m.2 SSD question?

[ncage]

I haven't kept up with emerging standards and haven't did a build for a long time. I am planning to buy the following mATX board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157675&ignorebbr=1

On the m.2 support it says the following:
1 x Ultra M.2 Socket, supports type 2242/2260/2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32Gb/s) **

** Supports ASRock U.2 Kit
Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks

Ok right now my ultra fast storage needs are not that great. For this build i just need something cheap. I was looking at the following:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211972
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4M522K5899&ignorebbr=1

The m.2 standard is confusing. The m.2 drive i linked to above says its a Sata 3 drive. If i plug it into my motherboards m.2 connector won't it be a PCI-E drive? If not and if its not any faster than maybe it will be more convenient because no cable/connector.

Ok as i side note. Do i or should i go ahead and buy the ASRock U.2 kit now. I don't plan to use it but you know how that works 2 years from now when i'm trying to buy it. I won't be able to find it or if i do it might be extremely expensive. One of the hotest drives i've heard about is the samsumg 950 pro NVMe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA12K3U60463

It appears my mb won't need the kit to utilize this drive. Maybe new drives in the future.

 

[UsandThem]

M.2 is simply a connection. Some M.2 slots are only SATA based. So if you put a SATA drive in it, it would perform like a SSD connected to a traditional SATA connection. For example, my Dell laptop has a M.2 slot in it, but it only supports SATA M.2 drives. If I put a PCIe drive in it like the Sansung 950 Pro, it wouldn't work. But it works fine with a SATA based drive like the 850 EVO.

Some M.2 slots are dual ones where they support both SATA or PCIe based drives. Samsung 950 Pro NVMe drives are simply PCIe drives. The motherboard you linked to has this type of M.2 connection.

That Asrock U.2 kit is just a bridge if you want to connect a standard-sized PCIe SSD (like Intel) to the M.2 slot. If you are going to use a M.2 drive like Samsung NVMe drives, you won't need it.

 

[whm1974]

Ok as i side note. Do i or should i go ahead and buy the ASRock U.2 kit now. I don't plan to use it but you know how that works 2 years from now when i'm trying to buy it. I won't be able to find it or if i do it might be extremely expensive. One of the hotest drives i've heard about is the samsumg 950 pro NVMe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA12K3U60463

It appears my mb won't need the kit to utilize this drive. Maybe new drives in the future.

Downside of the U.2 kit is the cable will prevent you from using a video card due to the location of the M.2 socket.