Samsung 860 or WD Blue sn550 for games

PointFive · January 22, 2021

So I'm looking for ssds for my game drive, and im on the fence between these two. The wd blue is dramless (which usually has an inferior performance compared to the ones with dram), however in this side to side comparison the speed of the sn550 is extremely close to the samsung 970 evo when opening games.

I won't really be copying any files over except games. The difference in pricing in my country is almost $90 for the 1tb version.

AnirbanG007 · January 22, 2021

23 minutes ago, PointFive said:

So I'm looking for ssds for my game drive, and im on the fence between these two. The wd blue is dramless (which usually has an inferior performance compared to the ones with dram), however in this side to side comparison the speed of the sn550 is extremely close to the samsung 970 evo when opening games.

I won't really be copying any files over except games.

IMHO, I'd go probably with the Samsung if I have the budget for it, because of the DRAM cache firstly, and secondly because as the drive fills up and gets slower, the performance would be reduced, but the DRAM would probably help in improving load times even when the SSD has a lot of data.

These tests are most probably done on a new drive with not so much data on them (I skimmed through the video, pardon me if I'm wrong), we don't know how the DRAMless option would stand up after heavy use, when it has a lot of data in it; in game load times.

So, in conclusion I'd take the Samsung, but if I'm strapped for cash, as only a game keeping library SN550 doesn't look bad either.

Electronics Wizardy · January 22, 2021

10 minutes ago, AnirbanG007 said:

secondly because as the drive fills up and gets slower, the performance would be reduced, but the DRAM would probably help in improving load times even when the SSD has a lot of data.

Got a sounce on that, this reviews shows a pretty small slow down, and about the same as the 860 evo

Id get the cheaper drive, but if there the same price, the sn550 is normally faster, and gives you the advantages of nvme like the lower cpu overhead.