NGFF (Next Generation Form Factor), as the name suggests, is the standard of Form Factor. It is tied with NGFF for 2.5 "instead of PCIe. (In addition, NGFF has now been renamed M.2. We 'd better keep pace with the times and change it to M.2 .)
PCIe is a bus standard, tied with SATA.
NVMe is a new transmission standard for hard disks and replaces the current AHCI.
Why do people always associate NGFF/M.2 with PCIe/NVMe? This is because the SSD in The M.2 shape supports the PCIe bus first in the notebook. However, M.2 has two bus standards: SATA and PCIe. 2.5 "also has two bus standards: SATA and PCIe. Some representative products on the market are listed below for your convenience:
The bus needs chip-level support. Currently, the six-generation platform (Skylake) ThinkPad is used. Some models support PCIe SSD. But different models have different combinations of support.
We can query through Reference,
For example, T460p, the Storage shows that the 2.5 "SSD hard drive supports SATA bus and PCIe bus, with the speed of 6.0 Gb/s and 16 Gb/s respectively (SSD does not support the M.2 interface)
For example, X1 carbon 4th, the Storage shows that M.2 SSD supports SATA and PCIe bus (2.5 hard drive is not supported)
Reference download address>
So how can we remember what hard disks are supported by various ThinkPad models?
1. Differentiate physical shape standards. The shape cannot be used.
2.5 "hard disk (including HDD and SSD) must pay attention to the thickness, usually 5mm and 7mm. If the machine supports 5mm, it can also support 7mm, fixed with screws, and vice versa, plug in.
M.2 hard disks are SSD, with four lengths and the same width as 22mm, so there are: 22x42mm, 22x60mm, 22x 80mm, and 22x110mm, thinkPad currently does not support 22x 60mm and 22x 110mm
(Extra-curricular knowledge: Currently, the Wi-Fi/BT Nic is 22x30mm, the WWAN Nic is 22x42mm, and it is also the M.2 interface, because it is only a physical shape interface, therefore, the NIC and hard disk are available. The WWAN M.2 interface of the early machine also supports SATA bus, so SSD is supported. The new machine does not support SATA bus, so the WWAN Nic cannot use SSD; it is said that because the new model can support 4 GB, 4 GB cannot coexist with the SATA bus. In the early stage, 3 GB can coexist with SATA)
2. Differentiate bus standards and interface speeds. Different bus determine different speeds.
Three generations of SATA are available. The sata I speed is 1.5 Gb/s, the SATA II speed is 3.0 Gb/s, and the SATA III speed is 6.0 Gb/s. Because these three generations are compatible with each other, when you consult, if you cannot remember the motherboard support information, we recommend that you buy SATA Ⅲ, and the speed is backward compatible (SATA Ⅲ is generally not expensive)
PCIe is also divided into PCIe3.0 and 2.0, and there is a difference between x4 and x2 (number of bus is 4 and 2), PCIe 3.0 x4 speed is 32 Gb/s, PCIe 3.0 x2 speed is 16 Gb/s, PCIe 2.0x4 speed is 20 Gb/s, PCIe 2.0x2 speed is 10 Gb/s, is also backward compatible
3. Quick memory! Quick memory! Quick memory!
2014-15 models (50 series ):
Model (60 series)
In addition, NVMe is easy to remember, and 50 series are not supported. For 60 series, PCIe is supported. 2.5 "hard disk thickness is irregular, and 7mm is certainly usable.
