[SOLVED] Are inland professional SSDs legit?

[tr4405]

Here’s one Inland Professional 512GB SSD 3D TLC NAND SATA III 6Gb/s 2.5" 7mm Internal Solid State Drive (512GB) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088KLZKPQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_Y6N6BH9PYGZNEXB8ANT8?psc=1

From what I can tell they are MicroCenters house brand. You can find these drives in the actual store,their online store,Amazon, and a few other websites. It posts decent read speeds. 520 MB/s read and I think 490 MB/s write. But a big red flag is how cheap it is. Could the cheap cost be due to the fact that it’s only 512 GB and is DRAM-less? I hope this isn’t a case of buyers finding out it’s just a bunch of SD cards or USB memory sticks glued onto a SSD board.

 

[mdd1963]

I've not read anything negative about them, i.e., no reports of them being slow, cacheless, etc..

As MC often has such great pricing, you might indeed find them shockingly low-priced...

 

[logainofhades]

Yes, that is Microcenter's house brand. They are ok drives. I have a sata one in my secondary rig, with no issues to date.

 

[fzabkar]

I think that the cheaper SSDs are more likely to use seconds quality NAND flash. If the NAND chips are rebranded, then that would be a red flag for me. But how do you tell without opening them up?

 

[Maxxify]

They are just a BOM reseller - they license a Phison controller, get a company to place the DRAM and NAND, then they sell it in their stores. Pretty much any company that is not vertically-integrated (makes their own flash) does the same thing. There is sometimes some quality variance with less-reputable brands out of China, but Inland is pretty good in NA.

 

[logainofhades]

I think that the cheaper SSDs are more likely to use seconds quality NAND flash. If the NAND chips are rebranded, then that would be a red flag for me. But how do you tell without opening them up?

Microcenter would not tarnish its good reputation, like that. This item is being sold by Microcenter, through Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/INLAND/page/D740DF98-7AFA-4935-8BE8-0CB1C88D1D3C?ref_=ast_bln

 

[fzabkar]

Selling through Amazon is no guarantee of quality. For example, I can point to a thread where an Amazon vendor sold fake WD Gold HDDs.

That said, if Maxxify vouches for Inland/MicroCenter, then that's good enough for me.

 

[tr4405]

They are just a BOM reseller - they license a Phison controller, get a company to place the DRAM and NAND, then they sell it in their stores. Pretty much any company that is not vertically-integrated (makes their own flash) does the same thing. There is sometimes some quality variance with less-reputable brands out of China, but Inland is pretty good in NA.

I’m thinking of using it for a budget PC build. But my PC is only SATA II. What speeds would I get with it?

 

[USAFRet]

They're OK...nothing special. Microcenter house brand.
Price is nothing spectacular.

The linked Inland, $55
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088KLZKPQ

Crucial MX500, 500GB, $60
https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX500-500GB-NAND-Internal/dp/B0786QNS9B

 

[Maxxify]

That said, if Maxxify vouches for Inland/MicroCenter, then that's good enough for me.

I'm not sure who they contract for the drives. HP and now Acer use BiWin, for example. I could probably find out and may have even come across it and just forgot. However, it is superior to something like KingDian for example.

From AnandTech's recent review of the Performance Plus:

"The Inland brand is owned by the parent company of American retailer Micro Center. Most or all Inland-branded SSDs are simply Phison reference designs with little or no customization beyond cosmetics. Inland SSDs are frequently great value options—especially for Micro Center's in-store only deals, but even their online prices tend to be very competitive. Part of the discount comes from their tendency toward shorter warranty periods: the Inland Performance Plus has only a three year warranty despite being a high-end flagship model."

 

[Maxxify]

I’m thinking of using it for a budget PC build. But my PC is only SATA II. What speeds would I get with it?

Sequentially? SATA II speeds.

 

[Bob.B]

I’m thinking of using it for a budget PC build. But my PC is only SATA II. What speeds would I get with it?

Sata 2 spec is 300MB/s.
I'll guess the max you will see is 250/260MB/s.

 

[logainofhades]

Any decent Sata III ssd should fully saturate a Sata II bus.