Have SSDs reached reasonable price per GB?

[Tomsta]

So like most people i used a HDD for large capacity storage for games, however the HDD that i have is almost 10 years old and i THINK is starting to show it's age a bit so rather than just automatically going and buying another HDD i'd thought i'd actually do some research

 

I've never done SSDs for large storage because the price per GB was always far too high to the capacity i want (2TB minimum). So how drastically has the price per GB changed recently, are SSDs for large bulk storage a valid option now?

[manikyath]

if you dont need speed, spinning rust for mass storage is still where it's at.

 

however, what has changed is that the value proposition for a smaller boot SSD plus spinning rust against just a 2TB SSD is entirely gone.

[Extremos]

Reasonable pricing varies between person to person because what an item is worth is up to each person's opinion. Currently you can find solid SSD's with 2TB capacities for $100 or around that price, which is the best it's been for quite some time. Hope that helps!

[MrSimplicity]

Honestly, I just got myself a 4TB nmve ssd for $180 off amazon. https://a.co/d/8DHChY3 It's $185USD now but not too long ago that ssd would've been $300-$400. The brand itself however I actually trust given my 1TB SP 2.5" ssd has lasted me over 5 years and according to hwinfo still has 90% of it's life left compared to a 1TB saberent nvme that I've had only for 2 years that is down to about 85%.

[Tomsta]

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

if you dont need speed, spinning rust for mass storage is still where it's at.

 

however, what has changed is that the value proposition for a smaller boot SSD plus spinning rust against just a 2TB SSD is entirely gone.

I'd say i can yeah, i only have 1x m.2 slot on my mobo which is what my boot drive is so it needs to be 2.5" drives

 

[seanondemand]

Pricing on SSDs has dropped like a rock. Whether they're "reasonable" is up to you. IMO the benefits of the speed far outweigh the extra cost and games are going to start requiring SSDs soon.

[KaitouX]

It depends on how much storage you need/want and how much you're willing to spend for it. For example if you need 4TB and are okay spending $120 for 2 cheap 2TB SSDs or $200 for a decent 4TB one, then SSDs are a great option. If you need 10TB+ and doesn't want to spend more than $250 for it, then HDDs are the way to go.

[Tomsta]

1 minute ago, KaitouX said:

It depends on how much storage you need/want and how much you're willing to spend for it. For example if you need 4TB and are okay spending $120 for 2 cheap 2TB SSDs or $200 for a decent 4TB one, then SSDs are a great option. If you need 10TB+ and doesn't want to spend more than $250 for it, then HDDs are the way to go.

Na i only want 2TB minimum and at max 4TB. I'm only just under half full on my HDD

[TempestCatto]

I was in your same exact boat just a week ago. I decided to get a NAS SSD. I went with the WD Red 2TB SATA. The reason for going SATA was because I wanted easy physical access to the drive, I didn't want to have to tear out my GPU to get to it. I actually just finished transferring all my data over today. I feel pretty good about going with a NAS SSD over an HDD in general. Though I should do the smart thing and have another backup of that, offsite...

[Blue4130]

2 hours ago, Tomsta said:

So like most people i used a HDD for large capacity storage for games, however the HDD that i have is almost 10 years old and i THINK is starting to show it's age a bit so rather than just automatically going and buying another HDD i'd thought i'd actually do some research

 

I've never done SSDs for large storage because the price per GB was always far too high to the capacity i want (2TB minimum). So how drastically has the price per GB changed recently, are SSDs for large bulk storage a valid option now?

Look at the store you shop at and tell us. Is the price reasonable to you?

[Lurking]

6 hours ago, Tomsta said:

I'd say i can yeah, i only have 1x m.2 slot on my mobo which is what my boot drive is so it needs to be 2.5" drives

 

Get a PCIe adapter to add m.2 to PCI slots. Don't waste money on SATA, they cost as much as m.2 these days plus unwieldy cables and slow speed 

[Blue4130]

21 minutes ago, Lurking said:

Get a PCIe adapter to add m.2 to PCI slots. Don't waste money on SATA, they cost as much as m.2 these days plus unwieldy cables and slow speed 

Only works if you have spare pcie lanes. They run out quickly on desktop consumer chips.

[Lurking]

12 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

Only works if you have spare pcie lanes. They run out quickly on desktop consumer chips.

Get a single large SSD, put OS on a partition and data on the remainder. Will also be cheaper than 2 SSD and cleaner.

 

I don't know if this is an option. But the 4x PCIe SSD still should be faster than SATA using a single or dual PCIe lane. Honestly don't know if using less than 4x is a thing. 

 

Probably should read MB manual to find out exactly what's possible. Try anything to avoid buying SATA. 

[freeagent]

I pretty much quit buying sata and spinners.

[Doobeedoo]

They have for years... unless you need TBs of it. Still very good prices especially some models and sales.

[Mihle]

Some modern games so actually start to have an benefit to SSD when it comes to FPS/stuttering now. And some stop to optimise for HDDs.

 

The price of 2TB SSD have dropped about 50% since I bought mine in 2020.

I use that one for both OS and games.

 

I also have an HDD but it's only for extra things like screen recordings and stuff.

[minervx]

SSD's will always go down, but now's a better time than ever.  Hard drives also have a higher failure due to moving parts

 

Get a 1TB SSD for your operating system and programs.  Then use your hard drive for media and other things.

[NobleGamer]

1 hour ago, minervx said:

SSD's will always go down, but now's a better time than ever.

Yes now is a great time to buy, but SSDs will bump at least a bit back up whenever both of these stabilize: Oversupply and by comparison poor sales.

 

SK Hynix and Samsung have reported huge losses the past quarter.

 

2 hours ago, minervx said:

Hard drives also have a higher failure due to moving parts

True, though having read about various SSD failures here & elsewhere, I get the impression that with SSDs there's less warning signs before there's singificant data loss or drive failure.

[Tomsta]

On 7/10/2023 at 4:40 AM, Lurking said:

Get a PCIe adapter to add m.2 to PCI slots. Don't waste money on SATA, they cost as much as m.2 these days plus unwieldy cables and slow speed 

You mean something like this?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sabrent-NVMe-PCIe-aluminum-EC-PCIE/dp/B084GDY2PW/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=PCIe+M.2+Adapter&qid=1689187297&sr=8-4

Filled with an appropriate SSD. Do they require separate drivers or just plug and play?

[Lurking]

5 hours ago, Tomsta said:

You mean something like this?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sabrent-NVMe-PCIe-aluminum-EC-PCIE/dp/B084GDY2PW/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=PCIe+M.2+Adapter&qid=1689187297&sr=8-4

Filled with an appropriate SSD. Do they require separate drivers or just plug and play?

Yes, they just pass through the contacts. They may have a capacitor or so for signal strength. But they have no processor or similar, so no driver. 

 

Most newer MB also support booting from PCIe, but RTFM.

 

Note some SSD need both side heat sinks. So the heatsink supplied may not be good for your drive. But someone else on this forum will be able to advice on specific heatsink much better.