Question Choosing between several Sub-$50 1TB SSDs as pure game storage

[Cyber_Akuma]

So I noticed that there are some 1TB SSDs on Amazon that have recently gone below $50, and according to CamelCamelCamel these drives were all above $50 before. I know these are not the best drives by any means, but I am looking for a drive that I am going to be exclusively putting just my games from Steam, GoG, Itchio, etc on to move them off of my OS drive (Which is itself a 240GB PNY CS900).

The four drives I found are these:
PNY CS900 1TB (SSD7CS900-1TB-RB)
https://www.amazon.com/PNY-CS900-500GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B07Y5VDNT9/

TEAMGROUP AX2 1TB 3D NAND TLC (T253A3001T0C101)
https://www.amazon.com/TEAMGROUP-AX2-Internal-Compatible-T253A3512G0C101/dp/B08CKFDPJ3

SP 1TB SSD 3D NAND A55 SLC (SP001TBSS3A55S25)
https://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Power-Performance-Internal-SP001TBSS3A55S25/dp/B07B4G19X3/

TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 1TB SLC (T253TZ001T0C101)
https://www.amazon.com/TEAMGROUP-T-Force-Vulcan-Internal-T253TZ001T0C101/dp/B09WMP5B5N/

I have to admit, I am very VERY skeptical of the ones that claim they are SLC, for something this cheap I would be surprised if they aren't even QLC. They are all $44-48. Not really looking to spend much more, only reason I am really considering it is because some are as cheap as $44. Again, they will exclusively just host downloaded games, so having huge write speeds or them not being as reliable as a Samsung (Assuming any of these aren't known to die in just a few months or something) is not important as long as they aren't going to be even worse for even just loading games off of for some reason.

Is anyone familiar with any of these? Any specific one I should get over others?

 

[Eximo]

Far as I know, SLC hasn't been manufactured in roughly a decade outside of specialty use cases. MLC is also pretty much gone.

Both are talking about SLC caching, where it writes a single bit to a multi-bit cell and moves on, then does consolidation later. So if you write a lot to the drive at once it will only go fast for a short period.

I vaguely trust PNY, they used to have some decent budget SATA drives. $45, worth the risk.

 

[Zerk2012]

So I noticed that there are some 1TB SSDs on Amazon that have recently gone below $50, and according to CamelCamelCamel these drives were all above $50 before. I know these are not the best drives by any means, but I am looking for a drive that I am going to be exclusively putting just my games from Steam, GoG, Itchio, etc on to move them off of my OS drive (Which is itself a 240GB PNY CS900).

The four drives I found are these:
PNY CS900 1TB (SSD7CS900-1TB-RB)
https://www.amazon.com/PNY-CS900-500GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B07Y5VDNT9/

TEAMGROUP AX2 1TB 3D NAND TLC (T253A3001T0C101)
https://www.amazon.com/TEAMGROUP-AX2-Internal-Compatible-T253A3512G0C101/dp/B08CKFDPJ3

SP 1TB SSD 3D NAND A55 SLC (SP001TBSS3A55S25)
https://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Power-Performance-Internal-SP001TBSS3A55S25/dp/B07B4G19X3/

TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 1TB SLC (T253TZ001T0C101)
https://www.amazon.com/TEAMGROUP-T-Force-Vulcan-Internal-T253TZ001T0C101/dp/B09WMP5B5N/

I have to admit, I am very VERY skeptical of the ones that claim they are SLC, for something this cheap I would be surprised if they aren't even QLC. They are all $44-48. Not really looking to spend much more, only reason I am really considering it is because some are as cheap as $44. Again, they will exclusively just host downloaded games, so having huge write speeds or them not being as reliable as a Samsung (Assuming any of these aren't known to die in just a few months or something) is not important as long as they aren't going to be even worse for even just loading games off of for some reason.

Is anyone familiar with any of these? Any specific one I should get over others?

I know your looking for sub 50 bucks but I would try to spend a bit more.
https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX500-NAND-SATA-Internal/dp/B078211KBB?th=1

 

[Eximo]

Basically paying for a DRAM cache, which is useful in write speeds. As long term storage drive for mostly reads, I think it would have limited impact. Just take a little longer to install games.

 

[Zerk2012]

I would pay the 17 bucks more just to know I bought a quality drive.

 

[fzabkar]

AISI, you never really know what you are getting.

https://www.techpowerup.com/ssd-specs/pny-cs900-1-tb.d667

The SSD controller is the PS3111-S11-13 from Phison, a DRAM cache is not available. PNY has installed 64-layer TLC NAND flash on the CS900, the flash chips are made by Micron. Please note that this SSD is sold in multiple variants with different NAND flash or controller, which could affect performance. To improve write speeds, a pseudo-SLC cache is used ,,,

This review shows an SSD with Spectek NAND flash:

https://www.hkepc.com/16697/平價砌機之選_PNY_CS900_SATAIII_TLC_SSD

The number on the PCB ("A117011NP002801N") could be a Phison reference circuit, in which case the only real difference between this SSD and a cheapie using the same PCB would be the quality of the NAND flash (and the warranty service).

https://www.google.com/search?q=A117011NP002801N&tbs=isz:m,itp:photo&tbm=isch


FYI, here is how to determine the quality of Spectek NAND flash (Spectek is a consumer oriented Micron brand).

This is a typical chip:

https://file1.hkepc.net/2018/05/source/0314202323139879556.jpg

There is a "superman" logo and 3 lines of part markings:

PFF95​

-6 AL​

1726​

​

The "PFF95" mark can be decoded here:

https://www.spectek.com/menus/mark_code.aspx

So PFF95 is FBNL06B2T1KDUABM4.

This part number can be further decoded here:

https://www.spectek.com/pdfs/SpecTek_pns_Flash.pdf

"-6" is the speed (6 = NV-DDR2 TM6 333MT/s)

"AL" is the grade.

AS = Full Spec for SSD (100%)​

AL = Full Spec for USB/SD and low end SSD (100%)​

AF = Full Spec for low end USB/SD (100%)​

"1726" is probably a YYWW (Year/Week) date code, ie week 26 of 2017

 

[george198011]

I know your looking for sub 50 bucks but I would try to spend a bit more.

Go with samsung.

 

[neojack]

i would take a crucial MX500 they are cheap anyways, and better quality than any drives you mentionned