Solved Don't ignore your desktop PC's empty M.2 slots - they're more useful than you think

Jorgen E · Thursday at 7:10 PM

How does that work? I don't see any link to e.g. an USB expansions card, or anything else able to mount in an M2 slot ?

The only link on the site is PCIe expansions cards.

I tryed to comment an ask on the ZDNET site, but it was not possible.

SIW2 · Thursday at 7:23 PM

5Gbps NGFF M.2 To USB 3.0

M.2 (NGFF) NVME SSD to M2 A/E Key WiFi Port with 20cm Cable

Jorgen E · Friday at 8:55 AM

Thanks - doesn’t look as big market or convenient

Jorgen E · Friday at 8:57 AM

Thanks - doesn’t look as big market or convenient

gunrunnerjohn · Friday at 10:00 AM

RD Mercer said:
Wow! That’s a lot, but I see no problem with that. I have all my documents, pictures etc. from forever, on my 860 EVO 250 gigabyte ssd. Yes, I guess I have just lived a lonely peaceful existence.

WOW! I know I don't have near the data and the like some people here, but everything on 250GB? I will admit that everything important as well as my current Windows installation fits comfortably on a 2TB SSD. Then there are two other 2TB SSD drives and one 4TB HDD drive for my automated backups. The HDD is to have backups to dissimilar media, not to mention just one more backup copy.

RD Mercer · Friday at 12:07 PM

gunrunnerjohn said:
WOW! I know I don't have near the data and the like some people here, but everything on 250GB?

OS is Tiny 11 25H2, I have 60 gig of docs and pictures, so I have less than 100 gig on my c: drive used. Yes, I do have a Western Digital VelociRaptor WD6000HLHX 600GB SATA 3.5" Hard Drive for backing up my c: drive at times. I guess @74 I live a "very simple" life, just browsing the internet now days, not any new important docs or pictures in a while. I know I not your average PC user, but what determines average?

gunrunnerjohn · Friday at 5:35 PM

RD Mercer said:
I know I not your average PC user, but what determines average?

Very true, I don't know what an "average" PC user might look like. :lmao:

A significant amount of my storage is taken up with multi-media collections, video and MP3 files. My actual data files that get accessed regularly are probably around 100GB, those are electronic designs and fabrication files, 3D design files, and my software files. Obviously, I have the tools to do that development that take up a significant amount of space. I just checked and my email archives take up 13GB, one day I should look at trimming that down.

HeavyHemi · Friday at 5:47 PM

Steve C said:
At 71 I play MS Flight Simulator which is a memory hog and slow to load without a fast NVME drive

I don't think it matters what you use to load MS Flight Sim. It's always 3 or 4 minutes to get to the menu. It seems nearly identical from when I was loading it from HDD and now SSD. There's just a lot of small files being loaded. Then in 2020 if you fly Reno racing for example, another couple minutes to load that. I'm actually surprised that I believe that FS 2024 now performs a bit better than 2020. When 2024 first launched it was in a pretty rough state IMO. At least if you have adequate internet it seems to run well. It does load much faster compared to FS 2020.

RD Mercer · 2026-06-15T13:23:34-0400

gunrunnerjohn said:
Very true, I don't know what an "average" PC user might look like.

Sadly, old age has come at a bad time, just when I was beginning to believe I knew everything, I am now forgetting everything I knew.

billmcct · 2026-06-15T13:59:28-0400

Why did this thread become about Age. I'll be 86 July 28.
As far as empty ports, All mine are full.
1TB Samsung 9100 Pro Main
2x 2TB Samsung 9100 Pro for Temp storage.
All my real storage goes on spinners.

gunrunnerjohn · 2026-06-15T14:11:02-0400

RD Mercer said:
Sadly, old age has come at a bad time, just when I was beginning to believe I knew everything, I am now forgetting everything I knew.

My line is "I've forgotten more than you'll ever know!". When the obvious retort comes, I simply say "I've forgotten that, sorry!" :lmao:

HeavyHemi · 2026-06-15T15:02:45-0400

billmcct said:
As far as empty ports, All mine are full.

So that's what I have to look forward to...

Solved Don't ignore your desktop PC's empty M.2 slots - they're more useful than you think

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