Which ssd solid state drive is better. How to choose an SSD drive. Criteria and advice. Common mistakes when using SSD drives
They are the most modern and high-performance data warehouses for computer systems... They offer much higher data transfer rates than traditional ones. hard drives while consuming less energy and having more high level reliability due to the absence of moving parts in the design of the device.
The specs and performance of different SSD models on the market can be quite different, so it is very important to learn as much as possible about SSDs before going to the store for the device.
In this article, we will look at some key functions and how they can affect the performance and cost of SSDs - simple, affordable, and without water. I really hope that this knowledge will help you when choosing an SSD for your computer.
Volume
SSD is not the cheapest pleasure, and the cost of the device increases in direct proportion to its volume. A good drive with a volume of 480-512 GB will cost about $ 200, and a "terabyte" will cost about 500 dollars.
In order to save on unnecessary waste, savvy users have come up with an elementary solution - to use an SSD disk to operate the system, and leave the classic hard disk - HDD for movies, music, photos and other content that takes up the lion's share of disk space.
Thus, it turns out that a bootable SSD drive will provide faster operation of the system, programs and computer games. And the second disk, HDD, will serve as a kind of storage for the rest of the data.
But how much SSD should you choose? Here are my thoughts on this:
- 32 GB: it is hardly suitable for installing an operating system (hereinafter simply - OS) and some undemanding programs. Suitable for work in the office, where they do not use anything except Word and Excel;
- 64 GB: good for installing the OS and most of the software you need to run. Yet again, office option drive;
- 120 GB: great for OS installation and required programs... You can even install a couple of your favorite games for more fast loading the latter;
- 240 GB: great for OS installation, software and games. Most likely long time you will not have problems with insufficient memory, unless, of course, you start cluttering the disc with various multimedia files, such as music and movies. Again, for these purposes it is better to use the second disk - HDD;
- 480+ GB: great for installing OS, software, games, and you can even play a little prank and throw multimedia on a disk.
Something like this I see the volumes of SSD for various purposes that you are pursuing. The sweet spot is, of course, a 240 GB drive. Unless you are an avid gamer who puts another toy every week, then you should consider better options.
Flash memory
Flash memory is another very important parameter that determines the cost of a device, as well as its performance, read speed and durability. And here, in most cases, the choice is between flash memory with two-bit cells - MLC and three-bit - TLC, but what type of memory to choose depends on the tasks for which the SSD is bought.
If you take an SSD as a data storage, then you can safely buy a drive with a TLC flash memory. Such SSDs, for the same cost, will have much more memory than MLC SSDs, but have fewer write cycles.
Accordingly, if you take an SSD to install the system, then it is better to choose MLC. The volume will be smaller, but the number of rewriting cycles is greater. And since on system disk data is constantly updated, then MLC is ideal for a bootable system disk.
There is also a 3D V-NAND flash memory developed by SAMSUNG. The principle of operation is the same MLC and TLC memory, only in a three-dimensional model. The 32-layer design is marketed by SAMSUNG under the marketing name V-NAND, and the MLC V-NAND and TLC V-NAND flash memory is considered more reliable than its classic counterparts.
Interface
If you choose an SSD for permanent use in a computer or laptop, then the connection interface will most likely be Serial ATA (SATA), not USB or PCI Express. Why? Because USB is an order of magnitude slower than SATA, and is only suitable as external storage, and PCIe is an order of magnitude more expensive than SATA, although an order of magnitude faster.
Therefore, if you want to get the "golden mean" in the form of excellent speed and not very high price, then you will need a "SATA III" interface with a bandwidth of 6 Gb / s.
The older "SATA I" and "SATA II" interfaces still have excellent performance, especially when compared to hard drives, but they won't give you the best.
On the other hand, you may have to purchase an SSD with a SATA interface of the first or second generation, if your PC is rather outdated and the motherboard has only SATA connectors of the first or second revision. Although, from a technical point of view, you can take the "troika", since the SATA III interface is backward compatible and will work with previous versions.
To check which version of SATA you have, you need to "google" your motherboard model and look at the specifications on the manufacturer's website. You can find out the model of the motherboard by looking at the name on the board itself or using the standard Windows tools... To do this, open command line(WIN + R -> CMD) and enter the command "wmic baseboard get product" there (without quotes).
By the way, the speed of interfaces is estimated in gigabits per second, while the time for reading and writing to disk is indicated in megabytes per second. To determine the interface restrictions, I have listed the converted values for different SATA versions:
- SATA III (6 Gb / s): 750 MB / s;
- SATA II (3Gbps): 375 MB / s;
- SATA I (1.5 Gb / s): 187.5 MB / s.
Remember that this is the theoretical maximum bandwidth for the various SATA interface standards. The real performance will be slightly lower than these figures. For example, most SATA III SSDs peak between 500 and 600 MB / s, which is about 20-30% below the maximum.
Read / write speed
Read Speed - Determines how long it takes to open or read a file stored on disk.
Write speed is how long it takes to save or write to disk.
These parameters are among the most important technical characteristics in solid state drives, essentially showing the performance of an SSD. The high read speed makes the loading of programs and games faster (as well as the entire operating system as a whole), and the write speed affects tasks such as unpacking files using 7Zip.
Most modern SSDs have read speeds in the range of 500-600 MB / s, but very cheap / old solid state drives cannot boast of such speeds. Therefore, I would advise choosing an SSD with read speeds in this range.
If you compare HDDs and solid state drives, you can see that hard drives are several times slower than SSDs, having a read speed of 128 MB / s and a write speed of 120 MB / s. It is for this reason that when you "switch" from HDD to SSD, you will immediately feel an incredible increase in the system boot speed when you turn on the computer, however, as mentioned a little higher, you will also notice an increase in speed in loading games, opening programs, saving files and so on.
I would like to note that the write speed is not as important as the read speed, and therefore you can sacrifice a weak characteristic for the sake of a stronger parameter if the disk has a good read speed, but a much lower write speed.
Form Factor
The form factor determines the size of the footprint and the mount for the drive. In most system units, the space for the disk drive is made in the 3.5 '' form factor. This is where your computer's hard drive is most likely installed.
As manufacturers are gradually abandoning the 3.5 '' form factor, the vast majority of SSD drives are made in the 2.5 '' form factor. But do not be afraid or wind yourself up, because when it comes to personal computer, then you can easily install a brand new SSD in the system unit instead of 3.5 '' HDD or next to it. To do this, you just need to purchase a special mounting frame (or an adapter, in other words), by placing a 2.5 '' - inch SSD into which you can safely install the latter into a 3.5 '' form factor mount.
But if you are really unbearable, or getting a mounting frame is a problem, then you can screw a 2.5 '' solid state drive onto two bolts out of four. One friend of mine did just that and is happy as an elephant :)
If you plan to install a replacement SSD in your laptop hard disk, you should also be aware of the physical size limitations. For example, 2.5-inch rims are generally available in several height ranges, from the thinner 5mm to the taller one, all the way up to 9.5mm.
If your laptop can only fit a drive with a height of up to 7.5 mm, and you buy a 9.5 mm SSD, then, of course, this drive will not work. The same goes for mSATA and M.2 drives, which are used exclusively in notebooks, ultrabooks and hybrid systems.
Therefore, be careful.
Manufacturer
An SSD is a fairly large (by the standards of PC components) investment, and if you decide to buy, then it is better to do it from a trusted quality brand. An excellent choice would be:
- Samsung is at the forefront of the development, production and sale of solid state drives, capturing 44% of the market for these devices. And this is not surprising, because the company develops SSD from start to finish, which together gives stable work devices and technological progress ahead of many manufacturers in this direction;
- Kingstone - the company does not develop devices at all stages, but works very competently with third-party manufacturers. Products and services of this brand offers market consumers a fairly flexible choice of high-quality SSD models, which made it possible for Kingstone to gain a foothold in the market of this segment;
- Crucial (Micron) and SanDisk are excellent choices as they offer quality, reliable, and speedy products.
Buying an SSD from a no-name manufacturer is a risky move, especially if the product's price tag is suspiciously low compared to similar drives from competitors. Using such a product, you can burn yourself great if something suddenly happens to the system or personal data.
As "P.S .:"
On this, perhaps, we will finish. You could, of course, name a dozen more different parameters that would give some flexibility in the question of which SSD to choose, but I think that I have already outlined the most important thing in this article, and everything else is quite secondary characteristics that are clear to the average user. will not bring in, but only create, as they say, a mess in the head.
Happy shopping, thanks for reading to the end! Hope you enjoyed it;)
If you collect powerful computer or if you want to speed up the old one, then an SSD will come in handy. Finally, the cost of these drives has dropped so much that they can be considered as a reasonable alternative to hard disk drives (HDDs).
The SSD features listed below will help you choose the best drive that is compatible with your computer and meets your needs.
1. Which form factor to choose: SSD 2.5 ″, SSD M.2 or another
SSD 2.5 ″
This form factor is the most common. The SSD looks like a small box that resembles an ordinary hard drive. SSD 2.5 ″ is the cheapest, but at the same time their speed is enough for most users.
2.5 ″ SSD compatibility with computers
This SSD form factor can be installed in any desktop or laptop computer that has a free 2.5-inch drive bay. If your system only has room for an old 3.5 "hard drive, you can fit a 2.5" SSD into that too. But in this case, look for an SSD model that comes with a special latch.
Like modern HDDs, a 2.5 ″ SSD is connected to the motherboard using the SATA3 interface. This connection provides throughput up to 600 MB / s. If you have an older motherboard with a SATA2 connector, you can still plug in a 2.5 ″ SSD, but the storage bandwidth will be limited. old version interface.
SSD M.2
More compact form factor, due to which it is suitable even for extremely thin ones, in which there is no room for a 2.5 ″ SSD. It looks like an oblong stick, it is installed not in a separate compartment of the case, but directly on the motherboard.
To connect to the board, each M.2 drive uses one of two interfaces: SATA3 or PCIe.
PCIe is several times faster than SATA3. If you choose the first one, then it is worth considering a few more things: the version of the interface and the number of lines connected to the connector for data transmission.
- How newer version PCIe, the higher the bandwidth (baud rate) of the interface. There are two versions: PCIe 2.0 (up to 1.6 GB / s) and PCIe 3.0 (up to 3.2 GB / s).
- The more data lines are connected to the SSD connector, the higher its bandwidth is. Maximum amount There are four lines in SSD M.2, in this case, in the description of the drive, its interface is referred to as PCIe x4. If there are only two lines, then - PCIe x2.
M.2 SSD Compatibility with Computers
Before purchasing an M.2 SSD, you need to make sure it will fit your motherboard. To do this, you must first check the physical and then the software compatibility of the connector on the drive with the slot on the board. Then you need to find out the length of the drive and compare it with the allowable length of the socket allocated for M.2 in your system.
1. Physical compatibility of interfaces
Each connector on the motherboard for connecting M.2 drives has a special cutout (key) of one of two types: B or M. At the same time, the connector on each M.2 drive has two B + M notches at once, less often only one of two keys: B or M.
You can connect to the B-connector on the board with a B-connector. To the M-slot, respectively, a drive with a M. SSD type connector, the connectors of which have two M + B cutouts, are compatible with any M.2 slots, regardless of the keys in the latter.
M.2 SSD with B + M key (upper) and M.2 SSD with M key (lower) / www.wdc.com So, first make sure your motherboard has an M.2 SSD slot at all. Then find out the key of your connector and select the drive, the connector of which is compatible with this key. Key types are usually indicated on connectors and slots. In addition, you can find all the necessary information in the documents for the motherboard and drive.
2. Logical compatibility of interfaces
For an SSD to fit your motherboard, it is not enough to take into account the physical compatibility of its connector with the connector. The point is that the drive connector may not support the logical interface (protocol) that is used in the slot of your board.
Therefore, when you understand the keys, find out which protocol is implemented in the M.2 connector on your board. It can be SATA3 and / or PCIe x2 and / or PCIe x4. Then choose an M.2 SSD with the same interface. Check the device documentation for the supported protocols.
3. Dimension compatibility
Another nuance that affects the compatibility of the drive with motherboard, this is its length.
In the specifications of most motherboards, you can find the numbers 2260, 2280 and 22110. The first two digits in each of them indicate the supported width of the drive. It is the same for all M.2 SSDs and equals 22 mm. The next two digits are the length. Thus, most boards are compatible with 60, 80 and 110 mm drives.
Three M.2 SSD drives of different lengths / www.forbes.com Before purchasing M.2, be sure to check the supported length of the drive, which is indicated in the documents for the motherboard. Then choose one that matches this length.
As you can see, the M.2 compatibility issue is very confusing. Therefore, just in case, consult the sellers on this matter.
Less popular form factors
Your computer case may not have a 2.5 ”SSD bay, and your motherboard will not have an M.2 slot. The owner of a thin laptop may face such an atypical situation. Then for your system you need to choose SSD 1,8 ″ or mSATA - check in the documents for your computer. These are rare form factors that are more compact than a 2.5 ”SSD, but are inferior in data transfer speed to M.2 drives.
Plus, Apple's thin laptops may not support traditional form factors either. In them, the manufacturer installs a proprietary SSD format, the characteristics of which are comparable to M.2. So if you have thin laptop with an apple on the lid, check the supported SSD type in the documentation for your computer.
External SSD
Besides the internal ones, there are also external drives. They vary greatly in shape and size - choose the one that is most convenient for you.
As for the interface, they connect to computers via USB port... For full compatibility, make sure the port on your computer and the drive connector support the same USB standard. The fastest data exchange rates are provided by the USB 3 and USB Type-C specifications.
2. Which memory is better: MLC or TLC
According to the number of bits of information that can be stored in one flash memory cell, the latter is divided into three types: SLC (one bit), MLC (two bits) and TLC (three bits). The first type is relevant for servers, the other two are widely used in consumer drives, so you have to choose from them.
MLC memory is faster and more durable, but more expensive. TLC is correspondingly slower and withstands fewer rewrite cycles, although the average user is unlikely to notice the difference.
TLC memory is cheaper. Choose it if economy is more important to you than speed.
The description of the drive can also indicate the type of mutual arrangement of memory cells: NAND or 3D V-NAND (or just V-NAND). The first type implies that the cells are located in one layer, the second - in several layers, which allows you to create an SSD of increased capacity. According to the developers, the reliability and performance of 3D V-NAND flash memory is higher than that of NAND.
3. Which SSD is faster
In addition to the type of memory, other characteristics, such as the model of the controller installed in the drive and its firmware, also affect the performance of an SSD. But these details are often not even mentioned in the description. Instead, endpoints of read and write speed appear, which are easier for the buyer to navigate. So, choosing between two SSDs, all other things being equal, take the drive whose declared speeds are higher.
Remember that the manufacturer only indicates theoretically possible speeds. In practice, they are always lower than those stated.
4. How much storage is right for you?
Of course, one of critical characteristics when choosing a drive, its volume is. If you buy an SSD, a 64GB device is sufficient to make it a fast operating system. If you are going to install games on an SSD or store on it large files, then choose the volume that suits your needs.
But keep in mind that storage capacity greatly affects its cost.
Buyer's checklist
- If you need storage for office tasks or watching movies, choose a 2.5 ″ or M.2 SSD with SATA3 interface and TLC memory. Even a budget SSD like this will run much faster than a conventional hard drive.
- If you are engaged in or other tasks for which it is critically important high performance drive, opt for an M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD with MLC memory.
- Please carefully check the compatibility of the drive with your computer before purchasing. If in doubt, consult your dealer.
We'll show you the best external SSD drives in different price categories and explain when you are better off using a disk or USB stick.
Faster, safer, quieter
When choosing between the usual external hard disk or an external solid-state drive, the same arguments should be taken into account as when buying storage for installation inside the case: an SSD is faster, quieter and more reliable. Manufacturers of "traditional" hard drives continue to improve their "dinosaurs", but this technology has approached the limits of its physical capabilities. However, there are still two compelling reasons for choosing a regular hard drive: price and capacity. The maximum volume of SSD disks is currently limited to 2 TB, and this option will cost a lot of money - almost 60 thousand rubles. HDD provides a ratio of 4 rubles per 1 GB, and its volume can reach 5 TB. For example, Toshiba Canvio Desk 5TByte costs 11.5 thousand rubles.
External SSD drives are, of course, very a good option for data storage, and it may be of interest not only to fans of self-assembly of computers. For example, for those who use a portable version of Windows, such a device is very suitable. Plus, an external SSD can make good - and very quiet - companionship to your TV whenever you want to watch a video on it.
But SSDs have competitors - USB sticks, since they are even smaller, the same qualities of mobility, and their maximum volume is constantly growing. Currently, we consider the volume of 128 GB as the boundary to which it is worth giving preference to a USB flash drive.
Giant size: Samsung T3 Portable
Up to 2 TB: Samsung T3 Portable ranges from 250 GB to 2 TB Samsung also has a lot to offer in terms of external SSDs, including the flagship T3 Portable device. If money does not matter to you, you can choose the Samsung T3 Portable with a volume of 2 TB, which costs 57.5 thousand rubles. As an alternative, there are options with a volume of 250 GB (about 9.5 thousand rubles) and 1 TB (about 29 thousand rubles).
The 51g T3 SSD over USB 3.1 can pump a whopping 450MB / s. But the presence of USB 3.1 is not a prerequisite for operation: this external drive works with both USB 3.0 and old USB ports 2.0. However, USB 2.0 connections should be avoided, as this standard will significantly slow down the performance of the T3.
Optionally, you can encrypt the external drive with 256-bit AES. There are two more features. First of all, you don't have to be too protective of the disc - it is protected from falls from a height of 2 meters. Secondly, there is an Android application with which the device is docked with some smartphones and tablets.
Inexpensive Purchase: Intenso Portable SSD
The 128GB Intenso Portable SSD model is your low-cost ticket to the world of external SSDs The world of external SSDs doesn't start with expensive giant drives. A good buy is an Intenso Portable SSD with a volume of 128 GB and a cost of 4 thousand rubles. When connected via a USB 3.0 port, this drive can transfer up to 320MB / s (read). There is a drawback: the write performance is very low - only 70 MB / s.
Many hard drives in our rating have much faster write speeds. At the same time, Intenso, of course, is silent, and with a weight of only 31 grams and a convenient form factor (format - 1.8 inches), it can accompany its owner almost everywhere. By the way, there is a 256 GB model, which has a slightly higher write speed - up to 100 MB / s.
Since there is a tough competition in the “128 GB” dimension, we must mention USB flash drives. For example, the volume of the SanDisk Cruzer Extreme Pro is the same 128 GB, but it is significantly faster when writing (226 MB / s) and when reading the data transfer rate is not the lowest (265 MB / s). Plus, a compact USB stick costs half the price of an external SSD.
Value for money: 256 GB model
Recommended: SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable 256GB is a great choice Of course, you have to ask yourself the question - what will you use the external drive for? Which purchase would be rational? The various models currently offer a storage capacity of 256 GB. Of course, more space is better, but if you stop at 256 GB, then you can save a lot of data on it, and at a price of about 8 thousand rubles. will not make a big hole in the budget.
For example, SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable SSD, Transcend ESD400 or Samsung T1 Portable are good purchases. T1, the predecessor of the aforementioned T3, compared to the newer model, not only by 2 thousand rubles. cheaper, but also somewhat more compact. In addition, its speed indicators are almost the same, and the T1 also has an encryption function.
You can learn more about the advanced models of SSD-drives in the material "".
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Installing the best SSD on your computer is easy and quick way improve the performance of your PC over a traditional hard drive. Here's our pick of the best SSDs for gaming, so you can get away with noodles from sales consultants and get the most out of your pc.
SSDs are no longer just the preserve of the PC gaming elite - even the best SSDs are now more affordable than ever. In addition, new technologies are being developed that make them run faster and also provide more powerful and affordable SSD capabilities.
Glossary of SSD Terms
There are so many different technologies, interfaces and SSD protocols, which complicate the choice for the average buyer. So, now we have selected the top drives to help you find the best SSD for you.
The best SSD drives for comfortable gaming:
Samsung 960 EVO 500GB
Controller: Polaris | Memory: Samsung 3-bit MLC | Socket: M.2 (NVMe)
Approx. $ 234 / £ 212
When it comes to achieving a combination of speed, capacity, and cost, it's nearly impossible to beat Samsung's mainstream PCIe SSD. The 960 EVO is an outstanding piece of silicon for storage and represents the pinnacle of all SSD drives today. The 1TB version can still be quite expensive and will cost you $ 480 (£ 401).
The main choice for SSD is disk space volume of 500 GB. This is enough for Windows installations and most regularly games from your Steam library, and it is much more acceptable price... The Samsung 960 EVO 500GB is available for around $ 240 (£ 212).
TurboWrite technology means that its TLC V-NAND can often operate at the same levels as the more expensive type of SLC memory, thanks to some dynamic caching algorithms. And this means that it can outperform most professional discs in real time and in synthetic tests without any problems.
It's worth noting here, however, that this is an M.2 SSD, which means that you either need to have an M.2 socket on your motherboard or use an expansion card adapter and plug it into a spare PCIe slot. Sometimes there may be problems with loading the OS from adapters, especially on old motherboards, so this must be borne in mind. But if your hardware is more or less new, you shouldn't pay attention to it.
Samsung is at the top of the solid state drive world and that makes the 960 EVO best SSD in order to start playing games and squeeze everything out of them right now.
Controller: Silicon Motion SM2260 | Memory: Intel 3D TLC | Socket: M.2 PCIe
Approx. $ 219 / £ 161
Intel's 600p SSD is a pretty interesting SSD drive. Intel is usually focused on the production of highly specialized, high value and high performance parts, despite this SSD 600p is aiming for a more mainstream market. It is packed with a cheaper controller and TLC memory to make it one of the most affordable PCIe drives today. It may not be the fastest, but a pretty promising solid state drive. Great little entry-level NVMe SSD.
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
Approx. USD 160 / GBP 138
I recommend the 2-year-old SSD, which is pretty good these days and shows great results. When it comes to SATA connections, the limits have long been reached. The interface has a theoretical maximum of 600 MB / s, and modern 2.5-inch SSDs. So while it's old-fashioned right now, the 850 EVO is still around the best, with a reasonable price tag.
Approx. $ 195 / £ 161
Previous versions of Kingston HyperX SATA drivers used the slower SandForce controller, but later Savage drives have a more powerful Phison memory controller that can dramatically improve performance on incompressible (video and graphics) data as well as 4k random read / write speeds. -files are a good indicator of the overall responsiveness of the OS in standard use. Hyperx savage is a very capable SSD, with an excellent price tag.
Controller: Samsung Polaris | Memory: Samsung 2-bit MLC | Socket: M.2 (NVMe)
Approx. $ 587 / £ 489
If the Samsung 960 EVO can pass nearly the same synthetic tests as the 960 Pro, why would you waste the extra money? There is no need for a pro-tier SSD for most users, but if you want the fastest SSD, then the 960 Pro will be one of them. The EVO is undoubtedly fast in synthetic testing, but it uses some tricks to get there, while the more powerful MLC memory in the Pro is a little too raw in its raw state without any extra magic. software breaks all tests.
The 960 Pro comes with a full five-year warranty and twice the runtime of the EVO. If you have a serious workhorse that is constantly overwhelmed with large amounts of data, you should choose the reliability of the 960 Pro.
The Pro is also clearly faster in our real-life file transfer testing, tossing our 30GB folder of mixed files about 15 seconds faster than its little brother.
For the majority of PC gamers, the Samsung SSD has really taken its toll. If you still think you need a PRO or EVO take a look at the tests below.
Controller: Intel NVMe | Memory: Intel MLC | Socket: PCIe (NVMe)
Approx. $ 425 / £ 365
When Intel first ditched the SSD 750, it lost the lead. While still competitive, write performance is half that of Samsung's latest 960-inch drives, which knocked it out in second place. However, its 4x random speed is still the best in the business, making it a very responsive SSD, and the 400GB version really borders on affordable prices right now.
Controller: Marvell 9187 | Memory: SanDisk MLC | Socket: SATA (AHCI)
Approx. $ 240 / £ 200
It may seem a little wrong to recommend this product as “ high class”, But despite its relative age, the SanDisk Extreme Pro is one of the most powerful SSDs you'll find. It has decent levels of overall storage performance, slightly lower than the Samsung 850 Pro. Even when you seriously clog the disc big amount data, it will still run at the same speed, making it the best SATA drive for heavy workloads. Have you ever noticed how your system slows down when downloading games from Steam to your boot disk? Not if you are using Extreme Pro. And that's not a bad price for such a solid SSD.
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
Controller: Samsung MEX | Memory: Samsung 3-bit MLC | Socket: SATA (AHCI)
Approx. $ 95 / £ 85
Because their SSD components are made in-house - from memory to cache to controller software - Samsung can be incredibly aggressive on price. And that, in turn, means that their lower bandwidth drives are some of the cheapest, as well as the fastest, solid state drives. Samsung really is in all sectors, making their 850 EVO easily the best budget SSD out there.
The 250GB EVO doesn't quite match the speed of its high-powered siblings, sitting below the 500MB / s read and below 400MB / s write, but it still remains strong when it comes to 4 random reads / write drive. This means it still responds well as an SSD when it comes to general use, even though it is slightly slower at handling large files.
HyperX Savage 240GB
Controller: Phison S10 | Memory: Toshiba MLC | Socket: SATA (AHCI)
Approx. $ 120 / £ 99
The HyperX Savage is a great drive in this market, with a price tag of over $ 100, delivering impressive performance in both sequential and 4x random testing. By over-provisioning the Phison controller, you lose a little more storage space due to the base 256GB NAND memory inside, but what is 10GB.
Everything you need to know about testing
We measure SSD performance in several ways. Manufacturers will always quote peak sequential read / write speeds for their drives, but often some of the drives barely match the average performance we get in benchmarking. In our testing, we measure as maximum speeds read / write using compressible data using ATTO benchmarks and average performance with incompressible data with AS SSD.
SSD memory controllers often use memory compression algorithms to increase file processing time, but if they encounter file types they cannot compress (if they are already compressed, such as video and audio files), performance can slow down dramatically. This was the biggest problem with the previously ubiquitous SandForce controller. However, modern controllers have less of a problem with incompressible data.
We also test random 4k read / write performance this disk... Tiny 4kb files represent a constant read and write of your disk drives that work for the entire life of your system, a general service that the operating system loves to receive. How faster drive can handle these tiny files, the more responsive they will feel during day to day use.
How to choose an SSD
The best solid state drives have revolutionized the hard drive market, delivering faster data transfer speeds every year, demanding technological innovation from chip designers, manufacturers motherboards and interface designers.
The first thing to talk about when you are looking to buy an SSD is capacity. All SSDs will be faster than the spinning mechanical drives of a standard hard drive, but the ol hard drive still has the advantage that it comes in huge sizes for small amounts. And games, applications and other resources are only growing, requiring large volumes of disks.
For this reason, I would say that for any SSD less than 240GB, it is a waste of money. With games like Doom and Hitman, which are 72GB and 61GB respectively. You can only get yours operating system and possibly four games on your fast boot drive. Ideally, you want as much free space as possible.
To select a high-speed drive, you need to know how they and their memory controllers work. SSDs are mainly composed of NAND flash memory chips (where storage takes place), a DRAM memory chip, and a memory controller (brain).
Most memory controllers do do well at multithreading, so the more NAND chips connected to a multichannel memory controller, the faster the drive can intercept data. With high-capacity drives, where there are more NAND chips, that will be faster.
SATA or PCIe?
One of the most popular questions is what to choose - you can take standard disk SATA based or choose one of the new fangled PCIe based M.2 NVMe options?
SATA interface Is the main connection that your hard drives have been connected to for years and has barely evolved. The SATA interface has been redesigned to meet the theoretical 600MB / s limit. At a time when it seemed to be fast, doubling the previous speed, but the performance of the SSD grew rapidly to reach that limit, thus rejecting the SATA interface.
Thus, the upper echelons of the SSD market have moved to the higher bandwidth offered by the PCIe interface. Unfortunately, they were still associated with the AHCI (Extended Host Controller Interface) protocol, a set of commands for each storage device.
PCIe SSDs using the AHCI protocol and still have to be started via a lot of legacy commands designed to rotate hard drives. This takes a whole bunch of processing cycles away, and means that it has a response until commands have been processed and is largely ignored before it can actually do anything. That's why new protocol was desperately needed for the advancement of solid state drives. Thus, a non-volatile transfer (NVMe) protocol was obtained, built from the ground up specifically to take advantage of solid state media. NVMe has about a third of the number of instructions on the stack, freeing up compatible SSDs to take advantage of the full bandwidth offered by the PCIe interface.