The first is a SATA SSD, which comes in a 2.5-inch form factor and connects to your motherboard with the same cables and ports as a SATA HDD. The second (and newer) is the M.2 SSD.

Not every system needs a fast, responsive SSD to work as intended. I still use my old hard drive on my home theater PC (HTPC) since it has no use for high-speed storage. Whether you're connecting ...