Question Which 1TB NVMe SSD should I purchase ?

[knowledge2121]

My board supports PCIe 3.0. I am looking at a Seagate FireCuda 530 1TB..

I really don't care about speeds that much since all SSDs are fast enough nowadays... I mainly care about endurance..

Does Seagate FireCuda 530 1TB have a good endurance ? Is the flash memory chips used high quality ? is the controller good as well ?

My budget is $140 CDN before tax, are there other options at or lower than this price ?

 

[SkyNetRising]

My budget is $140 CDN before tax, are there other options at or lower than this price ?

Samsung 970 evo plus.

 

[knowledge2121]

Samsung 970 evo plus.

I already have two of these in my main PC. The price for these is a bit higher than $140 ... its like $190 ..

 

[USAFRet]

I mainly care about endurance..

Assuming you have a good backup routine, endurance is mostly irrelevant.
And can't be determined for the singular device in your system.

If/when it dies, you replace and recover from the backup.

If it dies, within the warranty period, free replacement.
If not within the warranty period...it had a good life.

 

[knowledge2121]

do you recommend Seagate FireCuda 530 1TB though ?

 

[cAllen]

I do. Been running the 1T and 4T on my new build from last year.

Build Advice - New Rig

Morning folks. It's time for me to build a new system and it's been a while so all help will be appreciated. Current build for reference: x3380 @3.16 GHz GA-EP45-UD3R (rev. 1.1) GeForce GTX-295 8GB OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2-800 (4x2) WD1002FBSY 1000W PC Antec P182 case It took me months to...

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[knowledge2121]

What's a good cheap 2TB drive around $140 ?

Also, should I care about DRAM ? I can get a 2TB SN770 for $160.

2TB SN770 or 1TB 530 ? My system has 32GB RAM.

 

[cAllen]

Have not shopped since my build because I go for the long haul. I think USAFRet's advice is best as it applies.

 

[knowledge2121]

Assuming you have a good backup routine, endurance is mostly irrelevant.
And can't be determined for the singular device in your system.

If/when it dies, you replace and recover from the backup.

If it dies, within the warranty period, free replacement.
If not within the warranty period...it had a good life.

OK so TBW figures don't matter according to you:

Instead of a 1TB TLC Seagate 530, I can get a 2TB QLC Crucial P3 Plus for $20 more...Crucial also is DRAMless, it uses HMB.

What do you think ? should I go with the Crucial ? more space ?

 

[USAFRet]

OK so TBW figures don't matter according to you:

Instead of a 1TB TLC Seagate 530, I can get a 2TB QLC Crucial P3 Plus for $20 more...Crucial also is DRAMless, it uses HMB.

What do you think ? should I go with the Crucial ? more space ?

The TBW number for the warranty is so large...normal consumer use will never ever get there.
That is not to say a drive cannot die of something else.

Which one of those two? I prefer something not dramless. Something else, like a 970 EVO.

But if that is too much for your budget, flip a coin between the two you linked.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Instead of a 1TB TLC Seagate 530, I can get a 2TB QLC Crucial P3 Plus for $20 more...Crucial also is DRAMless, it uses HMB.

No QLC. No dramless.
Avoid those.

 

[knowledge2121]

No QLC. No dramless.
Avoid those.

What do you think of TEAMGROUP MP34 2TB ?

Gen3......check
TLC.........check
DRAM.....check
5 years warranty.......check

 

[Notton]

Teamgroup MP33 2TB is curently C$110~115 in canada
Although, if you have a Canada Computers near you, there is a faster Lexar NM710 2TB for $115 (If it's in stock)

 

[knowledge2121]

, there is a faster

Speed doesn't matter a lot for gaming...

 

[CelicaGT]

Speed doesn't matter a lot for gaming...

Correct. On the other stuff, almost all the new lower cost drives are DRAMless, being SLC cache or HMB (or both) though if you look around there's some with DRAM. And honestly no one ever will ever notice the performance difference outside of a benchmark between any decent SSD, whether it's SATA, NVMe, HMB, DRAM cache, SLC cache, or especially between the various PCIe generations. Playing MSFS 2020 which REQUIRES an SSD (NVMe unnoficially recommended) I've had it on both SATA and NVMe and no difference, like most games it just needs those blazing fast (relatively) random reads. An area which most SSD's perform at a level which is both fairly equal (depending on the controller) and well past good enough for nearly all tasks regardless of the drive. Most SSD's place the bottleneck firmly on the CPU and or memory. I run a mix of Samsung, ADATA, TeamGroup and Silicon Power NVMe drives which I've hammered on for years now. They're all just fine, showing normal amounts of wear and they all perform fabulously. Long story short there's little point in spec chasing unless your task absolutely requires a certain minimum transfer rate. Find a quality drive at a good price and enjoy.

(Also do backups. USAFRet as always, has the right of it)

 

[mdd1963]

Assuming another sale ever hits Amazon, I got a 2 TB 990 EVO for $119...(certainly no reason to pay extra for an older PCI-e 3.0 drive, or slightly less capable 980 Pro, etc..)

However, there are an abundant array of quality PCI-e 4.0 drives out there for less than $100 for 1 TB...

(I ordered a pair of 4 TB Crucial P3 Plus drives for only $209 each!)

 

[CelicaGT]

Assuming another sale ever hits Amazon, I got a 2 TB 990 EVO for $119...(certainly no reason to pay extra for an older PCI-e 3.0 drive, or slightly less capable 980 Pro, etc..)

However, there are an abundant array of quality PCI-e 4.0 drives out there for less than $100 for 1 TB...

(I ordered a pair of 4 TB Crucial P3 Plus drives for only $209 each!)

Assuming USD? If not I better get on there and get some!

 

[mdd1963]

Assuming USD? If not I better get on there and get some!

Those were prices when I ordered the Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB for $119 on 22 Nov (21 Nov USA time); the pair of Crucial 4 TB P3 Plus was $209 each on 23 Dec..

Not sure what prices are at this exact moment...but I know I've seen some pretty inexpensive 1 TB NVME drives the past month or two...)The 980 Pro is $107 on Anazon, but unfortunately the 990 Pro 1 TB has shot up to $147 at the moment.. (Of course, in a PCI-e 3.0 mainboard, there would be little difference, maxed at 32 Gbps transfers, or roughly 3500 MB/sec..

 

[CelicaGT]

Those were prices when I ordered the Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB for $119 on 22 Nov (21 Nov USA time); the pair of Crucial 4 TB P3 Plus was $209 each on 23 Dec..

Not sure what prices are at this exact moment...but I know I've seen some pretty inexpensive 1 TB NVME drives the past month or two...)The 980 Pro is $107 on Anazon, but unfortunately the 990 Pro 1 TB has shot up to $147 at the moment.. (Of course, in a PCI-e 3.0 mainboard, there would be little difference, maxed at 32 Gbps transfers, or roughly 3500 MB/sec..

Ya, that article on Toms the other day was unfortunately accurate. I had some 2TB Silicon Power drives in my cart at 119CAD, they jumped up to 129CAD OVERNIGHT lol. Still not bad but also....grrr.

(Edit) Basically what I mean is....I'll take an SP drive at 119CAD (129 even), but if there's a Sammy drive at the same rate I'd rather have that.