Hello, I’m new to linux and want to jump in. I was watching an installation guide on YouTube where I stumbled upon this step where I have to change the SATA mode to AHCI.I have a laptop with a m.2 NVME SSD. I’ve read that linux doesn’t support NVME technology yet. So I was wondering if I switch to AHCI, would I be sacrificing performance? If/if not, what will be the changes noticeable when using the computer. I’m a noob when it comes to linux so if you have the time, can you explain like I’m 5. Thank you very much!.
Ok. I like the sink-or-swim attitude. Let’s see what we have here.
First and foremost: read the install guides. Don’t rely on some video guide. Note: there will be a lot of reading in your future, if you decide to go with an Arch-based distro. That’s the nature of the beast. 
Yup, if your default SATA mode is RAID.
LOL. Not true.
Possibly. Some manufacturers use that Intel Optane to cache and give an apparent performance boost. Moving to AHCI turns that off, so
Only you will be able to tell that.
So, to summarize:
- Read the install guide.
- Become acquainted with both the Manjaro and Arch Wiki’s.
- Duck-Duck-Go (and Google) are going to become some close friends.
Finally, I would recommend that you just use the live-cd for a while to just get the feel of a new OS. Linux is not windows, and there are some things that just won’t work that way. Some of them might be a deal-breaker for you, and running the live-cd will prevent you from some head-banging episodes.
Oh, and I might get a little flack for this, but I really, really think that you should cut your teeth with Linux Mint first. It’s a real noob-friendly distro, that will allow you to learn the basics at your own pace. Manjaro isn’t going anywhere.
Good Luck!
Thank you very much for replying. Just to confirm, If the my laptop doesn’t use intel optane, that means I won’t sacrifice performance?. And I was at first going install mint. But i liked Manjaro better from first look. And im okay with tinkering around to fix problems and tweak the whole thing to get what I wanted. that’s the whole reason Im switching to linux, to customize and not be forced to do things. I just didn’t want to screw up on the first step itself.
Are you planning to dual boot with windows?
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No. Just linux
I have dual boot with windows which was RST with optane in the BIOS.
I switched to AHCI to install Manjaro and did not notice any slowdown in the windows performance.
I also started my linux journey with Mint although Manjaro is not so difficult. (Not flack Merlock!)
In my opinion, if you are not using the laptop for anything else I would just go for a straightforward install.
Both Mint and Manjaro have excellent forums (fora?) by the way!!