Hard time choosing an ssd

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
R

Reint

Prominent
May 6, 2017
5
0
510
Hello, I would really appreciate if someone could give me some advice on which ssd to choose. I just want an ssd for the OS (windows 10) so 120GB would be enough next to a 1tb HDD. I just want a quick boot. I'm not sure if I should go for older mlc or tlc. Mlc seems to be more realible but tlc is newer and newer often means faster. I really don't want it to break down without a warning. I believe newer ssds tell you when they almost die?

I got three options: (feel free to suggest other, but no Samsung please, because they are 40% more expensive)

1. Kingston SSDNow UV400 120GB
This one is tlc but is the newest and very popular. The TBW of 50GB seems a bit low to me..

2.Sandisk SSD Plus 120GB
This one is mlc but also a bit older and I can't find anything about the TBW. Just as well very popular.

3.Kingston HyperX Fury SSD 120GB
This one is also mlc and the oldest. It has a TBW of 384GB which seems huge to me.

They all cost about the same, 55 euros. Thanks in advance!
 
Solution
R
Hi Reint, if I'm reading your initial post correctly you have 2 concerns: speed and longevity. Here's some thoughts about each.

Speed: You haven't given any system specs so it's it's hard to know if you have a SATA 2 OR SATA 3 controller. The SATA 2 top speed is 300 MB/s and SATA-3 is 600 MB/s. i think you'll find most SSDs can handle 600 but if you have SATA 2 ... the best you will get is 300 in any event so worrying about a slightly 'superior' speed of one brand over another will not matter - you're stuck at 300. If your not sure about your SATA controller (I had no idea about mine) I would download SiSoftware Sandra Lite (free version). It's like "Speccy" on steroids - it will give you so much system information your head will spin...
Sort by date Sort by votes
R

Reint

Prominent
May 6, 2017
5
0
510


But isn't it slow compared to the newer ones? They are like +/- 2 years newer.
And does is tell you when it will die?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
54,269
4,130
174,240
Some thoughts for you:

If all you want is for a quick boot, use sleep to ram instead of shutting down.
The pc will enter a very low power state and restart quickly.

The value of a ssd is in using it for everyday activities.

120gb is too small these days for a C drive.
First, you do not get 120gb useful, more like 110gb.
Many things default to the C drive. As it fills up you will lose performance and endurance.

See if you can't budget a bit more for a 240gb ssd.
Do not worry about the underlying tech.
Endurance today is not an issue, even for the heaviest of users. And, endurance is even greater the larger the ssd.

Today, I think the best performing and most reliable ssd devices come from Samsung and Intel.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
R

Reint

Prominent
May 6, 2017
5
0
510


I'm pretty sure windows 10 would fit easily on a 120GB. But I see you're point, 240GB samsung is "only" 95 euros. But will an ssd last for 8 years? because a 1000 writes doesn't seem like a lot if you ask me. I just really hate the idea of my drive not working all of a sudden ..

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

robert600

Distinguished
Jan 19, 2012
1,257
44
19,840
Hi Reint, if I'm reading your initial post correctly you have 2 concerns: speed and longevity. Here's some thoughts about each.

Speed: You haven't given any system specs so it's it's hard to know if you have a SATA 2 OR SATA 3 controller. The SATA 2 top speed is 300 MB/s and SATA-3 is 600 MB/s. i think you'll find most SSDs can handle 600 but if you have SATA 2 ... the best you will get is 300 in any event so worrying about a slightly 'superior' speed of one brand over another will not matter - you're stuck at 300. If your not sure about your SATA controller (I had no idea about mine) I would download SiSoftware Sandra Lite (free version). It's like "Speccy" on steroids - it will give you so much system information your head will spin! After installing, click on 'motherboard' and scroll down (there will be so much info you will have to scroll and scroll and scroll lol) to "DISK CONTROLLER". Under it look at "Maximum Sata Mode: it will say either SATA600 OR SATA300.

Longevity: I've recently come to understand that the longevity of an SSD is actually linked to how full the SSD is. Basically it seems the emptier an SSD is ... the longer it will last. I always knew that as they got full ... they slowed down ... but the longevity part was news to me. So .... I would seriously consider what Solandri suggests "I highly recommend spending the extra $30 to bump up to the 256 GB size." Having said that ... it just so happens that i have exactly what you are thinking of in my laptop... " so 120GB would be enough next to a 1tb HDD" .... and it works great.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
Solution
geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
54,269
4,130
174,240


Longevity was an issue when a 32gb ssd cost $400.
Today, the extra nand blocks greatly improve endurance.
Also, "trim" allows deletions without needing a read/rewrite cycle.
In practice you would need to be in an active server environment updating constantly before youmightrun out of updates in 10 years.
Your ssd will be long obsolete by then. And... even if you could no longer update, you could still read and copy to a new ssd.
Endurance is simply not an issue today. Not even for a 120gb ssd.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
R

Reint

Prominent
May 6, 2017
5
0
510


Thank you for your response. I'm actually building a system for my brother:
I5-7600
Gtx 1060 6gb gaming x
Msi b250m bazooka
Corsair cx550m
Wd blue 1tb 7200rpm
Crucial ballistix 8gb 2400mhz
(Some sort of ssd)
Thoughts?

If my brother agrees I think I will just get a samsung 850 evo 250GB. For the os and some programs. I just really like the peformance but a dead drive without a warning seems terrible.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
54,269
4,130
174,240


The SMART statistics will tell you how many writes were done an how close you are to full, so you do get some warning..
I might suggest for a budget build that you defer on the hard drive; you can always add one later.
I ran for the longest time on 240gb before increasing to 500gb.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
R

Reint

Prominent
May 6, 2017
5
0
510


Thank you for your suggestion! At the moment such HDD is 49 euros and an ssd 50-95 euros. So I will probably do both or leave the SSD until the prices will drop again.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

robert600

Distinguished
Jan 19, 2012
1,257
44
19,840


I'm a laptop guy so not able to offer any advice about your system build. Does the literature about that motherboard answer the SATA2 - SATA3 question? Nice to have a 7200 rpm 2nd drive (though some folks claim they can be noisy though).

The Samsung SSD seems a good choice.

"a dead drive without a warning seems terrible" - yes, We all live in fear of that lol - particularly the boot drive! After considering the back-up options and .... thinking of the hours spent configuring Win10, installing and configuring programs, getting everything just the way I like it. What I do is clone my boot SSD boot drive to similar sized HDD. In the event of drive failure (or even system corruption that normally would require a fresh install and a loss of all programs)... I can either just use the cloned HDD or clone from the cloned HDD to a new SSD and be back to square 1 in a couple of hours. If that ever happens ... I will increase the SSD from 120 to 240 - unless of course if by then 1 TB SSDs have come down in price to $50 lol.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom