Question SN850X or Platnium P41?

[pekodam]

Hey, I have a Legion Slim 5 and I’ve been waiting for sales to start so I can grab a 2TB SSD. I’m currently debating between the WD SN850X and the SK Hynix Platinum P41. They’re both in the $100 range but something I’m really looking for is a sound cloning software. I recently cloned a Sabrent Rocket with the included Acronis True Image and it died in 2 months, I couldn’t recover anything.

So with that in mind, which is the best?

 

[Nine Layer Nige]

I have been using aomei backupper to clone my OS ssd every month. It works and it's free.

 

[pekodam]

I have been using aomei backupper to clone my OS ssd every month. It works and it's free.

Which SSD would you buy though?

 

[Lafong]

Both drives quite good.

Do either have heatsinks?

I have no idea if a heatsink might cause a clearance problem in that laptop.

Drive temps in a laptop would be of some concern to me. I think that laptop is gen 4 capable.

How terrified are you of temps? Indifferent?

I wouldn't even consider the cloning software as a factor in the purchase..

You get to decide whether you are going to be driven by benchmarks or random Internet opinions. You can end up unhappy with either drive. I'm sure you can find someone badmouthing both of them.

Most likely outcome is that you couldn't tell the difference.

 

[pekodam]

Both drives quite good.

Do either have heatsinks?

I have no idea if a heatsink might cause a clearance problem in that laptop.

Drive temps in a laptop would be of some concern to me. I think that laptop is gen 4 capable.

How terrified are you of temps? Indifferent?

I wouldn't even consider the cloning software as a factor in the purchase..

You get to decide whether you are going to be driven by benchmarks or random Internet opinions. You can end up unhappy with either drive. I'm sure you can find someone badmouthing both of them.

Most likely outcome is that you couldn't tell the difference.

It is Gen 4 capable

Both have no heatsink. Regarding temps I’m not super picky. I know that the P41 is a little more energy efficient but laptops run hot no matter what and it doesn’t really bother me too much.

I’m concerned about the cloning software just because my previous cloned drive died in 2 months of use and I do not want that same stress to come back.

 

[Lafong]

It is Gen 4 capable

Both have no heatsink. Regarding temps I’m not super picky. I know that the P41 is a little more energy efficient but laptops run hot no matter what and it doesn’t really bother me too much.

I’m concerned about the cloning software just because my previous cloned drive died in 2 months of use and I do not want that same stress to come back.

Do you have any particular reason to think that your cloning software caused the "dead" drive?

If you mean outright hardware failure, I wouldn't think the cloning software had anything to do with it......particularly if the cloned drive was OK for 2 months.

I use Macrium, but no cloning software has a 100% success rate...although I wouldn't expect the drive to even boot once if the clone "failed".

 

[pekodam]

Do you have any particular reason to think that your cloning software caused the "dead" drive?

If you mean outright hardware failure, I wouldn't think the cloning software had anything to do with it......particularly if the cloned drive was OK for 2 months.

I use Macrium, but no cloning software has a 100% success rate...although I wouldn't expect the drive to even boot once if the clone "failed".

Hmm.. my only real reason is just paranoia. First time doing it and just worried of it going wrong and it did. Your point makes more sense to me now.

Is Macrium a free software by the way? I’m pretty sure SK Hynix has their own software as well if it isn’t free.

 

[Lafong]

Macrium Reflect | Free 30-Day Trial

Macrium Reflect - Incredibly powerful software that allows you to create and schedule effective backups

www.macrium.com

Macrium free version at above link; lower left side; "Reflect 8 Home trial"

Any clone attempt can fail.

Another option is imaging...Macrium does it also.

Cloning is one step; imaging is 2 steps: make an image file of existing drive and then restore it to another drive.

End result same as cloning.

Success rate upper 90 percent somewhere

But you should always be prepared to do a regulation "clean install".

Several drive makers supply free cloning software...it is typically a rebranded version of one of the better known packages....Acronis for one. They typically require that the destination drive is one made by the drive maker. That is...you couldn't use free WD cloning software to clone to a Samsung or Crucial drive.

 

[USAFRet]

I recently cloned a Sabrent Rocket with the included Acronis True Image and it died in 2 months, I couldn’t recover anything.

1. The clone operation was not the cause of the dead drive.

2. You shouldn't have lost anything. This is what an actual backup routine is for.

 

[Maxxify]

The Platinum P41 is more efficient.

 

[GhostGreyWolf]

The Platinum P41 is more efficient.

Agreed. I like both drives, but I’d prefer the P41 Platinum for a laptop (I have a 2TB one in my ThinkPad P1 Gen 6). I have an SN850X 4TB in my desktop rig.

Also agree with others, the cloning software had nothing to do with the drive failure. All it is is an intelligent sector copy and imaging of one drive to another; if cloning software was problematic you’d have seen a class action lawsuit years ago. I’ve used Macrium Reflect Free since 2016 or so, but AOMEI Backupper works fine too.

If one can’t afford to lose data, one should definitely back it up; the above two packages can do that too. A USB-C to NVMe external enclosure with an SSD in it makes a nice backup drive, and it doesn’t have to be a fast or expensive SSD to work well; just not a lousy one.