Greater speeds may not be the only significant change that will introduced with the next generation of M.2 SSDs. New specifications for GIGABYTE’s upcoming X670 AORUS PRO AX, X670 AORUS MASTER, X670 AORUS XTREME, and X670 AERO D motherboards shared by Wccftech’s Hassan Mujtaba have suggested that select PCIe 5.0 SSDs will come in a wider size than the typical M.2 drive aimed at consumers on today’s market, with widths increasing to 25 mm beyond the usual M.2 2280 (22 x 80 mm) dimensions. “M.2 Thermal Guard III: Ensure 25110 M.2 Gen5 SSD Performance and Stability,” reads a portion of the specifications listed by GIGABYTE. The implication is that some PCIe 5.0 SSDs may not fit into current motherboards, although that shouldn’t really be a concern, being that most enthusiasts probably need to pick up newer hardware to reap their benefits anyway.
Gigabyte X670 specs. Confirms EXPO & XMP DDR5 DIMMs support. pic.twitter.com/2hGYw1VKuu
— Hassan Mujtaba (@hms1193) May 25, 2022
An extra 3 mm in width might not sound like much, but many M.2 drives seem to be somewhat space constrained, mainly with regards to the passive components and the power regulation. It also seems like this is in preparation for PCIe 5.0 NVMe drives, where the host controller is expected to run hotter, even though it might not be as bad as initially expected. Regardless, it seems like motherboard makers are now making space for this slightly wider M.2 form factor, as well as implementing suitable cooling solutions to match. Whether we’ll see drives using this slightly wider form factor or not, is still up in the air and one reason why the SSD manufacturers might choose not to go wider, is because new drives might not fit in older motherboards and laptops, if the clearance is too small.
Source: @hms1193 (via TechPowerUp)