How to Choose the Right SSD Form Factor for Your PC🔥

This article concerns the cloning process when using EaseUS Disk Copy to clone or upgrade a hard drive and migrate your Windows drive! The form factor is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing an SSD for your computer. Read this article to get further information about SSD form factors.

If you plan to upgrade your SSD for better performance or larger capacity on your computer, you must ensure the SSD form factor is right for your device. How much do you know about SSDs with different form factors? If you have no idea about the form factor of SSD drives, don't worry. You can read this article from EaseUS software to get some helpful information.

SSD form factors refer to the physical size, shape, and configuration of SSDs. SSDs are usually based on flash memory. Flash keeps data for some time if the power is off and comes in different sizes. As a result, various form factors are available for SSD drives. The following is an overview of the most common SSD form factors:

2.5-Inch

The 2.5-inch form factor is the most widely used for SSDs, resembling traditional HDDs in size and shape. It is the most common type of SSD form factor and fits into most laptops or desktops. The 2.5'' is designed to minimize the need to change the connecting interface cables, making the transition to a better hard drive as easy as possible.

If your computer has a 2.5-inch disk bay, the 2.5 SSD should be drop-in-compatible with your device. However, a 2.5'' SSD may not offer the same level of speed and compactness as the SSD of other form factors discussed below.

Size and Dimensions:

• This size is the same as traditional 2.5'' SATA HDDs, allowing easy replacement.
• The 2.5-inch SSD has dimensions of 2.75" x 3.95" (69.85 mm x 100.45 mm).

Connectivity: 2.5'' SSDs connect via a SATA cable to the SATA port on the PC's motherboard.

Protocol: Supports SATA, SAS, and PCIe (with NVMe) interfaces.

Use Cases: Commonly found in laptops, desktops, and servers, particularly those designed to accommodate HDDs.

M.2

Previously known as the Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF), M.2 is a compact form factor of SSDs that allows for higher data transfer speeds. It resembles a stick of gum in size and shape, much smaller than other SSDs. This type of SSD is designed to replace the mSATA SSDs, providing higher performance. 

Size and Dimensions: 

M.2 SSD drives feature a rectangular shape with varying dimensions. The standard width is 22mm, while the lengths vary significantly. Most M.2 SSD drives are 22mm wide and 80mm long, labeled as M.2 2280.

Common lengths include:

• 30 mm (2230)
• 42 mm (2242)
• 60 mm (2260)
• 80 mm (2280)
• 110 mm (22110)

Connectivity: M.2 SSDs connect directly to the motherboard through an M.2 slot and are typically detachable, except M.2 Type 1620 (BGA), commonly mounted on the motherboard.

Protocol: Support PCIe (with NVMe), SATA, and USB interfaces.

Use Cases: Ideal for space-constrained ultrabooks, laptops, high-performance desktops, data centers, and embedded systems.

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U.2

U.2 (formerly SFF-8639), a 2.5'' SSD form factor designed specifically for enterprise use, is another form factor standard to specify an SSD's shape, dimensions, and layouts. The U.2 SSD looks like a 2.5'' one but is a bit thicker. The U.2 SSD allows for higher operating temperatures and is more favorable for transferring heat than the M.2 SSD form factor. In addition, SSDs with the U.2 form factor have higher capacity than M.2 SSD drives but are commonly more expensive.

Size and Dimensions:

The U.2 SSDs are approximately 69.85mm in width and 100.35mm in length, with thickness variations of 7 mm or 15 mm, depending on the model. This size contributes to their ability to support larger storage capacities than other form factors like M.2.

Connectivity: U.2 drives connect via the SFF-8639 connector. It can be used alongside traditional HDDs and other SSD types within the same system.

Protocol: Support PCIe, SATA, and SAS.

Use Cases: Common in servers and storage systems that ask for high performance and reliability.

EDSFF (Enterprise and Data Center Standard Form Factor)

EDSFF (Enterprise and Data Center SSD Form Factor) is a family of SSD form factors designed to replace traditional 2.5" U.2 SSDs in Windows servers and storage systems. EDSFF has a dynamic range of form factors that have advantages over the incumbent SSD form factors regarding performance, capacity, manageability, scalability, serviceability, and thermal and power management.

EDSFF variants share the same interface, operating protocol, connector, and pin configuration. There are 2 main EDSFF form factors: E1 and E3.

E1 EDSFF

E1.S (Short)

E1.S is a flexible, power-efficient building block for hyper-scale and enterprise compute nodes and storage. It is slightly longer but wider than the M.2 SSD and is designed to hold more media (NAND) packages for increased capacity. It fits vertically in a 1U chassis, similar to E1.L, improving serviceability and cooling efficiency.

• Thickness: 5.9mm, 8mm (with heat spreader), 9.5mm (symmetric enclosure), 15mm (asymmetric enclosure), and 25mm (asymmetric enclosure)
• Width: 33.75mm
• Length: 118.75mm
• Protocol: NVMe over PCIe
• Use Cases: Cloud computing servers; Vertical placement in 1U servers

E1.L (Long)

E1.L aims to optimize storage density and thermal management in data centers. This SSD form factor is specifically designed for 1U servers and storage arrays, such as JBOD and JBOF configurations. It has superior manageability, serviceability, and thermal characteristics compared to traditional form factors designed for rotating media. 

• Thickness: 9.5mm: 38.4mm width and 318.75mm length, with a max power consumption of 25W; 18mm: Same width and length but power consumption up to 40W.
• Protocol: NVMe over PCIe.
• Use Cases: High-capacity and dense storage use.

E3 EDSFF

E3.S (Short)

E3.S is designed to update and replace the traditional U.2 2.5'' form factor in servers and storage systems. It has higher system densities and efficiency by supporting multiple E3.S disks in servers, with some new systems supporting up to 32 E3.S disks compared to 12 U.2 previously.

• Dimensions: 76mm height, 112.75mm length, 7.5mm width.
• Protocol: NVMe over PCIe
• Use Cases: Mainstream NVMe server storage subsystems.

E3.L (Long)

E3.L is a specific form factor within the Enterprise and Data Center Standard Form Factor (EDSFF) family, primarily for SSDs in data center environments. It also aims to replace the traditional 2.5'' U.2 SSDs with improved performance, capacity, and thermal management. It supports multiple PCIe lane configurations, allowing scalable bandwidth and enhanced data throughput.

• Dimensions: 76 mm in height, 142.2 mm in length, and 7.5 mm in width. 
• Protocol: NVMe over PCIe
• Use Cases: High-capacity storage and data centers.

Add-in Cards

An Add-in Card (AIC) is an SSD that uses a standard card form factor such as a PCIe card. It is a specialized storage device designed to be installed in a computer's PCIe slots. The add-in card SSD offers high performance and suits demanding applications such as gaming, data analysis, and content creation. It can only be seen on desktops.

AIC SSD usually utilizes the PCIe interface and plugs into the PCIe x4 or x16 slots on a motherboard commonly used for GPUs or RAID controllers.

• Size and Dimensions: Half-height, Half-length: About 167.65mm long and 111.28mm high; Full Length: About 312mm long for larger configurations.
• Connectivity: AIC SSDs connect via PCIe slots, usually utilizing x4 or x16 lanes. This allows for high data transfer rates.
• Protocol: PCIe, NVMe
• Use Cases: High-performance computing environments: enterprise, server, and cloud deployments.

Conclusion

This article has introduced 5 SSD form factors. Understanding form factors helps select the right SSD based on performance needs, physical space constraints, and compatibility with existing hardware systems. After choosing the right SSD, you can try EaseUS Disk Copy to help you clone or upgrade the SSD.