Question Choosing between these two SSDs ?

[donline]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to choose between these two Samsung SSDs:

Samsung SSD 980

980 PCIe 3.0 NVMe™ 500GB Gaming SSD | Samsung US

Upgrade to the 980 PCIe 3.0 NVMe™ Gaming SSD 500GB for ultra-fast speeds and seamless gameplay. Boost your system—order now!

www.samsung.com

Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus

980 PCIe 3.0 NVMe™ 500GB Gaming SSD | Samsung US

Upgrade to the 980 PCIe 3.0 NVMe™ Gaming SSD 500GB for ultra-fast speeds and seamless gameplay. Boost your system—order now!

www.samsung.com

From what I understand (and I'm a beginner with all of this), the 980 model is DRAM-less but has newer technology (newer controller, bus type and NAND?) but the 970 EVO Plus has DRAM and perhaps reads/writes faster. So which would you say is the best performing RAM? Which would you choose?

Thank you!

 

[Lutfij]

What is the make and model of the motherboard you want to drop the SSD listed above into? Might want to also include the processor as well. FYI, it's not memory, you're referring to storage...I've moved the thread from Memory over to Storage section.

 

[donline]

What is the make and model of the motherboard you want to drop the SSD listed above into? Might want to also include the processor as well. FYI, it's not memory, you're referring to storage...I've moved the thread from Memory over to Storage section.

Thank you Lutfij.
I appreciate you moving the thread (silly me, should have realised it comes under storage!).

Here is the laptop model:

Asus Vivobook E410MA(-BV037TS)
Intel Celeron N4020 (1.1 GHz)
4GB RAM (DDR4)
64GB eMMC
Intel UHD Graphics 605

And here is the output about the motherboard:

description: Motherboard
product: E410MA
vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
physical id: 0
version: 1.0
slot: MIDDLE
*-firmware
description: BIOS
vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
physical id: 0
version: E410MA.203
date: 04/24/2020
size: 64KiB
capacity: 8MiB
capabilities: pci upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer acpi usb smartbattery biosbootspecification uefi

I think this page has some useful spec:

Icecat: open feed with product information, data-sheets for ecommerce.

Icecat: syndicator of product information via global open catalog with more than 17055068 data-sheets & 35185 brands – register (free)

icecat.biz

Thank you for your help.

 

[Lutfij]

Where are you located? How much are you paying for the drives listed above? I'd advise on picking up the cheapest M.2 SSD on the market to get you by. Investing in the latest and greatest might look enticing on paper but in reality you're not going to see all of that speed in daily computing.

 

[donline]

Where are you located? How much are you paying for the drives listed above? I'd advise on picking up the cheapest M.2 SSD on the market to get you by. Investing in the latest and greatest might look enticing on paper but in reality you're not going to see all of that speed in daily computing.

Thank you Lutfij.

Would be ordering in Europe.
These are the two options I was looking at:
https://www.amazon.se/-/en/Samsung-MZ-V8V500BW-M-2-NVMe-PCIe/dp/B08THW4S3T

https://www.amazon.se/-/en/Samsung-Internal-Solid-State-MZ-V7S250/dp/B07MFBLN7K

The pricing is similar so not an issue. Would just like to pick the better performing option (not sure how best to weigh up their specifications, as mentioned in my previous post they have pros/cons it seems with my limited understanding - one big difference being the inclusion/exclusion of DRAM it seems). Can I ask which you would personally go with and why? Thank you.

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[Lutfij]

I'd get the cheapest drive in this shortlist;
https://se.pcpartpicker.com/product...t=price&A=500000000000,22000000000000&t=0&D=1

In fact the ADATA Legend 710 drive comes up as the best option, IMHO for your laptop/netbook.

I wouldn't bother with a Samsung SSD at this moment of time, considering you're paying for performance that will not be taken advantage of due to the specs of your laptop. Had your laptop been of something higher in pedigree, it'd make sense to go with either of the Samsung drives listed above.

 

[donline]

I'd get the cheapest drive in this shortlist;
https://se.pcpartpicker.com/product...t=price&A=500000000000,22000000000000&t=0&D=1

In fact the ADATA Legend 710 drive comes up as the best option, IMHO for your laptop/netbook.

I wouldn't bother with a Samsung SSD at this moment of time, considering you're paying for performance that will not be taken advantage of due to the specs of your laptop. Had your laptop been of something higher in pedigree, it'd make sense to go with either of the Samsung drives listed above.

Thank you very much Lutfij. The pcpartpicker website is great (not seen it before).

Good point about performance. My only other consideration (in terms of products/brands) is reliability and whether the product is more likely to stop functioning (as the OS and all stored personal files would be running from the SSD) - may I ask what are your thoughts on this consideration and choosing between the products/brands?

The pricing difference between the lower-priced products seems very minimal - with ADATA, Kingston and Western Digital being the cheaper options it appears:
https://www.amazon.se/dp/B09YRZHRGM
https://www.amazon.se/dp/B0BBWJH1P8 (PCIe 4.0 if that makes any difference?)
https://www.amazon.se/dp/B09HKG6SDF

Thank you again for your kind support. I'm new to shopping for components, so learning as I go along.

 

[Lafong]

The WD SN 570 is a good drive in its price category. Not sure about the other 2.

I don't think your laptop can take advantage of PCIe 4.0 capability, but it wouldn't make a lot of difference even if it could.

 

[geofelt]

Your question is moot.

There seems to be no storage upgrade available for your laptop.
It would appear that you have some 64gb available for the C drive and an option to add 64gb via an emmc card.

I have a similar lenovo 100s laptop.
It came with 32gb of flash for the C drive, and and I was able to add a 64gb mmc card.
For my purposes traveling it is ok, but the cpu is slow.

If you care about performance, best consider something else.

 

[Corwin65]

Is there even an M.2 slot?

 

[SkyNetRising]

There seems to be no storage upgrade available for your laptop.
It would appear that you have some 64gb available for the C drive and an option to add 64gb via an emmc card.

Asus Vivobook E410MA has M.2 NVME option too.
So NVME M.2 can be installed.

Laptops For Home - All series｜ASUS Global

ASUS laptops are the best laptops for unrivalled mobility, featuring lightweight, toughness, and providing all the power you need for multitasking and media entertainment.

www.asus.com

Obviously between 970 evo and 980 - choose 970 evo.

 

[geofelt]

There seems to be some confusion as to what is the exact laptop and specs.
The link of specs the OP provided in post #3 shows no m.2 capability.

As a suggestion, to the OP, go to the crucial web site and access their upgrade advisor.
It will scan your laptop(whatever it really is) and suggest some ssd and ram upgrades.
You can substitute an equivalent samsung ssd for the crucial suggestion.
Either of your original options will perform the same for all intents and purposes.

I like Samsung for reliability.
I also very much like the simple ssd migration aid that they provide to move your C drive to the ssd.
Instructions and app here:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

semiconductor.samsung.com

 

[Pextaxmx]

I like Samsung for reliability.

not for this round of generation though. I personally would skip Samsung products for now. Micron and WD seem relatively solid.

 

[donline]

not for this round of generation though. I personally would skip Samsung products for now. Micron and WD seem relatively solid.

Thank you Pextaxmx.
Can I ask what you mean by 'not for this round of generation though'? Sorry would just like to understand more

 

[donline]

The WD SN 570 is a good drive in its price category. Not sure about the other 2.

I don't think your laptop can take advantage of PCIe 4.0 capability, but it wouldn't make a lot of difference even if it could.

Thank you Lafong.
Yes good point about the PCIe 4.0.
Thanks for your feedback about the WD product (from what I understand they are generally a solid/reliable brand, and wondered how they generally compare to Kingston).

 

[donline]

Asus Vivobook E410MA has M.2 NVME option too.
So NVME M.2 can be installed.

Laptops For Home - All series｜ASUS Global

ASUS laptops are the best laptops for unrivalled mobility, featuring lightweight, toughness, and providing all the power you need for multitasking and media entertainment.

www.asus.com

Obviously between 970 evo and 980 - choose 970 evo.

Thank you SkyNetRising.
Appreciate you answering specifically about the 970 Evo vs 980. Can I ask why you would choose the 970 Evo over the 980? (From what I understand there are differences in DRAM, bus type, NAND type, controllers and read/write speed).

 

[donline]

There seems to be some confusion as to what is the exact laptop and specs.
The link of specs the OP provided in post #3 shows no m.2 capability.

As a suggestion, to the OP, go to the crucial web site and access their upgrade advisor.
It will scan your laptop(whatever it really is) and suggest some ssd and ram upgrades.
You can substitute an equivalent samsung ssd for the crucial suggestion.
Either of your original options will perform the same for all intents and purposes.

I like Samsung for reliability.
I also very much like the simple ssd migration aid that they provide to move your C drive to the ssd.
Instructions and app here:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

semiconductor.samsung.com

Thank you geofelt.

Yes it looks like the laptop has m.2 capability:
https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/asus/vivobook-e410ma#ssd

Memory for a ASUS - E410MA Laptop - Kingston Technology

Kingston has compatible memory for ASUS - E410MA Laptop

www.kingston.com

Which would you choose between the 970 and 980 models and why? (I am considering these for another laptop too, so this question does not apply to just this basic laptop). Thank you.

 

[Pextaxmx]

Can I ask what you mean by 'not for this round of generation though'?

Their 128 layer and up NAND products had endurance issues and Samsung claims it was fixed by their latest firmware. But it is not 100% clear that the issue was entirely their firmware. There are still reports of early failure with the latest firmware version.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Thank you SkyNetRising.
Can I ask why you would choose the 970 Evo over the 980? (From what I understand there are differences in DRAM, bus type, NAND type, controllers and read/write speed).

One has dram, the other doesn't.
That's the main difference.

 

[geofelt]

I think there may be several variants of the
E410MA laptop.
I would want to be very sure that you do not waste your money
If you have the variant that was in your link in post #3
Open up the laptop and look for the m.2 slot to be certain.
Do not be afraid to do so, you are going to need to do this to upgrade.
There should be some youtube videos around to show you.
For example:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VknI1_fTAoQ


Is there now a hard drive installed for the windows C drive?

As to which of the two m.2 ssd devices, take your pick.
The big benefit comes from using a ssd of any type instead of a hard drive.
Buy the cheaper unit perhaps.
To illustrate how little difference there is, take a look at this video where sata, m.2 and pcie devices were used in otherwise identical rigs.
These experts could not tell the difference.:

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

As to current Samsung endurance issues, it appeared on 2tb drives where their useful life eroded quickly.
The fix was a firmware update.
Such update should be on any new shipment and if needed, can be applied by you via the samsung magician app.
Samsung an Intel are the two makers that I know of who make all the parts themselves and can control integration better.

How do you plan on converting?
A new clean windows install is not so simple on a laptop.
You would also need to find and install drivers such as keyboard which are not standard.

Much easier to clone or move the C drive from the HDD to the m.2
The samsung ssd migration app is easy for this.

 

[donline]

Their 128 layer and up NAND products had endurance issues and Samsung claims it was fixed by their latest firmware. But it is not 100% clear that the issue was entirely their firmware. There are still reports of early failure with the latest firmware version.

Thank you Pextaxmx.
What are your thoughts on geofelt's comment about endurance?
"As to current Samsung endurance issues, it appeared on 2tb drives where their useful life eroded quickly. The fix was a firmware update. Such update should be on any new shipment and if needed, can be applied by you via the samsung magician app."
Are there models of the Samsung M.2 that are better?

 

[donline]

One has dram, the other doesn't.
That's the main difference.

Thanks SkyNetRising. Had a feeling that was the main issue/difference between them. It's hard to check whether the other products (WD, Kingston) have the DRAM.

 

[donline]

I think there may be several variants of the
E410MA laptop.
I would want to be very sure that you do not waste your money
If you have the variant that was in your link in post #3
Open up the laptop and look for the m.2 slot to be certain.
Do not be afraid to do so, you are going to need to do this to upgrade.
There should be some youtube videos around to show you.
For example:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VknI1_fTAoQ


Is there now a hard drive installed for the windows C drive?

As to which of the two m.2 ssd devices, take your pick.
The big benefit comes from using a ssd of any type instead of a hard drive.
Buy the cheaper unit perhaps.
To illustrate how little difference there is, take a look at this video where sata, m.2 and pcie devices were used in otherwise identical rigs.
These experts could not tell the difference.:

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

As to current Samsung endurance issues, it appeared on 2tb drives where their useful life eroded quickly.
The fix was a firmware update.
Such update should be on any new shipment and if needed, can be applied by you via the samsung magician app.
Samsung an Intel are the two makers that I know of who make all the parts themselves and can control integration better.

How do you plan on converting?
A new clean windows install is not so simple on a laptop.
You would also need to find and install drivers such as keyboard which are not standard.

Much easier to clone or move the C drive from the HDD to the m.2
The samsung ssd migration app is easy for this.

Thank you for your excellent reply, geofelt.

Yes, to be honest I am a little nervous about opening up the laptop... in the past I have damaged and broken off the little clips (which are inside along with the screws) that hold the cover on where the keyboard and palmrest are - so I'm a little concerned about doing this again and how to avoid this (I used one of those guitar-pick-type instruments last time on another laptop). Do you have any advice on how to avoid this damage? Thanks for the video link.

There is currently a 64GB eMMC installed which came with the laptop when it was bought.

Sounds like the endurance issue with the Samsung M.2 was specific to the 2TB drive models - is that correct? I get the impression that Samsung products are usually the most (or one of the most) reliable/durable/trusted - would that be fair? If you were to rank the top brands what would you say? (e.g. Samsung, Kingston, Western Digital, Crucial). I'm mostly concerned with finding a product that is reliable and will not fail (as my OS and personal files will be stored on the drive), and not so bothered about blistering speed performance.

I will just do a clean install of Linux on the 500GB M.2. once installed, and probably just leave the 64GB eMMC for extra storage.

 

[geofelt]

I like to look at youtube videos when I am unfamiliar with how hardware opens.
There are likely other videos of your laptop.

I am unfamiliar with linux. You may want to verify that there are linux based drivers for your laptop components.
Look particularly for keyboard drivers which may be unusual.


The Intel 670P m.2 devices would be my second choice:
https://www.newegg.com/intel-512gb-670p-series/p/N82E16820167475?quicklink=true
It comes with a 5 year warranty.

Any part can fail.
And, at the most inopportune of times.

If you care about your data, you need to have a plan in place for EXTERNAL backup.
A usb connected HDD is a reasonable place to start.

 

[Pextaxmx]

Thank you Pextaxmx.
What are your thoughts on geofelt's comment about endurance?
"As to current Samsung endurance issues, it appeared on 2tb drives where their useful life eroded quickly. The fix was a firmware update. Such update should be on any new shipment and if needed, can be applied by you via the samsung magician app."
Are there models of the Samsung M.2 that are better?

What's for sure is that it is not linked to the size of the drive. I am not trying to say Samsung's claim of firmware fix is false. I am just saying, personally I would choose from alternatives for now, until I see some evidences that the fix was for the root cause instead of some band-aid measure. That's all.