SSD TIER LIST

[Wooden Law - Black]

3 hours ago, Vespa said:

Is the SN550 NVMe worth getting for basic storage and loading small-ish game roms/isos for a something like a MisterFPGA or retro pi setup? it's currently £36.99 on the WD store for 500gb

Yes, it has a good price. Even if it changed the flash (and performance has worsened), I think it's enough. Another good entry-level NVMe SSD is the Kingston A2000.

3 hours ago, Tan3l6 said:

PNY XLR8 CS3040 any good?

4TB version costs 350€ here.

It's a "old" PCIe 4.0 (it doesn't have Phison E18/InnoGrit IG5263 as controller like "new" PCIe 4.0 - ADATA XPG Gammix S70 and S70 Blade, Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus, Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 7000s, etc.) but it's still a good drive. It has the same hardware performance as Sabrent Rocket 4.0 and other Phison E16 drives. 350€ is an excellent price.

[RiiSK]

Hi, I was checking this list to see what SSD options I had for an upcoming high end build. I was originally going to go for the Samsung 980 Pro (1tb), however I'm not sure if that is the best choice anymore due to the "MANUFACTURERS ARE REPLACING THE KEY COMPONENTS OF SSDS" note. I'm looking for a 1TB NVMe 4.0 drive for about or under $200, any recommendations? Would prefer a tier A drive...

[Wooden Law - Black]

18 hours ago, RiiSK said:

I was originally going to go for the Samsung 980 Pro (1tb), however I'm not sure if that is the best choice anymore due to the "MANUFACTURERS ARE REPLACING THE KEY COMPONENTS OF SSDS" note.

Samsung changed the 970 EVO Plus' hardware, not that of the 980 PRO. The 980 PRO keeps Elpis controller with 128L TLC flash, and it is one of the best SSD in the market. Although, I wouldn't suggest it since the price, you can buy better drives like the Corsair MP600 Pro XT that uses newer flash (176L). But I wouldn't even suggest the Corsair MP600 Pro XT since there is the Crucial P5 Plus (in-house controller with in-house 176L TLC flash) with a better price (even if it is slightly worse - smaller SLC cache and worse performance post it).

[DJKiltScor]

Are the SATA options up to date? Looking for a TIER A Preferable SSD, but would be willing to go to a Tier B if it's out of my budget. I was looking at a 2TB drive to replace my Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM (Or maybe in addition to if it makes sense), because ever since I went to SSD and their speeds, it's been a lot harder to go back to the traditional drives. My MOBO only has 1 m.2 slot, and I'm currently using that for my bootdrive which is an Intel 512GB SSD with 32 GB Optane. Using for Gaming, Video and Audio editing, and Streaming primarily. Currently, all of my installed games are taking up like 1.2 terrabytes, but that's also pre-fall steam sale...

 

Any advice or options you guys could provide would be super helpful, thank you so much!

[Wooden Law - Black]

47 minutes ago, DJ_KiltScor said:

Are the SATA options up to date? Looking for a TIER A Preferable SSD, but would be willing to go to a Tier B if it's out of my budget.

What is your budget? Look at the Leven JS300, IMHO it is the best value for money.

[SSD Sean]

On 10/27/2021 at 9:44 AM, Vespa said:

Is the SN550 NVMe worth getting for basic storage and loading small-ish game roms/isos for a something like a MisterFPGA or retro pi setup? it's currently £36.99 on the WD store for 500gb

Yes

[ewitte]

Got a good deal $350 for an "open box" 3.84TB PM983 22110.  Drive had 0 writes.  The only thing close is 4TB SATA QLC drives I wouldn't touch.  It does 3GB/1.4GB and has a 5PB write rating.

[Wooden Law - Black]

13 hours ago, ewitte said:

Got a good deal $350 for an "open box" 3.84TB PM983 22110.  Drive had 0 writes. 

Good price and good PCIe enterprise SSD. 

[ishavgupta]

I am planning to buy an M.2 SATA 3 SSD for my laptop to improve its bootup time and app opening speeds. I just want to know if there is major difference between various models/ manufacturers or if should i just buy the cheapest one as all of them seem to offer similar speeds (550 MB/s). e.g If i compare WD Green and WD Blue, the speeds look the same, so i should be fine with the WD Green one? 

WD Green: https://www.amazon.in/Western-Digital-240GB-Internal-WDS240G2G0B/dp/B078WYS5K6?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&psc=1

 

WD Blue:  https://www.amazon.in/Western-Digital-250GB-Internal-S250G2B0B/dp/B073SBV3XX/ref=asc_df_B073SBV3XX/?tag=googleshopdes-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=396989188455&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=89925044059835800&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9303358&hvtargid=pla-401917755506&ext_vrnc=hi&th=1 

 

Thank You

 

Edit: The reason Im not considering Nvme is because it looks like that my laptop does not support it. (HP 440 G3 P/N L6E40AV)

[ishavgupta]

8 minutes ago, ishavgupta said:

I am planning to buy an M.2 SATA 3 SSD for my laptop to improve its bootup time and app opening speeds. I just want to know if there is major difference between various models/ manufacturers or if should i just buy the cheapest one as all of them seem to offer similar speeds (550 MB/s). e.g If i compare WD Green and WD Blue, the speeds look the same, so i should be fine with the WD Green one? 

WD Green: https://www.amazon.in/Western-Digital-240GB-Internal-WDS240G2G0B/dp/B078WYS5K6?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&psc=1

 

WD Blue:  https://www.amazon.in/Western-Digital-250GB-Internal-S250G2B0B/dp/B073SBV3XX/ref=asc_df_B073SBV3XX/?tag=googleshopdes-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=396989188455&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=89925044059835800&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9303358&hvtargid=pla-401917755506&ext_vrnc=hi&th=1 

 

Thank You

 

Edit: The reason Im not considering Nvme is because it looks like that my laptop does not support it. (HP 440 G3 P/N L6E40AV)

It looks i have already asked this question. Sorry 

Can you suggest between these two options?

 

[Wooden Law - Black]

1 hour ago, ishavgupta said:

Can you suggest between these two options?

 

The WD Blue 3D is much better than the WD Green. What are you seeing is sequential speed during the SLC cache, but you care about (write) sequential speed after the SLC cache and random performance (4K). The WD Green isn't a good SSD, it's the same as the SanDisk Plus and it has terrible performance. Also, the WD Blue 3D isn't DRAM-less as the WD Green is.

By the way you can buy SSD better than WD Blue like the Crucial MX500. It is better than the WD Blue as hardware (flash) and performance.

[ishavgupta]

On 11/12/2021 at 3:34 PM, Wooden Law - Black said:

The WD Blue 3D is much better than the WD Green. What are you seeing is sequential speed during the SLC cache, but you care about (write) sequential speed after the SLC cache and random performance (4K). The WD Green isn't a good SSD, it's the same as the SanDisk Plus and it has terrible performance. Also, the WD Blue 3D isn't DRAM-less as the WD Green is.

By the way you can buy SSD better than WD Blue like the Crucial MX500. It is better than the WD Blue as hardware (flash) and performance.

How to compare different m.2 ssd?

[Wooden Law - Black]

1 hour ago, ishavgupta said:

How to compare different m.2 ssd?

What model?

[ishavgupta]

1 hour ago, Wooden Law - Black said:

What model?

I was just asking in general how do you compare any 2 m.2 sata ssd. I have finally bought this hp one, is this good? can you compare this with WD BLUE and  crucial one you said. I didnt buy the crucial one because I had to buy the ssd offline and it wasnt available there. Thanks!

 

[Wooden Law - Black]

2 hours ago, ishavgupta said:

I have finally bought this hp one, is this good? can you compare this with WD BLUE and  crucial one you said.

WD Blue 3D: Marvell 88SS1074 (dual-core, eight-channel, 32 CE, LDPC) controller paired with Kioxia BiCS3 (64L TLC) flash and a Micron LPDDR3 DRAM cache (1866 MT/s). This is a old drive, but it has decent performance. Before saturation of the cache it has 520 and 470 MB/s sequential performance as you can see from the Tom's Hardware's review, but then (after roughly 80GB) sequential write degrades to 300 MB/s, and that's not so good. Random write performance seems "meh", while read performance are good.
 

Crucial MX500: the hardware can change from the firmware version, but let's assume that you will receive the latest one. Silicon Motion SM2259G (single-core, quad-channel, 32 CE, LDPC) controller paired with Micron B47R (176L TLC) flash and Micron DDR3 DRAM cache (1866 MT/s). The hardware is better than the WD Blue 3D one because the MX500 uses newer and better flash (the controller seems worse from the specs). Performance and endurance are also better for the MX500 (better 4K, 450 MB/s post-SLC cache and higher PEC).

 

HP S700: Silicon Motion SM2258XT (single-core, quad-channel, 32 CE, LDPC) controller paired with Samsung V4 (64L TLC). No DRAM cache (in fact every XT SMI controllers don’t support DRAM cache). There aren’t reviews about the new revision, but it is of course worse than the WD Blue and Crucial MX500 as it lacks DRAM cache.

[pipolpof]

Hello, 

Shopping for an External SSD as a backup for important documents. I want quality and performance but I would like to pay the right price for it! I listened to this video 

and your As fast as possible on DRAMless cache SSDs and now I am wondering if I really need it ? I want my SSD to have DRAM because Linus said it's good, but is DRAMless SSDs still good on storage where there will be almost no read or erasering ? 

Thanks

 

[Wooden Law - Black]

9 hours ago, pipolpof said:

I want my SSD to have DRAM because Linus said it's good, but is DRAMless SSDs still good on storage where there will be almost no read or erasering ?

Yes. You don’t need DRAM-based drives for storage and other uses like gaming.

[SSD Sean]

On 11/15/2021 at 12:29 AM, Wooden Law - Black said:

Yes. You don’t need DRAM-based drives for storage and other uses like gaming.

Yes, he won't...but I do  DRAM or bust. Only garbage SSDs are DRAM-less.  

[MultiGamerClub]

Gigabyte Aorus NVMe Gen4 SSD 500GB with heatsink.

 

This is on sale right now and its the cheapest 500gb i can find for 100€.

 

Worth it or should i go for a more trusted brand like Corsair MP600 for 160€?

[Wooden Law - Black]

4 hours ago, MultiGamerClub said:

Worth it or should i go for a more trusted brand like Corsair MP600 for 160€?

Do you mean this model, right? If so, they are the same drive. They have the same specs, the same hardware, the same performance and the same endurance. I would pick the cheapest one.

[HotaruMio]

Currently looking up some 2TB nvme SSDs. Main use is for steam library.

 

I'm looking at Crucial P5 right now at 244.99 w/o tax on amazon, seems like it's the cheapest SSD with DRAM cache.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0892TWDP1/ref=twister_B09BTB2KKZ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Others such as Kingston NV1 and Team MP33, or Crucial P2 are cheaper, but they are DRAMless, and performance-wise seems kinda crap.

 

There's a brand called Timetec that claims to have DRAM cache, but I don't see anyone giving it a review for the 2TB model, and timetec's website doesn't have that listed on their products, so Im skeptical. The SSD is cheap though, at 219.99 w/o tax, seems to be using Silicon Motion controller. Timetec apparently is OEM for Lite-on, or the other way around.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08GJBTCF6/ref=emc_b_5_t?th=1

Though they only have the 1TB model lying around, but the specs difference seem so big. 1TB is 1800 read and 1500 write, while the 2TB is 3400read and 3000 write iirc. 

 

Another 2TB SSD for cheap is MSI's Spatium M370 for 202 w/o tax, but it seems that SSD is DRAMless also, using Phison E13T as its controller.

https://www.amazon.ca/MSI-SPATIUM-M370-Internal-Write/dp/B098TM7PBV/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=MSI+Spatium&qid=1637733960&sr=8-2

 

Which one should I go for?

 

EDIT: found the 2TB, but under amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Timetec-1800TBW-Performance-Internal-Desktop/dp/B09FS8XFKD

[Wooden Law - Black]

2 hours ago, HotaruMio said:

I'm looking at Crucial P5 right now at 244.99 w/o tax on amazon, seems like it's the cheapest SSD with DRAM cache.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0892TWDP1/ref=twister_B09BTB2KKZ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

The price is very good looking at the other SSDs, but the Crucial P5 runs very hot, so you should buy a heatsink. 

2 hours ago, HotaruMio said:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08GJBTCF6/ref=emc_b_5_t?th=1

Though they only have the 1TB model lying around, but the specs difference seem so big. 1TB is 1800 read and 1500 write, while the 2TB is 3400read and 3000 write iirc. 

I also didn’t find review but the 1TB SKU seems something like the Team Group MP33/Silicon Power P34A60 (so yeah, DRAM-less with a SMI SM2263XT and Micron 64L/96L TLC) while the 2TB SKU seems SM2262EN-/Phison E12(S)-based.

2 hours ago, HotaruMio said:

Which one should I go for?

The P5 as long as you can buy a heatsink.

[HotaruMio]

2 hours ago, Wooden Law - Black said:

The price is very good looking at the other SSDs, but the Crucial P5 runs very hot, so you should buy a heatsink. 

I also didn’t find review but the 1TB SKU seems something like the Team Group MP33/Silicon Power P34A60 (so yeah, DRAM-less with a SMI SM2263XT and Micron 64L/96L TLC) while the 2TB SKU seems SM2262EN-/Phison E12(S)-based.

The P5 as long as you can buy a heatsink.

Aite, I do have an aluminum heatsink on the motherboard and enough fans for air flow, so it should be fine.

 

The P5 probably haven't have the bait-and-switch like the P2 and ADATA's SX8200 Pros yet?

[Wooden Law - Black]

On 11/24/2021 at 12:19 PM, HotaruMio said:

The P5 probably haven't have the bait-and-switch like the P2 and ADATA's SX8200 Pros yet?

When it was released it had 96L TLC flash, now it has 128L TLC, but maybe newer revision also 176L TLC (like the BX500 and the MX500), so yes, Crucial also did bait-and-switch on the P5.

[HotaruMio]

8 hours ago, Wooden Law - Black said:

When it was released it had 96L TLC flash, not it has 128L TLC, but maybe newer revision also 176L TLC (like the BX500 and the MX500), so yes, Crucial also did bait-and-switch on the P5.

Interesting. Can't find any info on the non-pro P5 bait-and-switch. Would having 128L or even the 176L TLC be a good thing?

 

This is the pcie gen 3 P5, not the P5 plus, which is gen4.