[SOLVED] New Build and I have only One Question about Storage

JohnnyR2D2

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Hello Everyone and Thanks in Advance for any inputs I may get here :)

Here is my new build. Everything but Storage was acquired already so basically my only question is what should I buy as a Storage.

Here is the RIG:

Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor
Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler
Asus ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB NITRO+ SE Video Card
Cooler Master MasterCase SL600M ATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair HX Platinum 1200 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

And Here are my Options for Storage

For OS, Office, Internet Browsing and a bit of Video Editing

Seagate FireCuda 520 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 500GB
Samsung 860 EVO 500GB

For Gaming

Seagate FireCuda 520 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 2TB
Samsung SSD 860 EVO 2TB

What you be the best pair here? Here are some considerations

1 - While my new MOBO has only PCIE 3rd Gen that doesn't mean the Hard Drive will not last long enough for me to upgrade to a 4th Gen in a near future and that's why the Firecudas 520 are in the above list.

2 - From what I read in several threads is that the performance we get in a NVME vs the SATA SSD is minimal and in most cases unnoticeable so what is really important to me is reliability and endurance of the drive. However, if I get better loading times in both Windows 10 and a few games (World of Warcraft, MechWarrior 5, Battlefront, etc.) will also be nice and something to consider.

3 - Since I already spent a lot the the above build, spending $ 100 more to get a NVME will not be an issue as well

4 - I think M.2 SATA shouldn't be an option since I don't want to stick in the middle and I know that option will take away one of the SATA ports as well. I have 4x 4TB Seagate Barracuda which I use for Media storage and also for backup since I have a backup of everything (OS, Documents, Media, Games, etc.)

5 - Are the NVMEs going to run hot than the SSDs? I suspect yes, so based on my Case, MOBO and usage (explained above) is there any risk in the choice I may end up with?

6 - Both manufacturers (Samsung and Seagate) have a 5 years warranty and because I already use both supports it's the main reason I've down selected them.

Last but not least I'm buying this today and I hope I was able to be as much detailed for you to help me decide.

Thanks again,

JohnnyR2D2
 
Last edited:
Solution
Hello Everyone and Thanks in Advance for any inputs I may get here :)

Here is my new build. Everything but Storage was acquired already so basically my only question is what should I buy as a Storage.

Here is the RIG:

Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor
Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler
Asus ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB NITRO+ SE Video Card
Cooler Master MasterCase SL600M ATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair HX Platinum 1200 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

And Here are my Options for Storage

For OS, Office, Internet Browsing and a bit of Video Editing

Seagate FireCuda 520...
Hello Everyone and Thanks in Advance for any inputs I may get here :)

Here is my new build. Everything but Storage was acquired already so basically my only question is what should I buy as a Storage.

Here is the RIG:

Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor
Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler
Asus ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB NITRO+ SE Video Card
Cooler Master MasterCase SL600M ATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair HX Platinum 1200 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

And Here are my Options for Storage

For OS, Office, Internet Browsing and a bit of Video Editing

Seagate FireCuda 520 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 500GB
Samsung 860 EVO 500GB

For Gaming

Seagate FireCuda 520 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 2TB
Samsung SSD 860 EVO 2TB

What you be the best pair here? Here are some considerations

1 - While my new MOBO has only PCIE 3rd Gen that doesn't mean the Hard Drive will not last long enough for me to upgrade to a 4th Gen in a near future and that's why the Firecudas 520 are in the above list.

2 - From what I read in several threads is that the performance we get in a NVME vs the SATA SSD is minimal and in most cases unnoticeable so what is really important to me is reliability and endurance of the drive. However, if I get better loading times in both Windows 10 and a few games (World of Warcraft, MechWarrior 5, Battlefront, etc.) will also be nice and something to consider.

3 - Since I already spent a lot the the above build, spending $ 100 more to get a NVME will not be an issue as well

4 - I think M.2 SATA shouldn't be an option since I don't want to stick in the middle and I know that option will take away one of the SATA ports as well. I have 4x 4TB Seagate Barracuda which I use for Media storage and also for backup since I have a backup of everything (OS, Documents, Media, Games, etc.)

5 - Are the NVMEs going to run hot than the SSDs? I suspect yes, so based on my Case, MOBO and usage (explained above) is there any risk in the choice I may end up with?

6 - Both manufacturers (Samsung and Seagate) have a 5 years warranty and because I already use both supports it's the main reason I've down selected them.

Last but not least I'm buying this today and I hope I was able to be as much detailed for you to help me decide.

Thanks again,

JohnnyR2D2
For your build there isn't any reason to use the FireCuda since it will operate in PCIe 3.0 mode. You will be paying extra for a feature that you cannot use at all. In regards to Samsung drives, they are nice but WAY overpriced. You can get similar performance, endurance, and warranty going with another company. For example the ADATA 8200 Pro is a very good drive with almost identical performance and endurance to the 970 Evo Plus.
PCPartPicker Part List

Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($269.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $354.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-27 09:58 EST-0500

All while being MUCH cheaper. The 2TB 970 Evo Plus runs $450 by itself. Alternatively you could use the HP EX950 instead of the ADATA 8200 Pro as they basically the same drive just from difference companies. If you felt even more adventurous you could go with this enterprise drive that is on sale. https://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/s...-pcie-3.0-x8-nvme-hhhl-card-ssd-mzpll6t4hmls/ That is a 6.4TB PCIe 3.0 x8 HHHL for $1k.
 
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JohnnyR2D2

Distinguished
Jan 19, 2009
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For your build there isn't any reason to use the FireCuda since it will operate in PCIe 3.0 mode. You will be paying extra for a feature that you cannot use at all. In regards to Samsung drives, they are nice but WAY overpriced. You can get similar performance, endurance, and warranty going with another company. For example the ADATA 8200 Pro is a very good drive with almost identical performance and endurance to the 970 Evo Plus.
PCPartPicker Part List

Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($269.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $354.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-27 09:58 EST-0500

All while being MUCH cheaper. The 2TB 970 Evo Plus runs $450 by itself. Alternatively you could use the HP EX950 instead of the ADATA 8200 Pro as they basically the same drive just from difference companies. If you felt even more adventurous you could go with this enterprise drive that is on sale. https://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/s...-pcie-3.0-x8-nvme-hhhl-card-ssd-mzpll6t4hmls/ That is a 6.4TB PCIe 3.0 x8 HHHL for $1k.


Thanks Jeremy and I really appreciate the inputs. Both ADATA 8200 Pro and HP EX950 were in my radar for a few time but since I live in Brazil the problem with ADATA is that they don't have a local support in here and as for HP I had bad experience with their support and RMA.
I thought the same about the FireCudas however, regardless of the fact that they are PCIE 4th Gen and not 3rd as my MOBO I can always upgrade in a couple years to a PCIE 4th Gen MOBO so I'm not considering that as a stopper.
 
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Thanks Jeremy and I really appreciate the inputs. Both ADATA 8200 Pro and HP EX950 were in my radar for a few time but since I live in Brazil teh problem with ADATA is that they don't have a local support in here and as for HP I had bad experience with their support and RMA.
I thought the same about the FireCudas however, regardless of the fact that they are PCIE 4th Gen and not 3rd as my MOBO I can always upgrade in a couple years to a PCIE 4th Gen MOBO so I'm not considering that as a stopper.
If you want the absolute best OS boot drive you would want to go with a 380GB Intel 905p. Those are about $500 but have an insane DWPD such that even the 380GB has a TDW of 6.93PB https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...sd-905p-series/905p-380gb-m-2-110mm-20nm.html While their absolute peak performance isn't as high as the 970 EVO Plus, they will be faster in almost anything that isn't sequential writes at high queue depth. https://www.servethehome.com/intel-optane-905p-380gb-m-2-nvme-ssd-review-the-best/ Overall performance for gaming you won't see much of a difference between NVMe drives and SATA SSD because most of the time it is just loading scenes. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/adata-xpg-sx8200-pro-ssd,5955-3.html Therefore if you want WD Blue or Crucial MX500 SATA drives are also good choices.
 
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For bulk storage, a conventional HDD is still the best way to go.
There is really not a lot to differentiate among them so far as longevity or reliability is concerned.
Anything can fail so plan on External backup for whatever you deem critical.
Here is an older article on the WD "rainbow" which describes the pro/con of various types.

The value of a ssd is the minimal latency for random I/O.
That is what windows does 90% of the time.
In that respect, there is minimal difference between a sata connection and a pcie connection.

Yes, a pcie connection shows 5x faster in sequential operations, but really, you do not notice it.
Perhaps on a long antivirus scan. You might see a minor difference in loading of games or such.

On longevity of a ssd, it no longer matters. The large ssd devices available today will have essentially unlimited lifetime.

I would not worry about heat on a m.2 pcie ssd. Even if it is mounted under the graphics card.
Such a device heats up only under sustained sequential I/O operations of perhaps 30 seconds or more.
If that should happen, the device protects itself by slowing down a bit.

If I understand your requirements, I might suggest a single 2tb samsung 970 evo plus for everything.
Add a HDD of whatever size you need for bulk storage.
That should last you a very long time.
Whenever you run out of space, it is easy to add another device.
 
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JohnnyR2D2

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Jan 19, 2009
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For bulk storage, a conventional HDD is still the best way to go.
There is really not a lot to differentiate among them so far as longevity or reliability is concerned.
Anything can fail so plan on External backup for whatever you deem critical.
Here is an older article on the WD "rainbow" which describes the pro/con of various types.

The value of a ssd is the minimal latency for random I/O.
That is what windows does 90% of the time.
In that respect, there is minimal difference between a sata connection and a pcie connection.

Yes, a pcie connection shows 5x faster in sequential operations, but really, you do not notice it.
Perhaps on a long antivirus scan. You might see a minor difference in loading of games or such.

On longevity of a ssd, it no longer matters. The large ssd devices available today will have essentially unlimited lifetime.

I would not worry about heat on a m.2 pcie ssd. Even if it is mounted under the graphics card.
Such a device heats up only under sustained sequential I/O operations of perhaps 30 seconds or more.
If that should happen, the device protects itself by slowing down a bit.

If I understand your requirements, I might suggest a single 2tb samsung 970 evo plus for everything.
Add a HDD of whatever size you need for bulk storage.
That should last you a very long time.
Whenever you run out of space, it is easy to add another device.


Thanks Geo,

Since as I mentioned I already have 4x 4TB HDD Barracudas for bulk storage my question was more for the OS and Gaming storage and from what you said the best option among the ones I listed will be both Samsung (500 GB for Storage and 2 TB for Gaming) correct? And the reason I want 2x drives is basically because I don't like to have my games installed in the same drive as the OS. Also, while I like the Intel, Crucial and WD reviews my problem with all of them is bad experience in the past with their support and RMAs. Usually Seagate and Samsung just replace my drives with no questions asked and I had that experience a few times.
 
There is no performance advantage to running two ssd devices when the capacity needed is available on a single device.
It is much easier to manage a single C drive than to constantly worry about where to install something new.
I would just use a 2tb ssd for everything except bulk storage.
With a top end build like yours, I would use the samsung 970 evo plus.

If/when that 2tb fills up, you will have options to take care of the need.