[SOLVED] Which SSD is better?

[alliearmstrong]

I’m looking at a few options for SSD’s and I’m wondering what brand would be the best. Would you recommend SanDisk, WD Blue, Samsung, or some other brand?

 

[kanewolf]

SATA or NVMe? M2 or 2.5 inch form factor?

 

[jimmysmitty]

Samsung typically has some of the best. Of the SSDs out there I tend to go with Samsung or Intel for quality and longevity.

But what really matters is the price you want to pay, what size you want, form factor and what kind of performance you really want. For example there are SATA and NVMe SSDs. SATA are still fast, vastly faster than a HDD, but NVMe is faster and was designed for SSDs while SATA was designed with HDDs in mind. But NVMe drives do tend to cost a bit more.

 

[mkaafy]

If money is not an issue and your mobo supports NVMe, pick WD Black NVMe, Samsung Pro NVMe or Corsair Force series as they are the best in the SSD world. Choosing between other brands is more like a trial and error.

The model is more important than the brand. You shouldn't buy cheap entry-level SSDs like WD Green SSDs!

 

[kanewolf]

If money is not an issue and your mobo supports NVMe, pick WD Black NVMe, Samsung Pro NVMe or Corsair Force series as they are the best in the SSD world. Choosing between other brands is more like a trial and error.

I think you can include Intel in the top tier brands for NVMe SSDs. For most people a Samsung EVO will have almost no performance difference over a PRO.

 

[mkaafy]

I think you can include Intel in the top tier brands for NVMe SSDs. For most people a Samsung EVO will have almost no performance difference over a PRO.

Yes. That's right.

 

[rnkz]

Samsung typically has some of the best. Of the SSDs out there I tend to go with Samsung or Intel for quality and longevity.

But what really matters is the price you want to pay, what size you want, form factor and what kind of performance you really want. For example there are SATA and NVMe SSDs. SATA are still fast, vastly faster than a HDD, but NVMe is faster and was designed for SSDs while SATA was designed with HDDs in mind. But NVMe drives do tend to cost a bit more.

How does Crucial compare to Intel and Samsung?

 

[kanewolf]

How does Crucial compare to Intel and Samsung?

I would put Crucial in the second tier. That isn't a bad thing, but they are more price focused instead of performance focused. Crucial is often the value leader.

 

[jimmysmitty]

How does Crucial compare to Intel and Samsung?

Crucial is Micron and Micron worked with Intel for years. As said they are more value focused but are still good quality although I would still put Intel and Samsung above them.

Again there are factors to consider that help make a decision as to which to buy.

 

[alliearmstrong]

If money is not an issue and your mobo supports NVMe, pick WD Black NVMe, Samsung Pro NVMe or Corsair Force series as they are the best in the SSD world. Choosing between other brands is more like a trial and error.

The model is more important than the brand. You shouldn't buy cheap entry-level SSDs like WD Green SSDs!

My motherboard is actually very old. It’s a Ga-78LMT-USB3. Which SSD’s would it support?

 

[alliearmstrong]

SATA or NVMe? M2 or 2.5 inch form factor?

SATA and 2.5 inch

 

[mkaafy]

My motherboard is actually very old. It’s a Ga-78LMT-USB3. Which SSD’s would it support?

Unfortunately, this motherboard supports the older slower SATA 3 Gb/s (not SATA 6Gb/s) so you won't notice huge speed boost by adding an SSD to it but still it's not a bad idea to upgrade. You can add those 2.5 inch SATA 3D NAND SSDs.
Read more:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-upgrade-sata-3gbps,3469.html

Building a new PC with the latest hardware is the best thing to do if you need to.

 

[jimmysmitty]

SATA and 2.5 inch

I would go for the Samsung 860 series or Intel 545 series.

Unfortunately, this motherboard supports the older slower SATA 3 Gb/s (not SATA 6Gb/s) so you won't notice huge speed boost by adding an SSD to it but still it's not a bad idea to upgrade. You can add those 2.5 inch SATA 3D NAND SSDs.
Read more:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-upgrade-sata-3gbps,3469.html

Building a new PC with the latest hardware is the best thing to do if you need to.

While he may max out at 300MB/s he will still see quite a performance difference from a hard drive due to the IOPS a SSD has. Hard drives have very little IOPS in comparison. One of the fastest consumer drives, the WD Black, had a max read speed of 154MB/s compared to a SATA SSD that will max out SATA II.

The same WD Black has about 66 to 86 IOPS (depends on Queue Depth) while an Intel 545s has 75K read IOPS and 90K write IOPS. Even at QD1 the 545s has 9K read and 26K write IOPS, vastly more than a hard drive.