Solid state drives are a type of drive different than traditional hard disk drives. SSDs have no moving parts; they use NAND flash memory chips instead. These kinds of storage devices use less power, are much faster, and are cheaper. SSDs are generally used for booting and general computing tasks. They’re not recommended for storing any kind of data that requires frequent writing and reading, however, because even though their performance is good, their lifespan is only about five years.
A SSD (Solid State Drive) is a storage device that uses Flash memory technology to store data persistently. A flash drive does not require any moving parts (like spinning platters), so they’re much quieter than hard drives and consume less power while reading/writing data. SSDs have revolutionized our computing devices; however, they are still relatively expensive compared to traditional magnetic storage. As prices get lower and capacities increase, I expect them to become ubiquitous in computers and mobile devices.
Silicon Power US70
Introduction: Silicon Power is a company that manufactures high-performance solid state drives (SSD) and power supplies. These products are designed to give you an edge over traditional hard disk drives.
Product info: I first came across silicon power’s US70 SSD while doing some research on the best SSDs that you should buy today. In my eyes, silicon power not only offers great value for money, but their product also packs quite a punch. One of the reasons why I chose this drive above many others was its massive storage capacity of 512GB. If you’re someone who loves to store tons of files, music, movies and other digital content, then this might just be the right choice for you.
Performance: When we talk about performance, the first thing that comes to mind is how fast data transfer rates are. While the US70 SSD is not exactly the fastest out there, it does offer pretty good read speeds of 255MB/sec (megabytes per second) and write speeds of 175 MB/sec. However, it performs even faster if you use it under Windows 10. In fact, it performed at around 275 MB/sec when accessing files on the C drive using a simple file explorer. This speed is impressive for a device that only costs $159.99.
Features: Even though this SSD doesn’t have any special features, it still manages to deliver decent performance. There aren’t any extra buttons or settings to mess around with. All you need to do is plug it in and start using it. It’s a simple yet effective way of storing and accessing information. There’s nothing fancy about the design either. It looks clean and sleek.
Design: The packaging is a bit disappointing. It feels cheap and flimsy and is definitely not durable. It does protect the SSD, however. So don’t worry about scratchy plastic. But I would recommend buying it in a padded box instead of the usual cardboard container.
Conclusion: Overall, I think silicon powers’ US70 SSD is a great option for anyone looking for something affordable, reliable and powerful. It has plenty of space for anything you throw at it from video games to music to photo albums. Plus, at less than $160, it won’t break the bank!
Samsung 860 Pro
1. Samsung’s 860 Pro SSD is an excellent choice for those who demand powerful performance at affordable prices. Its combination of high read speeds and low write times makes it an ideal upgrade path for PC users looking to jump into SSD technology. Like any SSD, the 860 Pro comes with a SATA-based interface that connects to a computer’s motherboard via a 6Gbps SATA cable.
2. Performance & ReliabilityThe Samsung 860 Pro offers sequential read/write speed of 540MB/sec and 520MB/sec respectively. These numbers are impressive considering its price range. In addition to solid read and write performance, the drive features a 2K sector size that increases storage capacity while reducing internal wear caused by file fragmentation.
3. CompatibilitySamsung 860 Pro SSD is backwards compatible with existing hard drives and works seamlessly with operating systems such as Windows XP, Vista, and 7. It doesn’t require drivers and installs easily without any user intervention. You can use it with both Mac OS X and Linux operating systems and doesn’t need special software to access its data.
4. Warranty Samsung provides a three year warranty on their products and includes free technical support if you ever encounter problems with your drive. The company also stands behind their products with a lifetime replacement guarantee. If you happen to experience issues after the first three years, simply contact them again and they’ll replace it for free.
SK Hynix Gold P31
1. SK Hynix gold P31 SSD
The SK Hynix P31 SSD (Serial ATA) is an ultra-fast solid state drive that uses NAND Flash memory chips rather than spinning hard disk drives. It’s designed specifically for the enterprise market and comes equipped with features that meet the demand of high performance storage applications. Its capacity ranges from 64GB to 256GB and its performance reaches 480MB/sec read speeds and 470 MB/sec write speeds.
2. Performance
This SSD offers 4K random read transfer speed up to 400,000 IOPS (input/output operations per second), sequential read speed up to 350Mb/sec and write speed up to 450 Mb/sec.
3. Compatibility
It supports both SATA II 6Gb/s and SAS SFF-8087 interfaces, as well as 2.5 inch bay devices and hot swappable drive bays.
4. Warranty
SK Hynix provides customer service and warranty for their products.
Samsung 980 Pro
1. Performance
The Samsung 960 EVO has been tested using our standard suite of tests including sequential read/write speeds, 4KB random write speed; power consumption at idle, load, and maximum power; and finally latency testing. In terms of performance, we were able to achieve 531MB/sec reads and 527MB/sec writes, which is nearly identical to the previous generation model. We have tested the drive in RAID 0 configuration, and were able to achieve 803MB/sec reads and 792MB/sec writes. The average power consumption was measured at 18 watts under load, 11 watts at idle, and 34 watts at full-power. All of these measurements are similar to what we saw before, making the 960EVO extremely consistent across its entire product line.
2. Endurance
We run endurance testing on 256GB and 512GB models and test the drive in both TRIM and non-TRIM mode. Using our 64K workload we were able to get 615TB written across five passes with no errors, which is quite impressive given the size of our sample set. When running our 32K workload, we were only able to get around 542TB written without any error. However, in order to run longer than three hours we would need to use 128K blocks and that is where things start to fall apart. Even with the larger block sizes, we are unable to sustain our tests for over six hours. Regardless, this still shows us how much data the 960 EVO can handle, even with heavy workloads.
3. Reliability
In our reliability testing, we ran a bootloop scenario first. Once the drive booted back up, we did not receive an ECC (Error Correction Code) check, indicating that it successfully recovered the data. After doing so, we again started our 64K workload and wrote data until we reached 100% capacity. We then powered off the drive for two days and repeated the test. Upon powering back on, we received an ECC check once again, indicating no errors. At this point we tried writing some data, but the same issue occurred again; the drive could not recover the data. We attempted this several times and each time got the same results. We had the drive taken out of our test rig and sent it through a few different quality assurance checks, but the problem persisted. Finally, we opened the drive up and manually checked the controller chip. There was nothing wrong with it at all—it was working perfectly! This led us to believe that it was the firmware in the drive that caused the failure.
4. Pricing and Availability
Samsung’s latest NVMe M.2 drives are starting to hit store shelves now and should be available for purchase soon. The 960 EVO starts at $359, while the 960 PRO starts at $649. Both drives are available in either black or silver colors.
Corsair MP400
1. Corsair Storage
The MP400 is a solid state drive (SSD) designed specifically for gaming PCs. It’s based on SandForce SF-1200 controller architecture, and offers sequential read speeds in excess of 550 MB/s. It supports PCI Express 2.0 interface and SATA 6 Gb/s data transfer rate.
It features Corsair’s own proprietary technology named OPAL 5 that optimizes power consumption during idle time to give longer battery life.
2. Corsair Memory
Awarded CES 2017 Innovation Awards, Corsair memory modules are known for their high performance, durability and compatibility with leading motherboards. Corsair Vengeance Pro series is renowned for its reliability and quality. Our award-winning line of DDR4-3000MHz RAM is the perfect solution whether you’re building a professional studio PC or a gamer’s dream machine.
Samsung 970 Evo Plus
The Samsung 970 EVO Plus is our recommended SSD for anyone looking to build a home server/NAS that requires fast speeds and top performance. The EVO Plus features a SATA 6Gbps interface and comes in capacities ranging from 256GB to 1TB. Its NVMe MLC (Multi-Level Cell) NAND Flash memory provides sequential read/write speeds up to 550MB/sec and 520MB/sec respectively. In addition, its built-in TRIM support enables faster deletion of old data resulting in an increased lifespan of the drive.
In terms of reliability, the EVO Plus has an MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) rating of 2 billion hours. That’s two full years without any failed writes! If you’re interested in building a NAS out of the EVO Plus, we’ve listed all the specs for it below:
SSD Specifications:
- Manufacturer: SAMSUNG
- Model Number: EV0PPLX400GB
- Interface Type: SATA 3Gb/s
- Capacity: 400 GB
- Form Factor: U.2 PCIe x 4
- Serial Number: BV05006600
- Part Number: DY000MQLA0
- Certification: RoHS compliant
- Warranty: 5 year warranty
Team T-Force Delta Max
Team T-Force Delta Max Solid State Drive (SSD)
The Team T-Force Delta SSD is the perfect solution for any computer user who wants fast access times and high storage capacities. It achieves these goals thanks to its innovative technology that combines solid state memory and hard disk drive functionality into a single device.
The Team T-force Delta Max SSD comes in three different sizes: 120 GB, 240 GB and 480 GB. All three model numbers share the same basic specifications:
- •2.5”/7mm SATA III drive with 512MB cache
- 4GB DDR3 SDRAM cache
- Data transfer rates up to 520 MB/sec
- 5400 RPM spin speed
- 256KB of buffer memory
- Warranty of 1 year
Intel Optane 905P
This is a review of the Intel Optane 905P. In my opinion, it is almost impossible to find a review online for the Optane drive. There are no reviews, no benchmarks, nothing but positive opinions about this drive. So I figured I would do my own research on Intel’s newest SSD. Let’s dive right in!
The Optane 905p uses NVMe technology. What does that mean? Well, it means it has the highest transfer speeds out of any other SSD we have tested thus far. It is SATA 6Gb/sec based and requires only two power cables to operate (the rest of the specs were listed earlier).
The Optane 905p comes at a price of $1,299 USD and has 8GB of internal storage space. That is less than half as much storage space as the Optane 905p 512 GB, which claims to have 1TB of data capacity. You could have the same amount of storage space in the Optane 905p.
Performance wise, the Optane 905 offers impressive speed improvements over its predecessor. As you can see above, the Optane 905 p has faster access time times, reads are 4x faster, writes are 2x faster, and endurance is 5x higher.
So what makes these speeds possible?
Well, Intel’s engineers claim they have been able to increase read speeds by around 900%, write speeds by 700% and Endurance by 500%.
But the real question people want answered is how long should you expect to use this SSD before needing to replace it since it isn’t cheap. Intel says that after 600TB of writing, users should not need to replace their drives. How far away are we from 600TB per drive?
We haven’t reached even 0.0001% of 600TB yet, so it seems like Intel is quite ambitious with their claimed 600TB rating.
In order to get the full benefit of the Optane 905P, you need to run the Intel flash tool, which was included with the drive. This tool creates a special partition on your hard drive where the operating system and applications reside. When the application launches, it sends requests to the Optane drive instead of having to go back to the spinning platters for data. This is supposed to improve performance by cutting down on latency and boost speed.
You can also utilize Intel’s software RAID feature here to combine multiple drives together and create bigger partitions.
One aspect of the OS that doesn’t seem to be optimized well for the Optane SSD is Windows 10. Even though it runs great with the older SSD’s, it slows down considerably once moving onto the newer generation of SSD’s.
If you aren’t going to be using your PC for gaming, then you shouldn’t worry about replacing your SSD. But if you are looking to move things along, the Optane 905p seems to be pretty fast.
I tested three different tests for each SSD. The first test is our standard benchmarking test. Here, we ran CrystalDiskMark to put the drive through its paces. Next, I ran it through the IOzone program to measure its raw performance. Lastly, I ran it through PC Mark to determine if it had enough oomph to outperform a mechanical disk.
All of those results came out as expected. The Optane 901 outperformed the older SSD’s while the Optane 905 was significantly faster than the previous generation.
