Computer Hardware
NVMe
Definition
NVM Express (NVMe) is an open, logical-device interface specification for accessing non-volatile storage media attached via a PCI Express (PCIe) bus. It is optimized for the low latency and high parallelism of modern SSDs.
Why It Matters
NVMe unlocks the true speed potential of flash-based storage. By connecting directly to the CPU via the PCIe bus, it bypasses the bottleneck of the older SATA interface, resulting in dramatically faster speeds and lower latency.
Contextual Example
An NVMe SSD can achieve read/write speeds of over 7,000 MB/s, compared to the ~550 MB/s limit of a SATA SSD. This makes a huge difference in booting the OS, loading games, and working with large files.
Common Misunderstandings
- M.2 is the most common physical form factor for NVMe drives, but not all M.2 drives are NVMe (some are SATA).
- NVMe is a protocol, not a physical connector.