nvme recommendation?

[No Monitor]

I just need a 1TB drive for boot and software.  

 

I've looked at the pinned list, but I'm at a loss for what to search for or go with.  

 

I just need a boot drive to run applications (Chrome, games, etc) off of.  1TB will be plenty for my needs.

 

I'd like something that performs well, has good lifespan and read/write speeds. 

 

$100 max if you please.  Amazon prime as well would be great.

[ewitte]

SN850x is like $90 for 1TB.  I recommend something like this that has DRAM (and is NOT QLC) for an OS drive.  If you want cheaper the 990 EVO is like $70.  Got these numbers from Amazon.

[OddOod]

23 minutes ago, No Monitor said:

read/write speeds

Honestly even a 2.5" SATA SSD has enough read/write speed to be unnoticable in all but the most demanding of situations. Even a HDD is capable of saturating a gigabit connection

[ewitte]

54 minutes ago, OddOod said:

Honestly even a 2.5" SATA SSD has enough read/write speed to be unnoticable in all but the most demanding of situations. Even a HDD is capable of saturating a gigabit connection

There is a lot more to speed than bandwidth.  There isn't really a reason to get a SATA SSD these days.  NVME drives are often cheaper, have way higher IOPS and are bi-directional (SATA can only read or write, not both at the same time).  The HDD will crawl to less than 2MB/s on random IO.

[podkall]

1 hour ago, No Monitor said:

$100 max if you please.  Amazon prime as well would be great.

You can also get 2TB decent drive.

 

for 110$ you can get 2TB: TEAMGROUP MP44L Western Digital Blue SN580 even the max 100$: Patriot P400 Lite Silicon Power UD90

 

1TB NVMEs start at ~50$: Western Digital Black SN770 Acer Predator GM7000 (Acer already DRAM cache NVME, still quite far from your max budget at 1TB)

[OddOod]

17 hours ago, ewitte said:

There is a lot more to speed than bandwidth.  There isn't really a reason to get a SATA SSD these days.  NVME drives are often cheaper, have way higher IOPS and are bi-directional (SATA can only read or write, not both at the same time).  The HDD will crawl to less than 2MB/s on random IO.

Very fair and totally agree. I was being overly pedantic and reading the request as a needing raw seq performance.

[kokosnh]

For 1TB on Amazon, the best ones I see are:

WD SN5000 1TB 63$ or SN580 1TB 60$ ( midrange Dramless TLC ) 

TEAMGROUP Cardea A440 1 TB 84$

( Good TLC DRAM SSD, Phison E18 + 96l TLC micron with heatsink )

Seagate FireCuda 530R 1 TB 85$ 

( Good TLC DRAM SSD, Phison E18 + 162l TLC kioxia ) 

Corsair MP600 PRO LPX 1 TB 90$

( Good TLC DRAM SSD, Phison E18 + 176l TLC micron with heatsink ) 

 

For the 2TB on Amazon:

WD SN580 2TB 110$ 

( midrange Dramless TLC ) 

Crucial T500 2TB 130$ 

( Good TLC DRAM SSD, Phison E25 + 232l TLC micron ) 

Kingston Fury Renegade 2 TB 145$

( Good TLC DRAM SSD, Phison E18 + 176l TLC micron )

 

 

 

[Timme]

WD850x is your best choice under 100$.

[Paul17]

On 4/8/2025 at 3:25 PM, ewitte said:

SN850x is like $90 for 1TB.  I recommend something like this that has DRAM (and is NOT QLC) for an OS drive.  If you want cheaper the 990 EVO is like $70.  Got these numbers from Amazon.

The 990 Evo is DRAM-less, though?   

[Paul17]

On 4/10/2025 at 1:09 AM, kokosnh said:

For 1TB on Amazon, the best ones I see are:

WD SN5000 1TB 63$ or SN580 1TB 60$ ( midrange Dramless TLC ) 

TEAMGROUP Cardea A440 1 TB 84$

( Good TLC DRAM SSD, Phison E18 + 96l TLC micron with heatsink )

Seagate FireCuda 530R 1 TB 85$ 

( Good TLC DRAM SSD, Phison E18 + 162l TLC kioxia ) 

Corsair MP600 PRO LPX 1 TB 90$

( Good TLC DRAM SSD, Phison E18 + 176l TLC micron with heatsink ) 

 

For the 2TB on Amazon:

WD SN580 2TB 110$ 

( midrange Dramless TLC ) 

Crucial T500 2TB 130$ 

( Good TLC DRAM SSD, Phison E25 + 232l TLC micron ) 

Kingston Fury Renegade 2 TB 145$

( Good TLC DRAM SSD, Phison E18 + 176l TLC micron )

 

 

 

The TEAMGROUP Cardea A440 is Dramless, though?   There was a TEAMGROUP Cardea A440 Pro* model - that had DRAM - but, it was discontinued or something?  Anyone know what happened with that?

 

I hope to buy a 1Tb, too - so in a similar boat as the OP - except - in my country - these drives are over $100 - and my choices for drives are the P41 and WD SN850X - I read that the P41 has a history of issues - is that right?    These are around $120-ish.

[Paul17]

Any thoughts on the PNY XLR8 CS3140 1 TB?   I read that the controller might have been changed or some part of the hardware components?   Is that true?

[kokosnh]

43 minutes ago, Paul17 said:

The TEAMGROUP Cardea A440 is Dramless, though? 

The a440 lite is DRAMless, the old a440 is on Phison e18 and 96l TLC micron NAND, and i linked it. 
https://www.techpowerup.com/ssd-specs/teamgroup-cardea-a440-1-tb.d484

 

[kokosnh]

6 minutes ago, Paul17 said:

Any thoughts on the PNY XLR8 CS3140 1 TB

It should be still on Phison e18 and 96/176l TLC micron NAND 

it’s just expensive, there are cheaper Ssd on the same spec 

 

[Paul17]

48 minutes ago, kokosnh said:

It should be still on Phison e18 and 96/176l TLC micron NAND 

it’s just expensive, there are cheaper Ssd on the same spec 

 

How does that compare to the WD SN850X?    The PNY is actually cheaper than the WD right now - which, I find odd, also - but, whatever.... if two ssds are comparable, I might as well buy the cheaper on unless there's an inherent problem (with it) - (e.g. the SK Hynix P41 - and the writes eventually slow down resulting in a slower drive).   

[kokosnh]

10 hours ago, Paul17 said:

How does that compare to the WD SN850X?    The PNY is actually cheaper than the WD right now - which, I find odd, also - but, whatever.... if two ssds are comparable, I might as well buy the cheaper on unless there's an inherent problem (with it) - (e.g. the SK Hynix P41 - and the writes eventually slow down resulting in a slower drive).   

It’s good. Both are top od the pcie 4.0 Ssds. Both have good controller, and NAND. 

PNY is little better with temps. ( i have two of each of them )

[Paul17]

1 hour ago, kokosnh said:

It’s good. Both are top od the pcie 4.0 Ssds. Both have good controller, and NAND. 

PNY is little better with temps. ( i have two of each of them )

Thanks for the info..... however, I noticed the price for me - for the PNY includes $20 negating the cheaper price - therefore, the WD is a bit cheaper $125 vs $131.       Ooops.  

 

Interesting info, though.   

[Paul17]

Any thoughts on the Corsair MP600 Pro LPX (1tb)?   It's the same price as the WD now.   

[kokosnh]

Good TLC DRAM SSD, Phison E18 + 176l TLC micron with heatsink
it’s top of the pcie 4.0 SSD. 

[Paul17]

On 4/12/2025 at 7:55 AM, kokosnh said:

The a440 lite is DRAMless, the old a440 is on Phison e18 and 96l TLC micron NAND, and i linked it. 
https://www.techpowerup.com/ssd-specs/teamgroup-cardea-a440-1-tb.d484

 

It's (Pseudo?) SLC Cache, though, right?   A bit confused about it - I think DRAM cache is probably better?   The Corsair MP600 Pro and WD - are the same price - and the A440 is a bit cheaper than those two but has the 'other type' of Cache.  

[kokosnh]

All current consumer grade SSD TLC and QLC use pseudo-SLC on free space to speed up the write ( usually a dynamic one, that is proportional to free space )

DRAM is used to store the location od the data in the SSD NAND, as SSD use FTL.  They are different things, use together or sometimes not.

 

 

 

[Paul17]

1Tb or 2Tb for OS drive?   I dunno about getting a 2Tb .... although, $/gb might be a bit better, it's still almost $100 more.   

I'll have a 'spare' pcie 3.0 x4 SSD (Dramless) for storage - right now, Windows is on it.   But, I'll re-install Windows onto the new ssd.   I installed Linux on my 2Tb for now - not sure if it's overkill for space for it - but, maybe I only need a 1tb for Windows - since, I'll have the 'extra' 1tb nvme for storage.

Not sure which OS I'll use more - depends on whether the Windows software is 'transferable' - meaning if the Linux version is okay (to use), I will use Linux more often.   

But, in the meantime, I am wondering if I should buy a 1Tb and then think about a 4Tb HDD later on if I need the space.

Work/projects/software:   Video editing - e.g. Davinci Resolve, some AI stuff, Blender etc.  

 

Cheapest 1Tb drives for me:   Corsair MP600 Pro LPX, Seagate Firecuda 530R, WD 850X* (depends if a price match is accepted).  

[Paul17]

On 4/12/2025 at 7:56 AM, kokosnh said:

It should be still on Phison e18 and 96/176l TLC micron NAND 

it’s just expensive, there are cheaper Ssd on the same spec 

 

Sorry, asking you about this ssd, PNY XLR8 CS3140 1 TB, again. 

I understand that this model has had some hardware switches?

I'd want this version, right?:

https://www.techpowerup.com/ssd-specs/pny-xlr8-cs3140-1-tb.d2253

 

It has 2 - the old(er) one is the inferior B27B Flash?

[kokosnh]

In 1TB capacity, the order 96l TLC micron isn't bad ( as controller can have more CE lanes connected, to leverage it, as it’s 8 channel controller ) the different are marginal.

i haven't heard anything on the hardware changes in it. I have two of them in 2TB. It’s good dram TLC Ssd.