DirectStorage progresses. GPU decompression incoming…
Are you looking for price or performance? For value, I’m seeing decent SSDs on Slickdeals drop as low as about $130 for 2TB for a PCIx3 m.2.
For performance, I just did a bunch of research for my build and it looks like the best option is the WD Black SN850X, an x4 m.2 drive. SK Hynix P41 is right up there with it, but I was looking for a 4TB drive and it maxes out at 2TB.
I’m sure there are storage-centric sites that get into detailed nitty gritty about IOPS and MTBF and all that kinda stuff, but I just checked articles on Toms Hardware, PC World, and PCMag and the SN850x was at the top or #2 on all their lists.
thanks! I’ve used WD before with no issues and 2TB is enough for me this go-round, so I guess I’ll go with them again.
Has anyone had any experience with Silicon Power? They’re a Taiwanese company that does a lot of memory stuff, and they’ve got a line of budget SSDs. But this is pretty insane. 2TB Gen 4 NVMe for $119?!?!
Silicon Power UD90 SSD Review: New Value Champion | Tom's Hardware.
Techpowerup likes it, too.
It uses the Phison E21T, which is DRAM-less. Basically an amped up bargain model. Seems like a really good deal.
TeamGroup and Silicon Power are two of the cheapest brands I’d get before descending into sketchy untested Chinese brands on Amazon. I have two SP drives and one TG. They sell micro SD cards on Amazon too intermingled with the impossibly cheap weird Chinese brands like Netac, TimeTec and Gigastone.
I got a 2TB DRAM less TG a few weeks ago for $140 CAD and it uses TLC not QLC flash.
As this is posted, Samsung’s got deals on SSDs on Amazon.
980 Pro (really fast) 2TB m.2 is $179 today.
One thing I remember about the SP, Patriot and TeamGroup low-end SSDs is some of them might have low TBW ratings.
I picked up a second, 2TB, drive on Black Friday and it really is a nice upgrade. It sounds silly to say 1TB was limiting but I’ve reinstalled Cyberpunk, W3, WD Legion, Breakpoint, Wildlands, Odyssey and Valhalla just to be able to cruise around pretty places, and it’s nice to not even have to think about the space.
With PC sales just having had their biggest drop in sales in year-over-year ever, I suspect we’re going to see a lot of deep sales to clear inventory.
Okay, bought a 2TB 980 Pro. Now debating whether it’s worth to get a second one. I do have two NVMe slots.
Depending on your current needs, it might be worth it to wait for the 4 TB SSDs to drop further in price to fill up that last one.
Couldn’t resist. Second 980 Pro arriving on Tuesday. 4 TB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe goodness. I’m thinking I can retire the hard drives and SATA SSD from my tower.
In Canada the 4TB WD Blue has dropped to $309-318 CAD. And 2TB NVme PCIE 4.0 M2 drives are now under $200 CAD.
I think I’m finally ready to get the PS5 SSD :
Microcenter brand that test well and has pretty good to great reviews. 2 TB w/heatsink for $155. The 4tb is $380 but a bit more than I want to spend and overkill most likely…for the PlayStation anyhow.
Avoid Samsung
I’ve had one SSD drive fail out of the 10 or so I’ve owned over the years: A Samsung 860 SATA SSD. SSD failures make you realize the good thing about hard drives – they’re slow, but sometimes data recovery is possible.
Well, my 980 Pros came with the new firmware, so I suspect these are fresh out of the factory. Especially since Amazon and Newegg had been backordered at the time.