NUC model.
- On the product model page, scroll to Memory & Storage.
- Note the supported storage types.
You can also find compatible products for the NUC model, or the Technical Product Specifications (TPS).
Additional information
- NVMe - Non Volatile Memory express (the e is not capitalized)
- SATA - Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
- SSD - Solid State Drive, a type of storage drive that uses flash memory