Question Dreamless Gen3 vs DRAM Gen4

[lukasamd]

Hey,
Right now, I have Samsung 980 (non-pro) 500 GB. I know it's DRAMless drive, but it looked fine and works fine.
I use Docker and programming a lot - many, small files (JS and not only, big projects), databases, enabled WSL on Windows etc.

Does it make sense to switch the main drive to something faster like KC3000 or SN850X or 980/990 Pro (with DRAM and Gen4) for more IOPS and use current Samsung as additional storage?
I will require more space soon, and I'm not sure what will be better. Buy the second one 980, or just something better as a new OS drive.
I have already seen some tests/reviews etc. but most of them are focused on benchmarks, sequential read and write - in my work, it does not matter, but IOPS / latency etc. is important.

The rest of the PC is i5-12400 + MSI PRO B660M-A + 64 GB DDR4 3200 and Windows 11 22H2 so it can support nvme gen4 without issues.

 

[CountMike]

Hey,
Right now, I have Samsung 980 (non-pro) 500 GB. I know it's DRAMless drive, but it looked fine and works fine.
I use Docker and programming a lot - many, small files (JS and not only, big projects), databases, enabled WSL on Windows etc.

Does it make sense to switch the main drive to something faster like KC3000 or SN850X or 980/990 Pro (with DRAM and Gen4) for more IOPS and use current Samsung as additional storage?
I will require more space soon, and I'm not sure what will be better. Buy the second one 980, or just something better as a new OS drive.
I have already seen some tests/reviews etc. but most of them are focused on benchmarks, sequential read and write - in my work, it does not matter, but IOPS / latency etc. is important.

The rest of the PC is i5-12400 + MSI PRO B660M-A + 64 GB DDR4 3200 and Windows 11 22H2 so it can support nvme gen4 without issues.

That's double whammy and no brainer if you are already switching drives and can afford it

 

[NickyB]

I have an SN850X as my main drive and it hauls ass. It has game mode 2.0 on the ssd which improves game loading times. Nice little ssd. Paid 75$ for it too for the 1tb! Go go amex rewards!

 

[lukasamd]

I do not play games on this PC (and do not plan to play). Also, of course, can switch drives, but not sure is it worth to spend more for DRAM + Gen4 drive.
If differences will be very small on my work (mentioned in first post), then do not see any sense to not select just second Samsung 980 and use HMB

 

[Bob.B]

I do not play games on this PC (and do not plan to play). Also, of course, can switch drives, but not sure is it worth to spend more for DRAM + Gen4 drive.
If differences will be very small on my work (mentioned in first post), then do not see any sense to not select just second Samsung 980 and use HMB

I suspect that unless your moving big chunks of data you would not see a diff.

The only way to be sure is to run your stuff on each type of ssd.

 

[Maxxify]

I do not play games on this PC (and do not plan to play). Also, of course, can switch drives, but not sure is it worth to spend more for DRAM + Gen4 drive.
If differences will be very small on my work (mentioned in first post), then do not see any sense to not select just second Samsung 980 and use HMB

The 980 is pretty good for what it is. Some older Gen3 DRAM-less are pretty unreliable, the 980 is newer and better. It should be plenty. Of course, performance will decline if it gets very full and 500GB is a limited amount of space.

 

[USAFRet]

Leave the OS where it is, and add something else for more drive space.
You wouldn't notice any difference moving the OS to a "faster" drive.

 

[Pextaxmx]

personally I prefer PCIE 3.0 drives over PCIE 4 because of the power efficiency. (they are cheaper as well) You never know your drive may end up in a laptop. And PCIE 4 drives will drain the laptop batteries so much faster. There is no noticeable speed difference between 3.0 and 4.0

 

[lukasamd]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I decided to just buy the second 980 non-pro - it will be cheaper option, can move some of WSL/docker files to that drive, so "traffic will be parallel" and it should be faster.
Also, with working on two drives, I can make more space free on both (let's say use max. 70% of space) and it should also help