[SOLVED] Best choices for this drive setup? (M.2 boot, M.2 gaming, HDD general)

[KasperSwag1001]

I am planning to have a PC setup that includes a small boot drive (256GB), a gaming M.2, and a HDD for general purpose. I already have a Barracuda 4TB, but I am wondering what the best choices are for the Gaming M.2 and the boot M.2.
I have looked at the KC3000 and thought it could be good for the gaming M.2, are there some better options for it?

 

[USAFRet]

What motherboard do you have?


Look for reliability and warranty, not "performance".

There is little performance difference between the various flavors of SSD.

There IS a difference if you need to get it replaced.
Don't buy junk.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YoRKQy-UO4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9LyNXpsOo

 

[KasperSwag1001]

What motherboard do you have?


Look for reliability and warranty, not "performance".

There is little performance difference between the various flavors of SSD.

There IS a difference if you need to get it replaced.
Don't buy junk.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YoRKQy-UO4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9LyNXpsOo

I have the TUF Gaming Z590-Plus motherboard. Sorry, but I am quite new to storage in general, I only know to look at warranty and the TBW. And for that I thought the KC3000 was pretty good, with 5 years warranty and 1600TB durability. Do you know some good alternatives for it, or is it decent for its price?

 

[USAFRet]

I have the TUF Gaming Z590-Plus motherboard. Sorry, but I am quite new to storage in general, I only know to look at warranty and the TBW. And for that I thought the KC3000 was pretty good, with 5 years warranty and 1600TB durability. Do you know some good alternatives for it, or is it decent for its price?

I wouldn't buy a Kingston, just on principle.
Some years ago, they did a bit of a bait and switch.
New drive comes out, send them for reviews.
"Hey, its great!!"
Then, change the internals, and now its a slower drive. Keeping the same part number and SKU.
People going by the initial reviews are misled.

Given the plethora of other manufacturers that did not do that, Kingston is off my Buy list.

"TBW" is sort of irrelevant. Unless you're using this in a data center, highly unlikely you'd get within 20% of that TBW number before you swapped it out due to size.

Samsung 970 EVO Plus is a good choice.
And consider a 512GB rather than a 256GB for the OS drive.

 

[KasperSwag1001]

I wouldn't buy a Kingston, just on principle.
Some years ago, they did a bit of a bait and switch.
New drive comes out, send them for reviews.
"Hey, its great!!"
Then, change the internals, and now its a slower drive. Keeping the same part number and SKU.
People going by the initial reviews are misled.

Given the plethora of other manufacturers that did not do that, Kingston is off my Buy list.

"TBW" is sort of irrelevant. Unless you're using this in a data center, highly unlikely you'd get within 20% of that TBW number before you swapped it out due to size.

Samsung 970 EVO Plus is a good choice.
And consider a 512GB rather than a 256GB for the OS drive.

Sounds good. Do you have some recommendations for the OS drive? I can see that the 970 EVO Plus has a 500GB option. Would you say getting a 970 EVO Plus for both the OS drive and the game drive would be a good choice?

 

[USAFRet]

Sounds good. Do you have some recommendations for the OS drive? I can see that the 970 EVO Plus has a 500GB option. Would you say getting a 970 EVO Plus for both the OS drive and the game drive would be a good choice?

Yes.
500GB for the OS drive, the other one...whatever size meets your budget and space needs.

 

[Inthrutheoutdoor]

And stay away from all of the super el-cheapo, no-name, bottom-of-the-barrel, DRAM-less p.o.s drives....

They may save you a few $$ up front, but will cause you moar headaches & frustration in the end....

I would stick with WD, Sammy, Crucial, Micron (always my top 4 choices for any SSD/m.2) regardless of size or intended uses

 

[Bob.B]

Sounds good. Do you have some recommendations for the OS drive? I can see that the 970 EVO Plus has a 500GB option. Would you say getting a 970 EVO Plus for both the OS drive and the game drive would be a good choice?

I don't know what games your planning on storing but you might want to take a look at sizes of these games.

Some can be whoppers.