no need for abstract theories here, everybody can simply run task manager while MSFS loads and while it is running and watch the disk transfer speed. I saw a maximum of 1.4 GB/s during initial loading of MSFS only for a second, but during normal flight disk transfer rates are much lower, not even 100 MB/sec typically.

tl;dr:

any NVMe via PCIe x4 v3.0 transfer rate is 10 x more than you'll ever need and enough during flight, even "slow" 500 MB/sec SATA SSDs would suffice, but who wants "enough" when you can have it all. NVMe PCIe 4.0 (up to 7 GB/sec transfer rate) is already available, but even more overkill.

initial loading .... 1.4 GB/sec

still loading ... 180 MB/sec

 

during flight: default Citation Longitude over KLAX - only 0.950 MB/sec:

Now compare this to the maximum transfer speed of NVMe M.2 via PCIe x4 v3.0:

"PCIe 3.0 — the PCI Express standard current generation — has a maximum speed transfer of 985 megabytes per second (Mbps) on each path. NVMe Drives can use 4 PCIe lanes, which means a theoretical maximum speed of 3.9 Gbps (3,940 Mbps)."

Samsung 980 PRO 2 TB PCIe 4.0 (up to 7,000 MB/s) NVMe M.2 (2280) Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (MZ-V8P2T0BW)

Edited December 27, 20223 yr by turbomax

2 hours ago, Bert Pieke said:

very small differences here.. possibly irrelevant in normal operations ...  Keep that in mind

definitely irrelevant in normal operations.. Keep that in mind 😉

Edited December 27, 20223 yr by turbomax

On 12/25/2022 at 4:07 AM, Stefano88 said:

SO on one m2 and msfs on the other m2

KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!):  put everything on one m2, then clone that to your 2nd m2.  This way in the event of a total disk failure you're up and running (to your last clone date) in a matter of a few minutes.  Use slower drives for data only (documents, images, audio files, etc).

16 minutes ago, Noel said:

put everything on one m2

never. I have always installed the operating on a separate drive, for safety and backup reasons. everything else incl. applications go on another drive. and depending on your add ons: Windows and MSFS can exceed even a 2 TB drive, which you should not fill up to 100% anyway. 😊

Edited December 27, 20223 yr by turbomax

My opinion: A 1TB drive with msfs and the system too is not big enough after your msfs expands with addons and so forth. But a  1TB drive is big enough for just msfs alone. 

(My msfs is already over 800 GB (official + community). 

I Have Windows 11 on the same NVME and no issues what so ever, I doubt ir would make a difference either way

13 hours ago, Noel said:

Because there is no reason to do otherwise, at least if performance is the concern.  Some people need to split them because there are storage volume issues, but that is not the case with my install because w/ MSFS and its various addons, plus Ghost Recon: Wildlands, plus The Hunter, I still only use 698Gb.  Your m.2 NVMe drives are ultra fast compared to the older days where it made (a little!) sense to split OS and flight sim, but that is not the case in any meaningful way if PERFORMANCE is the criteria you are using.   Plus, it's ultra simple to make a complete disk clone which is my entire install, not messing around w/ split installs.  

Agree 100 percent, no real performance gain by splitting MSFS to a stand alone M2 but very convenient to use disk imaging to back up the entire C drive

Edited December 27, 20223 yr by Jetman67

Guys good evening! Finally, a little while ago I finally withdrew the new pc! I bought msfs premium Deluxe, and in the end I decided to put it on the second m2, therefore a totally new storage, where there is nothing above. So on the Microsoft store I selected D storage, and so far so good. Once I ended up on the MS store, it opened the msfs game for me to start the real 163gb download and here it asked me again where to put it, I selected D, but it wanted me to select a folder, at this point I created a folder called msfsed and I selected that as the destination. Now question, was I right or should there have been some folder to put it in??? Wow then, despite downloading at 80mb/s I dare not imagine how many hours it will take

8 minutes ago, Stefano88 said:

was I right or should there have been some folder to put it in??? Wow then, despite downloading at 80mb/s I dare not imagine how many hours it will take

Yes, or at least that is pretty much what I did too.
Mine downloaded at a maximum of 3.5MBps and took the best part of a day.

26 minutes ago, Stefano88 said:

Now question, was I right or should there have been some folder to put it in??? Wow then, despite downloading at 80mb/s I dare not imagine how many hours it will take

any folder name or color you like, as long as it's black (quote from Henry Ford). I chose  d:\fs2020

make sure to explicitly always re-select this folder again for any future MSFS updates. it is easy to forget and then MSFS will start to download the full 160 GB again into its default folder.

at constantly 80 Mbs it should be around 5.8 hours (5 hours, 50 minutes) to fully download 168 GB MSFS.

Edited December 29, 20223 yr by turbomax

OK, thanks a lot!! Yes this was my biggest doubt, still I messed up selecting or making a folder, but then again it's a totally new storage and nothing so I created a folder and put it there as destination. Yes according to those mb yes, now it's gone down and fluctuates between 50 and 60 mbs, I think it will end by tomorrow morning... Never mind, I'll leave it on to download. Thank you for your thoughts and advice!!! Once he completes the installation I connect the handwheel and the pedal, hoping he finds them immediately on the fly. Then I calmly download and install all the world updates one at a time. For world updates, just download them and install everything automatically like it's doing now for the right game??

2 minutes ago, Stefano88 said:

Once he completes the installation

say hello from me to him. 😊

He's finally finished, but it's almost 2 in the morning, I turn off and go to sleep, tomorrow I'll see him calmly. Good night everyone and thank you

so my forecast of 5.6 hours for downloading MSFS was precise?

say good night to "him" from me. or is it may be her or him? 😀

Edited December 30, 20223 yr by turbomax

3 minutes ago, turbomax said:

so my forecast of 5.6 hours for downloading MSFS was precise?

say good night to "him" from me. 😀

Yes, quite accurate! All right, tomorrow after I try it I'll make an account.