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220-1201 Practice Question: A technician is building a high-performance…
A technician is building a high-performance workstation for video editing. The user needs fast read/write speeds for large 4K video files and wants the OS and applications on the same drive. The motherboard has one M.2 slot (PCIe 4.0 x4) and four SATA III ports. Which storage configuration should the technician recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
220-1201 often tests the confusion between M.2 form factor and NVMe protocol — candidates assume any M.2 drive is fast, but M.2 SATA drives are limited to ~550 MB/s and do not use PCIe lanes.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Install one M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD for both OS and video files.
An M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD delivers sequential read/write speeds of roughly 5,000–7,000 MB/s, far exceeding SATA III's ~550 MB/s ceiling, and the single M.2 slot supports it. Using one NVMe drive for both OS and 4K video files satisfies the requirement for fast read/write on large files while keeping the OS and applications on the same high-speed drive. This is the optimal configuration given the motherboard's single M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 slot.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Install one SATA III SSD for the OS and one SATA III HDD for video files.
Why it's wrong here
This configuration is inadequate for a high-performance workstation handling video files. The SATA III SSD, while faster than an HDD, is capped at approximately 550 MB/s, which can bottleneck 4K or high-bitrate video editing workflows. Furthermore, using a traditional SATA III HDD for video files introduces a severe performance bottleneck, as HDDs typically offer sequential speeds below 200 MB/s, significantly hindering read/write operations for large media assets and failing to leverage modern, faster storage options.
- ✓
Install one M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD for both OS and video files.
Why this is correct
A single high-capacity M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD provides extremely fast read/write speeds (over 5,000 MB/s), ideal for 4K video editing. It uses the available M.2 slot and meets the user's need for fast performance.
- ✗
Install two SATA III SSDs in a RAID 0 array for the OS and video files.
Why it's wrong here
RAID 0 with two SATA SSDs would double throughput to about 1,100 MB/s, but that is still much slower than a single NVMe drive. It also uses two SATA ports and introduces complexity without matching NVMe speeds.
- ✗
Install one M.2 SATA SSD for the OS and one SATA III HDD for video files.
Why it's wrong here
Installing an M.2 SATA SSD for the OS and a SATA III HDD for video files fails to maximize performance for a high-performance workstation. While the M.2 form factor is compact, an M.2 SATA drive is still limited by the SATA III interface to about 550 MB/s, offering no speed advantage over a 2.5-inch SATA SSD. Pairing this with an extremely slow SATA III HDD for large video files would create a significant bottleneck, preventing the workstation from achieving the high data throughput required for demanding video editing tasks and ignoring the superior bandwidth of an M.2 NVMe slot.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This 220-1201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1201 exam.