SSD TIER LIST

[atxcyclist]

I'm trying to decide between a PNY CS3030, Silicon Power P34A80, Inland Premium, or WD SN750. I want a 1TB DRAM drive to replace a 512GB WD SN530 DRAM-less drive in a laptop with a Ryzen 4800HS. All of these are roughly the same price, the PNY and Silicon Power are $99 USD and the Inland and WD are roughly $115. These are all Tier-B NVMe drives, so I imagine their performance is roughly equivalent. The only thing I can find differently are the TBW ratings, with the Inland somehow being twice as much as the next closest drive. Mind you, this is going to mostly be used for gaming and web surfing, so I cannot imagine even the WD at 600 TBW would be inadequate.

 

 

 

 

[Wooden Law - Black]

- PNY CS3030: it changed its hardware recently, like all ex-Phison E12 SSDs (Sabrent Rocket, Corsair MP510, Silicon Power P34A80, etc.) it has now the Phison E12S (which is different from the E12 non-S since the smaller size, the nichel IHS, the smaller node and the less DRAM capacity) with probably TLC 96L, so Kioxia BiCS4 or Micron B27A/B27B (Micron B27A/B27B has higher performance - if I remember correctly 80 MB/s vs 57 MB/s - and endurance) and a DRAM cache. It is good SSD, but it can cause problems with AMD in terms of performance.
 

- Silicon Power P34A80: also this is a ex-Phison E12 SSD and now it has a almost same controller (Silicon Motion SM2262ENG - both are eight-channel with 32 CE and the same ECC, but the E12 has more core and the SM2262ENG is higher performing in 4K), but it changed the NANDs from 64L TLC Kioxia (BiCS3) to IMFT (Intel/Micron) 64L TLC (B17A probably), so of course an improve as reliability. It has a DDR3 DRAM cache. I prefer this than the PNY since the controller doesn’t cause problems on AMD.

 

- Inland Premium: Phison E12S with Kioxia BiCS4 TLC 3D and a DRAM cache. Supposedly it has the same performance as PNY, in fact I would avoid it for the higher price.

 

- WD SN750: one of the best PCIe 3.0 SSD on the business. In-house controller (tri-core, eight-channel, 32 CE architecture) with SanDisk/Kioxia 64L TLC (BiCS3) flash and a DDR3 DRAM cache. Probably the Silicon Power is more reliable because it has better flash, but it is worse as performance after the SLC cache.  

[atxcyclist]

15 hours ago, Wooden Law - Black said:

- PNY CS3030: it changed its hardware recently, like all ex-Phison E12 SSDs (Sabrent Rocket, Corsair MP510, Silicon Power P34A80, etc.) it has now the Phison E12S (which is different from the E12 non-S since the smaller size, the nichel IHS, the smaller node and the less DRAM capacity) with probably TLC 96L, so Kioxia BiCS4 or Micron B27A/B27B (Micron B27A/B27B has higher performance - if I remember correctly 80 MB/s vs 57 MB/s - and endurance) and a DRAM cache. It is good SSD, but it can cause problems with AMD in terms of performance.
 

- Silicon Power P34A80: also this is a ex-Phison E12 SSD and now it has a almost same controller (Silicon Motion SM2262ENG - both are eight-channel with 32 CE and the same ECC, but the E12 has more core and the SM2262ENG is higher performing in 4K), but it changed the NANDs from 64L TLC Kioxia (BiCS3) to IMFT (Intel/Micron) 64L TLC (B17A probably), so of course an improve as reliability. It has a DDR3 DRAM cache. I prefer this than the PNY since the controller doesn’t cause problems on AMD.

 

- Inland Premium: Phison E12S with Kioxia BiCS4 TLC 3D and a DRAM cache. Supposedly it has the same performance as PNY, in fact I would avoid it for the higher price.

 

- WD SN750: one of the best PCIe 3.0 SSD on the business. In-house controller (tri-core, eight-channel, 32 CE architecture) with SanDisk/Kioxia 64L TLC (BiCS3) flash and a DDR3 DRAM cache. Probably the Silicon Power is more reliable because it has better flash, but it worse as performance after the SLC cache.  

Thank you, that was an extremely helpful explanation. I feel a lot more comfortable with making a decision now.

[White7561]

21 hours ago, Wooden Law - Black said:

- PNY CS3030: it changed its hardware recently, like all ex-Phison E12 SSDs (Sabrent Rocket, Corsair MP510, Silicon Power P34A80, etc.) it has now the Phison E12S (which is different from the E12 non-S since the smaller size, the nichel IHS, the smaller node and the less DRAM capacity) with probably TLC 96L, so Kioxia BiCS4 or Micron B27A/B27B (Micron B27A/B27B has higher performance - if I remember correctly 80 MB/s vs 57 MB/s - and endurance) and a DRAM cache. It is good SSD, but it can cause problems with AMD in terms of performance.
 

- Silicon Power P34A80: also this is a ex-Phison E12 SSD and now it has a almost same controller (Silicon Motion SM2262ENG - both are eight-channel with 32 CE and the same ECC, but the E12 has more core and the SM2262ENG is higher performing in 4K), but it changed the NANDs from 64L TLC Kioxia (BiCS3) to IMFT (Intel/Micron) 64L TLC (B17A probably), so of course an improve as reliability. It has a DDR3 DRAM cache. I prefer this than the PNY since the controller doesn’t cause problems on AMD.

 

- Inland Premium: Phison E12S with Kioxia BiCS4 TLC 3D and a DRAM cache. Supposedly it has the same performance as PNY, in fact I would avoid it for the higher price.

 

- WD SN750: one of the best PCIe 3.0 SSD on the business. In-house controller (tri-core, eight-channel, 32 CE architecture) with SanDisk/Kioxia 64L TLC (BiCS3) flash and a DDR3 DRAM cache. Probably the Silicon Power is more reliable because it has better flash, but it worse as performance after the SLC cache.  

Do you prefer the latest WD SN750 or addlink S70 with Phison E12S and Micron's B27A (for example) in terms of performance and endurance?? Thanks!

[Wooden Law - Black]

6 hours ago, White7561 said:

Do you prefer the latest WD SN750 or addlink S70 with Phison E12S and Micron's B27A (for example) in terms of performance and endurance?? Thanks!

What do you mean with “the latest WD SN750”? Honestly I don’t know it there are new revisions of the SN750 like the SN550. Anyway, the Addlink is probably worse as SLC cache (I think it is dynamic, so large but with poor performance after it - the SN750 uses the nCache, a hybrid design), but not as endurance since B27A has a better architecture from this side. 

[White7561]

8 minutes ago, Wooden Law - Black said:

What do you mean with “the latest WD SN750”? Honestly I don’t know it there are new revisions of the SN750 like the SN550. Anyway, the Addlink is probably worse as SLC cache (I think it is dynamic, so large but with poor performance after it - the SN750 uses the nCache, a hybrid design), but not as endurance since B27A has a better architecture from this side. 

I see. Yeah i think the latest one is v3 if I'm not wrong. Anyways, yeah i saw a review that the 1tb write speed slows down to about 500MBps (i forgot exactly how much but I think it's about that speed) when the SLC cache runs out. When the Addlink S70 I tested (512gb variant) goes to more or less 500MBps. WD one is more expensive but it's much easier to do an RMA if something is wrong. 

 

Edit = also what do you think about SN850 vs Addlink S95? 

Edited August 31, 2021 by White7561
Added forgotten question

[Wooden Law - Black]

3 hours ago, White7561 said:

I see. Yeah i think the latest one is v3 if I'm not wrong. Anyways, yeah i saw a review that the 1tb write speed slows down to about 500MBps (i forgot exactly how much but I think it's about that speed) when the SLC cache runs out.

Could you send the review about the 3 revisions of the WD SN750 and the revision which do 500 MB/s after the SLC cache? Thank you.

The WD SN850 has a WD G2 as controller (multi-core ARM Cortex 32-bit eight-channel) and SanDisk/Kioxia BiCS4 as NAND Flash (96L TLC 3D), while the Addlink has a Phison E18 as controller (penta-core of which 3 are ARM Cortex-R5 32-bit and 2 are CoXProcessor with eight-channel) and Micron B27B as NAND Flash (96L TLC 3D). The WD SN850 has a larger SLC cache with slightly lower performance but worse endurance. IMHO the Addlink is better.

[White7561]

5 hours ago, Wooden Law - Black said:

Could you send the review about the 3 revisions of the WD SN750 and the revision which do 500 MB/s after the SLC cache? Thank you.

The WD SN850 has a WD G2 as controller (multi-core ARM Cortex 32-bit eight-channel) and SanDisk/Kioxia BiCS4 as NAND Flash (96L TLC 3D), while the Addlink has a Phison E18 as controller (penta-core of which 3 are ARM Cortex-R5 32-bit and 2 are CoXProcessor with eight-channel) and Micron B27B as NAND Flash (96L TLC 3D). The WD SN850 has a larger SLC cache with slightly lower performance but worse endurance. IMHO the Addlink is better.

Just checked again. I was wrong. It turns out v3 is sn750 and v2 is sn700 . I thought they don't change their codes. Also for the speed yeah saw it wrong too it's 1.5GBps after the SLC cache for 1tb. Sorry!!  

 

It seems like addlink s70 1tb has tiered cache or something like that. Here check this out. This is a review for the Phison E12 one tho. If E12 vs E12S version doesn't change the performance that much I think we could expect this performance too. https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/8934/addlink-s70-nvme-ssd-review-phison-e12/index.html#1TB-Class-Performance-Testing

 

 

[Wooden Law - Black]

7 hours ago, White7561 said:

Just checked again. I was wrong. It turns out v3 is sn750 and v2 is sn700 . I thought they don't change their codes. Also for the speed yeah saw it wrong too it's 1.5GBps after the SLC cache for 1tb. Sorry!!  

 

"SN700"? are you sure? Maybe you are confusing the SN700 with the SN730, which is the SN750/SN720 but with 96L (BiCS4) flash.

 

8 hours ago, White7561 said:

If E12 vs E12S version doesn't change the performance that much I think we could expect this performance too.

I think so, usually E12S revisions use different flash (96L instead 64L).

[White7561]

4 minutes ago, Wooden Law - Black said:

"SN700"? are you sure? Maybe you are confusing the SN700 with the SN730, which is the SN750/SN720 but with 96L (BiCS4) flash.

 

I think so, usually E12S revisions use different flash (96L instead 64L).

 

Anandtech review said that the 2nd gen one is SN700 and 3rd newest one is SN750 . https://www.anandtech.com/show/13760/the-western-digital-wd-black-sn750-ssd-review

 

 

But yeah, what do you think about the sequential graph for the Addlink on my previous post? is it better to have that kind of tiered performance or just straight up 1.5GBps speed like the WD Black?

[Wooden Law - Black]

1 hour ago, White7561 said:

But yeah, what do you think about the sequential graph for the Addlink on my previous post? is it better to have that kind of tiered performance or just straight up 1.5GBps speed like the WD Black?

The fact is that the Addlink changed its hardware as you said, so the performance changed. I don't know currently if it has the same SLC cache with the same performance post it and the same capacity, but I don't think so. I would prefere the WD SN750 that do 1500 MB/s.

[atxcyclist]

I got the Silicon Power drive in today, installed it with little issue. I also passed my 512gb drive to my brother to replace the 256gb NVMe drive he had in a Zenbook, but came across a strange problem. The drive works fine and I used Clonezilla to copy it, but it turns out the original drive has bitlocker on it. Is there a way to extend a bitlocker partition into unused space on a drive? I begrudgingly created another partition so he has the space, but it'd be much better if he could have his C partition expanded. I tried AEOMI drive tools and it didn't act like it wanted to do anything, and I know there's a recovery partition "between" the two spaces on the drive and that further complicates things.

[MultiGamerClub]

Adviced 2TB m.2 for 250-350$? Currently looking at MP600 but i dont need the PCIE4 so it kind of feels overkill.

[Tan3l6]

26 minutes ago, MultiGamerClub said:

Adviced 2TB m.2 for 250-350$? Currently looking at MP600 but i dont need the PCIE4 so it kind of feels overkill.

I am eyeing Silicon Power P34A80 myself - quite a bit cheaper than other good PCIE 3 SSDs.

But the prices tend to vary in different places of the world.

[Wooden Law - Black]

1 hour ago, MultiGamerClub said:

Adviced 2TB m.2 for 250-350$? Currently looking at MP600 but i dont need the PCIE4 so it kind of feels overkill.

As PCIe 4.0: https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Internal-Gaming-MZ-V8P2T0B-AM/dp/B08RK2SR23/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=samsung+980+pro+2tb&qid=1631196319&sr=8-3

 

As PCIe 3.0: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-970-EVO-Plus-MZ-V7S2T0B/dp/B07MFZXR1B/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=2EEH8X1Y0F5US&dchild=1&keywords=970+evo+plus+2tb&qid=1631196558&sprefix=970+e&sr=8-3

[Aly007]

Hi,

Is Seagate FireCuda 510 1TB worth 24$ more than Kingston A2000 ? I'll be using it as my main OS drive

[Wooden Law - Black]

2 hours ago, Aly007 said:

Hi,

Is Seagate FireCuda 510 1TB worth 24$ more than Kingston A2000 ? I'll be using it as my main OS drive

Well, the FireCuda 510 now is probably a Phison E12S with BiCS4 TLC (because it was a Phison E12 with BiCS3, and all ex-Phison E12 changed from it to E12S changing also the flash), so it is of course better than the A2000 which is a SM2263 with B27A/B27B, but depends also on their price. How much for the FireCuda 510? Check also the WD SN750 (I don’t know in which country do you live), Mushkin Pilot-E, Silicon Power P34A80, ADATA SX8200 Pro, Crucial P5 (it needs a heatsink), etc.

[Aly007]

I'm in Eastern Europe. A2000 goes for 113$ and FireCuda 510 for 137$. For WD SN750 it's another +35$ on top of that, so it goes way over budget

[Wooden Law - Black]

Uhm. At this point I would buy the FireCuda 510. Maybe check also the Silicon Power P34A80.

[Aly007]

I think I'll go for it. A80 is 170$ and more than SN750.… 

[Mechev]

Hello good people!

I just found this thread, and I was thinking between Samsung 970 Evo Plus or Corsair MP510 1TB capacity to purchase.

Given the recent revelations about manufacturers switching parts in SSDs with expense to performance, 

which one of those two is worth buying, or is there anything else worth considering that has close performance to advertised numbers and longevity

like those two models in the high end spectrum.

[Wooden Law - Black]

33 minutes ago, Mechev said:

which one of those two is worth buying, or is there anything else worth considering that has close performance to advertised numbers and longevity

like those two models in the high end spectrum.

The Samsung 970 EVO Plus is better than the MP510 also with new components (Elpis controller + 128L TLC like the 980 PRO), and also the MP510 changed its hardware, in its case from a Phison E12 to a Phison E12S changing the flash from 64L TLC (BiCS3 usually) to 96L TLC (96L usually). Using the Phison E12S lead to better temperature (for the IHS), to install less capacity of DRAM cache and to install a higher number of NANDs due to its lower size (also to have SSDs single-sided at high capacity like 1 TB).

 

A good SSD close to them as performance and endurance? SK Hynix Gold P31. It is better than them as performance but worse than the Samsung 970 EVO Plus as reliability (than the MP510 is better, though). Or also SM2262ENG SSDs, like the ADATA SX8200 Pro, Mushkin Pilot-E, Kingston KC2000/KC2500, Silicon Power P34A80, HP EX950, etc.

[Rod27]

Hello!

 

It is my first time writing in the forum, thanks for the help you can offer me.

 

I recently bought a Kingston SNVS/1000G I had read positive things about it (price/quality) but then, searching a lot more, I saw a lot of information that indicates that it is very very bad.

 

Is this unit really as bad as they say in many places?

 

I'm seriously wondering if it's a good idea to even copy my files to it.

 

I also noticed that this unit is not even listed in this thread's comparison.

 

Thank you very much for your help and advice.

[Wooden Law - Black]

6 hours ago, Rod27 said:

Is this unit really as bad as they say in many places?

QLC and DRAM-less, yes, almost garbage. I would put it in Tier D (Budget). 

[Tan3l6]

I wonder if Patriot Viper Gaming VP4100 is still in Tier A?

It's max speeds are not at par with the fastest, yet I know max speeds are not that important.

As 2TB model costs only ~230€ where I reside. Thats a great price for PS5 compatible 2TB SSD it seems...