SATA and NVMe SSDs both store data on flash memory, but the main difference is how they connect to your computer. SATA SSDs use AHCI drivers designed for older hard-disk technology and are limited by the SATA bus to around 550MB/s speeds, still 10–15 times faster than HDDs. NVMe, by contrast, was built specifically for SSDs. It uses the PCIe interface and bypasses AHCI, offering vastly greater bandwidth, many more command queues, and far superior performance. In practical terms, SATA SSDs already feel much faster than hard drives, but NVMe PCIe SSDs are better for tasks that need high performance, like running virtual machines or operating a 4K video editing workstation.