Best SSD for storage/gaming

[bh3bh3]

Hi PCGamers. I was wondering what would be the best SSD for my needs. I installed my windows on a Samsung Evo 970 256gb and games on a WD Black 500GB HDD. I would like to upgrade my HDD to a SSD probably 500gb or 1TB.

I have a budget at around $100 and I want to have the best for it. I'll be ordering on Amazon US since I already have an Amazon card. What would you recommend?

Also, if you have discount codes/vouchers that I could use. Thank you.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

The Kingston A2000 1 TB is solid for just over 100, assuming you have a second m2 slot available.

Amazon.com: Kingston 1TB A2000 M.2 2280 Nvme Internal SSD PCIe Up to 2000MB/S with Full Security Suite SA2000M8/1000G: Computers & Accessories

Buy Kingston 1TB A2000 M.2 2280 Nvme Internal SSD PCIe Up to 2000MB/S with Full Security Suite SA2000M8/1000G: Electronics - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Kingston A2000 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSD Review - 8% Faster Thanks to New Firmware

The Kingston A2000 has recently received a firmware update, which makes a big difference in performance. It now rivals the Samsung 970 EVO, at much better pricing. With just $128 for the tested 1 TB version, or 13 cents per GB, the A2000 offers better value than most SSDs on the market.

www.techpowerup.com

 

[bh3bh3]

The Kingston A2000 1 TB is solid for just over 100, assuming you have a second m2 slot available.

Amazon.com: Kingston 1TB A2000 M.2 2280 Nvme Internal SSD PCIe Up to 2000MB/S with Full Security Suite SA2000M8/1000G: Computers & Accessories

Buy Kingston 1TB A2000 M.2 2280 Nvme Internal SSD PCIe Up to 2000MB/S with Full Security Suite SA2000M8/1000G: Electronics - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Kingston A2000 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSD Review - 8% Faster Thanks to New Firmware

The Kingston A2000 has recently received a firmware update, which makes a big difference in performance. It now rivals the Samsung 970 EVO, at much better pricing. With just $128 for the tested 1 TB version, or 13 cents per GB, the A2000 offers better value than most SSDs on the market.

www.techpowerup.com

What do you think about the WD Blue SN550 and the Sabrent Gen 3?

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

As I understand it the Kingston A2000 I mentioned uses TLC DRAM which is more durable then the QLC in the Sabrent Rocket Q drives and it also has a dedicated DRAM cache which means it wont slow down as it fills up, like the WD Blue.

Practically speaking you probably wouldnt notice any difference in a Pepsi challenge, but if theyre the same price I'll take the one with the better numbers 🙂

 

[bh3bh3]

As I understand it the Kingston A2000 I mentioned uses TLC DRAM which is more durable then the QLC in the Sabrent Rocket Q drives and it also has a dedicated DRAM cache which means it wont slow down as it fills up, like the WD Blue.

Practically speaking you probably wouldnt notice any difference in a Pepsi challenge, but if theyre the same price I'll take the one with the better numbers 🙂

Great. Thanks for sharing.

 

[spvtnik1]

I would prioritize storage space over drive speed, as like stated above Kaamos, you're not really going to notice the difference for most applications. NVME is faster than SATA SSD, but in my opinion the form factor is the biggest difference. I wouldn't buy anything under 1TB (seems to be the sweet spot) for SSD secondary storage these days. You'd be surprised how fast that fills up, even if you're JUST gaming. And you also have to consider keeping about 10-15% of the drive space free for operational functions. Unlike a HDD, you can't defragment the drive to magically free up space when you think it's needed (you should actually NEVER defrag an SSD).

 

[bh3bh3]

I would prioritize storage space over drive speed, as like stated above Kaamos, you're not really going to notice the difference for most applications. NVME is faster than SATA SSD, but in my opinion the form factor is the biggest difference. I wouldn't buy anything under 1TB (seems to be the sweet spot) for SSD secondary storage these days. You'd be surprised how fast that fills up, even if you're JUST gaming. And you also have to consider keeping about 10-15% of the drive space free for operational functions. Unlike a HDD, you can't defragment the drive to magically free up space when you think it's needed (you should actually NEVER defrag an SSD).

I was about to buy the SN550 WD Blue but since it has no DRAM I think I should reconsider thanks to Kaamos =) I'll definitely get a 1TB one since I need that huge storage.

 

[Colif]

And you also have to consider keeping about 10-15% of the drive space free for operational functions. Unlike a HDD, you can't defragment the drive to magically free up space when you think it's needed (you should actually NEVER defrag an SSD).

main reason to keep about that free is speed. Once you get below 10% free space on an ssd it will slow down to almost hdd speed in some cases.

I would avoid dramless ones as the main reason to get an ssd is its faster, and dram helps the write rate by concealing the slower memory modules from pc and making it think its faster. Some nvme have a variable cache to write to depending on how much free space you have and drive size

The 970 EVO Plus's write performance varies based on how much data lands in the TurboWrite cache, which is a small section of faster SLC-programmed flash that's used to boost performance. Samsung's EVO Plus has both a default TurboWrite cache capacity, which doesn't change regardless of conditions, and an Intelligent TurboWrite region that varies in size depending on the model and the amount of free space on the drive.

For instance, the 1TB model provides 6GB of TurboWrite capacity. Beyond that, Intelligent TurboWrite steps in and scales up to an additional 36GB if you have enough free space on the drive.

just some website

I have a samsung and used its software to allocate an additional 10% of drive space to error correction etc. I had only planned on a 500gb nvme but got a 1tb model for same price, so I have too much space. I already had a 3tb hdd. I don't use space, having lost a few hdd in a row 14 years ago and being bitten enough. so 3.7tb of space with only 200gb used

not here to convince anyone to change anything, just commenting 🙂

as for defragging ssd, while you shouldn't or don't need to, windows does defrag 1 part of the ssd once a month, but only on C drive. So it won't affect this case - https://www.hanselman.com/blog/the-real-and-complete-story-does-windows-defragment-your-ssd
and windows defrag isn't the same process it used to be, its actually disk management and knows what to do with an ssd, it runs trim