[SOLVED] Small fast-reading NVMe?

[DynV]

I'm not good at system building and I'm reading up on NVMe. I've noticed some have a high read/write ratio, others low (ie: SN550 is 2400/950). I'm not sure how the ratio affect the price; if it does more than negligibly, I could live with standard SSD write speed (ie: 520 MBps).

I don't need a large primary storage. It's just for the OSes, its main softwares and 1 game. The game I'm currently playing is almost 5 years old and is a whopping--30--Gb. I'm assuming more modern games is even larger and it will keep going up. I'm convinced 128 Gb will be sufficient; I'm just wondering how low I can go. Worse case the secondary OS can be on the secondary storage and I'll restrict the primary OS software on the main storage even more than I hoped (the office suite, image editor & such can be on the secondary storage). Also, I think the most recent game in my library is from 2016 and there's multiple ones I haven't played, so I could do without anything from 2017 for some time, I estimate at least 2 years.

I'm looking for a low price and high read speed NVMe, any suggestion?

Thank you kindly

 

[USAFRet]

128GB is NOT sufficient for your OS drive.
That is too small for just the os, and especially too small if you want a 30GB game on that as well.
250GB or larger.

Samsung 970 EVO or EVO Plus is the fast default choice.
Intel 660p comes in second for overall value.

primary and secondary OS?
Please explain what you're referring to.

 

[Theresa N]

Smaller will be slower. Just get a 500 and be satisfied that you'll never fill it up.

 

[DynV]

128GB is NOT sufficient for your OS drive.

I don't understand why it isn't. I have a somewhat fresh install with the game I referred and with some downloads (ie: music), some software that I could put on a secondary drive, and it has slightly over 100 GB used. Although it only has 1 OS, but I mentioned I could put the secondary OS on another drive (or its--bare--minimum on the primary and everything else on the secondary).

[...] overall value.

That's a term I like.

primary and secondary OS?

Windows and a GNU/Linux with GUI desktop (ie: Ubuntu).

Just get a 500 [...]

It's really no issue in having more than 1 drive. I'm not going to pay > 250 GB unless it (the difference) cost about the same (or less), than another drive (of lesser quality) making up the difference.

 

[Maxxify]

Check my signature for a link, that link leads to a subreddit where I have more resources including buying guides and a spreadsheet. Might help you.

The SN550 isn't ideal at smaller capacities because it uses denser flash. You'd want the SN500 actually. However there are other options - although ideally you want something TLC-based at lower capacities especially. Check my "Budget NVMe" category. If by "fast-reading" you mean drives with the best 4K random read low queue depth performance, the SM2263/XT-based drives are the best, for example the Kingston A2000.

 

[USAFRet]

While a 128GB drive can be made to work, for an active game machine you'll end up spending too much time in space management. For instance, Windows updates need a substantial amount of free space. That is generally released after, but it needs to be there.

'overall value'.
The price differential between 128GB and 250GB is not 2x.
A little bit more money gets you twice the size and breathing room. You'll be living with this drive for several years.
Don't go too cheap.

While benchmarking slower than the top tier NVMe drives, the Intel 660p rivals the SATA III drives for price per GB.
In a lot of use cases, you'll not see any difference.

I gave up on the 120GB size as the primary drive long ago. Price v size favors 250GB or larger.

 

[DynV]

Check my signature for a link, that link leads to a subreddit where I have more resources including buying guides and a spreadsheet.

That's a nice spreadsheet, thanks!

If by "fast-reading" you mean drives with the best 4K random read low queue depth performance [...]

I'm not sure that that mean but I'm especially concerned about load time during 3D gaming.

[...] Windows updates need a substantial amount of free space.

I forgot about that, thanks. I did firsthand experience that on a system in which the primary storage had < 2 GB free space, when those updates came in, the system went into a crawl; then I remembered it was because of the update then I started shuffling data on another drive.

The price differential between 128GB and 250GB is not 2x. [...] You'll be living with this drive for several years.

Good points. It's too bad when the right thing to do will blow your budget. I'm not broke, but it's a psychological hurdle (I like sticking to my budgets).

While benchmarking slower than the top tier NVMe drives, the Intel 660p rivals the SATA III drives for price per GB.
In a lot of use cases, you'll not see any difference.

IIUC you're making a point to not discard Intel 660p too quickly.

 

[USAFRet]

IIUC you're making a point to not discard Intel 660p too quickly.

Correct.
Even though the raw benchmarks of the 660p are lower than something like a Samsung 970 EVO or WD Black...that difference may not actually noticeable in every day use.
And at a much lower price per GB.

 

[USAFRet]

Further:
"I'm convinced 128 Gb will be sufficient "

Read here for one of the many...

[SOLVED] - "windows.old" 38gb and "windows" 14.8gb. Too much space taken up

Hello, I just upgraded to windows 10. I have a 128gb SSD which I like to keep clean and free of junk. I also have a 1tb HDD and I put everything on there. The SSD is only for windows 10 and for whichever game I'm currently playing. When I'm done playing it I will usually uninstall but...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Maxxify]

I would avoid the 660p at 512GB just because of the flash density - 1Tb/die QLC cannot interleave on a four-channel controller with just four dies (4x128GiB). Plus the static SLC is on the small side at that capacity. At 1TB it's quite a good option, though. You're better off with TLC, like the A2000 as I mentioned, at lower capacities, although DRAM-less SM2263XT options will get the job done in a pinch. The E13T drives are also pretty good, but I'd avoid E8/E8T in that segment.