Whether you're looking to add some storage to your PC, or looking to upgrade existing storage on another device, NVMe drives are an excellent option. Most come in the M.2 form factor, which lends itself well to compact devices. Its PCIe connectivity gives it incredible speeds, allowing for large swaths of data to be accessed in seconds. Before purchasing an NVMe drive of your own, here are 5 things you should consider.

5 Compatibility

Make sure your device can accommodate an NVMe drive

Compatibility is a primary concern when purchasing storage of any type, but especially for NVMe drives. Form factor is important; if you're planning to put one in an empty M.2 slot, make sure that slot can accommodate the form factor of your drive. Almost all modern PC motherboards support the 2280 form factor, but some drives come in the much smaller 2230 form factor for handheld devices.

Not only should you consult the manual of your device before purchasing, but take a moment to find the hardware required to mount the drive. I've made this mistake personally; after buying a shiny new drive and waiting for it to finally arrive, I found I didn't have the screw required to mount it. If you don't have extra mounting hardware handy, you can find it at basically any large electronics retailer.

4 Do you need a DRAM Cache?

This makes a huge difference depending on your use case

Flash storage alone is much quicker than any kind of mechanical drive, but sometimes flash alone isn't enough. When an SSD is doing any kind of short operation, like accessing a couple of files or transferring them around the file structure, it's not putting any kind of sustained load onto the drive. All modern SSDs will excel at these kinds of operations.

But what happens under sustained load? Large file transfers or texture streaming for games are some examples of sustained load. For these, an SSD with DRAM cache is incredibly important. DRAM cache basically optimizes drive performance based on frequently accessed data. To boil it down, if you're planning on doing any kind of work that requires sustained load on your drive, you should look for an SSD with DRAM cache. It makes a massive difference in performance.

3 Capacity

Size definitely matters

Capacity is often the primary consideration behind purchasing new storage. Size matters a lot, and it's important to think about what you'll be storing on your NVMe drive before purchasing. Depending on quality, photos and videos can take up a gargantuan amount of space, so if you're planning on using a large NVMe in your media workflow, be prepared to shell out some cash. Games these days also tend to be upwards of 60 gigabytes, so take stock of how much space you need and plan accordingly.

2 Reliability

What use is a dead drive?

There's nothing worse than having a drive die on you after loading it up with data. At least with a DOA unit, you didn't waste your time filling the thing up. Regardless, a good strategy for avoiding faulty NVMe drives is to buy a reputable brand. Samsung, Crucial, WD, and Sabrent are just a few that come to mind. Good deals can be found on NVMe storage, but I'd stay away from brands you don't recognize. Even if the drive doesn't fail right away, the durability of such drives is dubious at best.

1 Will another medium get the job done?

Sometimes another type of drive is just fine

NVMe drives do come at a premium for their compact, high-speed nature. Depending on the application, it's worth considering other types of storage as well. If you're not planning on accessing the data stored on the drive often, and don't require speed, maybe a SATA SSD or even HDD could suffice. This is true especially for things like backups or NAS use. Take stock of what you're actually using the drive for, and it might save you some extra cash.

NVMe SSDs can be a killer upgrade

The speed and capacity offered by NVMe drives has the potential to make it a game-changing upgrade. As long as you make sure it's compatible with your device and use-case, it's an excellent option for fast storage, even if you're on a budget.