Question NVME M.2 drives - outside of capacity are they all the same ?

[eco_bach]

I currently have 3 Samsung NVME M.2 (both 950 and 960) 512 GB Pro drives installed.
I am upgrading 2 of these to either 1 or 2TB versions.
There are so many options and brands!
https://pcpartpicker.com/search/?q=NVMe

Outside of storage capacity are they all the same in terms of performance-reliability?

Any recommendations?
Thanks!

 

[Lutfij]

Just an FYI, the higher capacity drives tend to have higher read/write numbers but not each SSD maker have their strengths and weaknesses.

What is the make and model of your motherboard and the processor you're working with?

 

[Aeacus]

Outside of storage capacity are they all the same in terms of performance-reliability?

No.

Cheap price = low reliability/durability. Some drives also suffer from low read/write speeds. Including when drive is full. Oh, high operating temps as well.

You can start your research here,
article: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-ssds,3891.html

Any recommendations?

My suggestion would be Samsung. Depending what PCI-E version your M.2 slot is;
PCI-E 3.0 - Samsung 970 Evo Plus
PCI-E 4.0 - Samsung 990 Pro

I have 970 Evo Plus as my OS drive and mine is 2TB in size,
review: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-970-evo-plus-ssd,5608.html

990 Pro is currently the best from Samsung,
review: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-990-pro-ssd-review

But if you're looking PCI-E 5.0 drives, then things get complicated.
Crucial T705 is current speed king,
review: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ssds/crucial-t705-2tb-ssd-review

But it has downsides, like high heat output, high power consumption and high price.

IMO, PCI-E 3.0 drive is more than enough speed wise. PCI-E 4.0, while double the read/write speeds, can not be differentiated from PCI-E 3.0 drives in real world tasks. And PCI-E 5.0, double the speed of PCI-E 4.0, is more like a gimmick. Sure, 4x times as fast as PCI-E 3.0, but few MoBos have PCI-E 5.0 M.2 slot and it's read/write speeds are needlessly way too high. (E.g Concorde flew twice the sound barrier limit, yet, most passenger planes are below sound barrier, cruising 700-900km/h.)

 

[USAFRet]

I currently have 3 Samsung NVME M.2 (both 950 and 960) 512 GB Pro drives installed.
I am upgrading 2 of these to either 1 or 2TB versions.
There are so many options and brands!
https://pcpartpicker.com/search/?q=NVMe

Outside of storage capacity are they all the same in terms of performance-reliability?

Any recommendations?
Thanks

The 960 is a later generation than the 950.

950:

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/ssd-950-pro-nvme-512gb-mz-v5p512bw/

960:

SSD 960 PRO M.2 512GB Memory & Storage - MZ-V6P512BW | Samsung US

Discover the latest features and innovations available in the SSD 960 PRO M.2 512GB. Find the perfect Memory & Storage for you!

www.samsung.com

What will you be replacing it/them with?
What is applicable to your current motherboard?

 

[USAFRet]

Replacing one or more of those with 1-2TB 970s will give you more space, But no real user facing performance change.

 

[TeamRed2024]

Can't go wrong with Samsung... 970/980/990 series. Definitely time to upgrade from 512GB though!

 

[CountMike]

No reason to avoid some other and long time in business makes like Kingston, KC2000 (PCIe v3) and KC300 (PCIe v4) NVMe drives. A-Data and Lexar also have very good drives. As a BOOT/OS drive, look for RAM Cache and speed, for storage anything goes as long as you have viable backup plan,