[SOLVED] 4TB vs 2TB M.2 PCle SSD // What's the best 4TB SSD?

[mujmuj]

I already have 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD. But I am considering a bigger SSD because I am running out of space.

1. Are 4TB M.2 PCle SSD better than 2TB ones in terms of specs other than storage volume?

2. What's the best 4TB SSD? This is a simple table I assembled.

	Sabrent	Seagate	Kingston	PNY	Teamgroup
Memory	3D TLC NAND	3D TLC NAND	3D TLC NAND		3D NAND TLC
Interface	PCIe Gen4x4	PCIe Gen4 ×4	PCIe Gen 4.0	PCIe Gen3 x4	PCIe Gen3x4
Max sequential read	7000	7300?	7300	3500	3500
Max sequential write	6600	7300?	7000	3000	2900
TBW	3000TB	1275

I have zero knowledge in computer specs (which means when the number is high, I just guess it's good)

3. Is TBW useful? Good to be high on this?

If yes, then I wish I knew Kingston's TBW.

4. And Kingston's "Interface" is 4, not 4x4. Is that an important drawback?

5. This ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore is the motherboard that I currently have. Does this allow the maximum performance of these SSDs?

 

[USAFRet]

For what use?

 

[Bob.B]

I already have 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD. But I am considering a bigger SSD because I am running out of space.

1. Are 4TB M.2 PCle SSD better than 2TB ones in terms of specs other than storage volume?

2. What's the best 4TB SSD? This is a simple table I assembled.

	Sabrent	Seagate	Kingston	PNY	Teamgroup
Memory	3D TLC NAND	3D TLC NAND	3D TLC NAND		3D NAND TLC
Interface	PCIe Gen4x4	PCIe Gen4 ×4	PCIe Gen 4.0	PCIe Gen3 x4	PCIe Gen3x4
Max sequential read	7000	7300?	7300	3500	3500
Max sequential write	6600	7300?	7000	3000	2900
TBW	3000TB	1275

I have zero knowledge in computer specs (which means when the number is high, I just guess it's good)

3. Is TBW useful? Good to be high on this?

If yes, then I wish I knew Kingston's TBW.

4. And Kingston's "Interface" is 4, not 4x4. Is that an important drawback?

5. This ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore is the motherboard that I currently have. Does this allow the maximum performance of these SSDs?

Your m.2 slots support pcie 3.
No sense paying extra for a pcie 4 ssd as it will run at pcie 3 speed.

As for best that's subjective.
Look at the WD/Samsung/Crucial line up.

 

[hotaru.hino]

1. Are 4TB M.2 PCle SSD better than 2TB ones in terms of specs other than storage volume?

Typically higher capacity meant higher performance, but that only seems to apply to sub 1TB capacity drives. So no, there's nothing better spec-wise about a higher capacity drive other than capacity.

3. Is TBW useful? Good to be high on this?

This is the manufacturer guarantee on how much data you can write to the drive before flash is considered worn out. While yes, higher is better, almost nobody in a consumer setting actually wears out their flash drive. My 500GB 970 Evo reports 14TB has been written to it over the course of 18 months. Samsung guarantees 150TBW. If this rate remains consistent (it won't), I have about 16 years total with this drive. No drive I've owned has come close to even half that time before I let it go.

4. And Kingston's "Interface" is 4, not 4x4. Is that an important drawback?

Typically most NVMe SSDs use 4 lanes, hence the "x4" . Given the bandwidth specs on the website (https://www.kingston.com/en/ssd/gaming/kingston-fury-renegade-nvme-m2-ssd) it's 4 lanes.

5. This ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore is the motherboard that I currently have. Does this allow the maximum performance of these SSDs?

No, not that it really matters unless you're doing constant SSD to SSD transfers.

 

[USAFRet]

This is the manufacturer guarantee on how much data you can write to the drive before flash is considered worn out.

Actually, it is the number at which they no longer provide warranty.
Like age.
And it will age out of the warranty long before it writes out.

And you are absolutely correct in that a regular consumer will never ever see whatever that TBW number is.
600 vs 1500 is irrelevant, if your use over the next decade is only 200.

 

[mujmuj]

Your m.2 slots support pcie 3.
No sense paying extra for a pcie 4 ssd as it will run at pcie 3 speed.

As for best that's subjective.
Look at the WD/Samsung/Crucial line up.

I am willing to upgrade to a new motherboard which supports pcie 4. My current motherboard supports 256GB of RAM. I will look for a motherboard which supports pcie4 and 256GB RAM or more.

WD/Samsung/Crucial don't seem to have 4TB m.2 SSD, no?

 

[mujmuj]

Your m.2 slots support pcie 3.
No sense paying extra for a pcie 4 ssd as it will run at pcie 3 speed.

As for best that's subjective.
Look at the WD/Samsung/Crucial line up.

Where did you find that my motherboard supports only pcie 3, but not 4? I couldn't find it on Amazon product description.

It would be great if I can have a list of motherboard which supports pcie 4. Is there such a thing?

 

[Bob.B]

Where did you find that my motherboard supports only pcie 3, but not 4? I couldn't find it on Amazon product description.

It would be great if I can have a list of motherboard which supports pcie 4. Is there such a thing?

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/D1LM8vMLVUS.pdf
Look at the spec sheet.

 

[Lafong]

My current motherboard supports 256GB of RAM. I will look for a motherboard which supports pcie4 and 256GB RAM or more.

WD/Samsung/Crucial don't seem to have 4TB m.2 SSD, no?

WD does. Don't know about the other 2.

https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-4tb-red-sn700-nvme/p/N82E16820250207?quicklink=true

https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-4tb-black-sn750-nvme/p/N82E16820250180?quicklink=true

Not sure why you are looking for a motherboard that supports more than 256 GB RAM.

 

[mujmuj]

WD does. Don't know about the other 2.

https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-4tb-red-sn700-nvme/p/N82E16820250207?quicklink=true

https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-4tb-black-sn750-nvme/p/N82E16820250180?quicklink=true

Not sure why you are looking for a motherboard that supports more than 256 GB RAM.

Thanks. So it seems WD has 3400 read speed. So I guess choosing between Seagate, Kingston, Sabrent is a good idea? Or is there some other performance criteria that matter more than read/write speed for doing big data analysis?

 

[Lafong]

Unless you have some quite unusual case, factors other than specified read/write speed are likely to be more important when choosing an SSD.

Such as capacity, price, warranty, return privileges with the vendor, customer service issues.

And reliability......which one is that?

Unless you are obsessed with benchmarks and are inclined to use a stopwatch in your daily life.