NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is a high-speed protocol for SSDs that connects directly to the CPU via PCIe lanes, achieving 10–20× the speed of older SATA SSDs.
Speed reference: SATA SSD ~550 MB/s, NVMe PCIe Gen 3 ~3500 MB/s, NVMe PCIe Gen 4 ~7000 MB/s, NVMe PCIe Gen 5 ~14000 MB/s.
Real-world impact is most noticeable in: large file transfers, video editing, game loading, and OS boot. Browser/office tasks rarely benefit beyond basic SATA SSD speed.
Gen 5 NVMe runs hot — premium drives (Crucial T705, Samsung 990 Pro) ship with massive heatsinks. M.2 2280 is the standard physical form factor for laptops and desktops.