The best SSDs don't cost less than a double cheeseburger from McDonald's. However, if you look hard enough, especially on Chinese online retail platforms like AliExpress, you may find 120GB SSDs selling for as low as $3 from some lesser-known Chinese brands.
Many Chinese SSD vendors are on the market, and you probably have heard or seen some of them, such as YMTC, KingSpec, Netac, or even Ramsta. Many Chinese brands lack an international presence, and if it wasn't for AliExpress, you would probably never even know they existed. Such may be the case with Shenzhen Goldenfir Technology Co., Ltd., or Goldenfir for short. Even the name sounds lit, right? Goldenfir is a storage manufacturer with an average portfolio of SATA, M.2 NVMe, NGFF, and mSATA SSDs. Besides the usual Chinese platforms, Goldenfir SSDs are also available via marketplace merchants on Amazon, eBay, and Walmart.
The Goldenfir T650-120GB is a standard 2.5-inch SATA III drive that retails for $3. The SSD utilizes Yeestor's YS9082HP SSD controller, manufactured with TSMC's 40nm process node. It's a dual-core controller based on the Arm 32-bit Cortex-R5 architecture. The YS9082HP has a four-channel design supporting 400 MT/s and four CEs.
Meanwhile, the Goldenfir T-650-120GB is also available in the M.2 2280 form factor for $5. The drive uses Silicon Motion's SM2263XT PCIe 3.0 SSD controller on the TSMC 28nm process node. Like the YS9082HP, the SM2263XT adheres to a dual-core configuration sporting the Arm 32-bit Cortex-R5 architecture. The DRAM-less controller has a four-channel design with 800 MT/s support and four CEs. The specifications for the NAND used in the Goldenfir SSDs are unknown.
Goldenfir SATA SSD Benchmarks
| SSD | Random Read 4K (IOPS) | Random Read 4K Latency (µs) | Sequential Read 64K (MB/s) | Sequential Read 64K Latency (µss) | Sequential Write 64K (MB/s) | Sequential Write 64K Latency (µs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston DC600M | 78,000 | 1,630 | ? | 5,000 | ? | ? |
| Goldenfir SATA SSD | 15,000 | 10,225 | 48 | 43,000 | 19 | 53,779 |
StorageReview received the two Goldenfir SSDs from an avid reader and put both drives through their paces. The news outlet used the VDBench benchmark on Linux to measure the storage performance of the Goldenfir SSDs.
The Goldenfir SATA SSD peaked at 15,000 IOPS reads but ultimately finished at 13,000 IOPS reads and a latency of 10,225 µs. For comparison, the Kingston DC600M 960GB hit 78,000 IOPS reads with a low latency of 1,630 µs. The random write performance was so terrible that StorageReview didn't go into detail.
Regarding sequential read performance, the Goldenfir SATA SSD achieved 48 MB/s with a latency of up to 43,000 µs. Meanwhile, the sequential write performance was even poorer, with the drive hitting 19 MB/s at 53,779 µs. According to StorageReview, the SSD's performance was comparable to a microSD card from 10 years ago.
Goldenfir NVMe SSD Benchmarks
| SSD | Random Read 4K (IOPS) | Random Read 4K Latency (µss) | Random Write 4K (IOPS) | Random Write 4K Latency (µs) | Sequential Read 64K (IOPS) | Sequential Read 64K Latency (µs) | Sequential Write 64K (MB/s) | Sequential Write 64K Latency (µs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel 670p (PCIe 3.0) | 295,000 | ? | 473,000 | 264 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Solidigm P41 Plus (PCIe 4.0) | 219,000 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Goldenfir NVMe SSD (PCIe 3.0) | 38,000 | 3,924 | 126,000 | 1,015 | 13,000 | 2,494 | 7,794 | 1,854 |
The Goldenfir NVMe SSD topped out at 38,000 IOPS reads but finished with 33,000 IOPS reads at 3,924 µs. Meanwhile, the Intel 670p 2TB achieved 295,000 IOPS reads. As for random write performance, the Goldenfir NVMe SSD resulted in 126,000 IOPS write with 1,015 µs of latency. The Intel 670p 2TB was 4X as fast, with an impressive result of 473,000 IOPS at just 264 µs.
Sequential performance on the Goldenfir NVMe SSD wasn't any better. The drive was only good for 13,000 IOPS writes at 2,494 µs; sequential write performance reached 7,794 IOPS with 1,854 µs. The Solidigm P41 Plus 1TB and Intel 670p 2TB were leagues above the Goldenfir NVMe SSD.
The Goldenfir SSDs are dirt cheap, but at the end of the day, you get what you pay for. A $3 SSD may be reasonable if you only use your system for everyday tasks and don't keep any valuable information on it. You can find cheap 120GB SATA SSDs from reputable brands starting at $13 on the U.S. market. If you're the nickel-and-dime type, a $3 SSD has some appeal, especially since you can pick up four of them for the price of one.
