Solved Hey hardware guys. Need advice on m.2 drive

I've got this wild hair that I want to replace my small m.2 NVME boot drive ( a 256gb SK Hynix) with a bigger one. I'm not a gamer. I have no real reason to get a larger drive as having all my data on a second spinner drive works for me and the way I work. I just want to. If I do this, I'll either move some of my data back to the system drive or partition this drive to where I can use some of its space to store my data drive backups.

I'm leery of buying a Samsung m.2 that seems to be the rage with most everyone else. I've read too many posts about difficulties people have when either cloning or restoring an image to Samsung drives. (I always image, never clone) Maybe those of you who use Samsung can rest my reservations regarding this issue.

I just want something practical in terms of reliability, longevity, and the best bang for my buck. For what I do, probably any drive would do. Since this will probably be the last computer I ever own, I feel I should keep it as updated as I can.

I need advice on which of these drives you would recommend (if I understand right since I have gen 3 slots my read/write is limited to 3500 MB/s no matter what drive I buy),

WD_BLACK 1TB SN850X NVMe Internal Gaming SSD Solid State Drive with Heatsink - Works with Playstation 5, Gen4 PCIe, M.2 2280, Up to 7,300 MB/s - WDS100T2XHE $68.00
This is the only drive on the list that includes a heatsink.

SK hynix Gold P31 1TB PCIe NVMe Gen3 M.2 2280 Internal SSD, Up to 3500MB/S, Compact M.2 SSD Form Factor SSD, Internal Solid State Drive with 128-Layer NAND Flash $64.00

Crucial P3 Plus 1TB PCIe Gen4 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD, up to 5000MB/s - CT1000P3PSSD8 $45.00

If I did happen to go with a Samsung, I would consider this one.

SAMSUNG 980 SSD 1TB PCle 3.0x4, NVMe M.2 2280, Internal Solid State Drive, Storage for PC, Laptops, Gaming and More, HMB Technology, Intelligent Turbowrite, Speeds of up-to 3,500MB/s, MZ-V8V1T0B/AM $60.00

Any recommendations on a good heatsink would be appreciated as well.

I have the western digital black sn850 as a system drive and the Hynix p41 platinum for data. The black is 1TB and the Hynix 2 TB. I have had no issues and they are great performers. I regularly make and restore backups to the black. No issues whatsoever. I will no longer buy Samsung.

I am using my MB built in heat sinks.

The Samsung 980 is available with a heatsink. That's not a recommendation, just a fact.

I don't know which to suggest. The WDC SN850X is spec'd with 600TBW endurance, while the Crucial is at 220TBW. I don't spot a write endurance for the other two. I doubt that's a major issue, unless you're very concerned about "wear".

I've used a slightly older SN850 (1TB capacity) in two PCs. No problems.

I've also use a Sabrent heat sink. Expensive, but nerdy. If I was buying another today, I might go with an even more ridiculous one (Thermalright HR-09). Impress your friends, for only $13.

(The hottest M.2 drive I'm using at the moment is cooled by my motherboard's built-in M.2 heatsink. I haven't checked it for long-term thermal throttling. It's more than adequate for the short benchmarks I've run.)

If I was trying to get the least expensive drive that was still decent, I might be tempted by an MSI Spatium M450. Cheap, and with a $10 rebate (only if purchased by 9/30).

If you are not playing game and your computer have good air flow, no need for heatsink but why not pay 4 dollar more if you're going for SK hynix Gold P31.

I would get the hynix p31 it had great reviews. The 1tb is reasonably priced atm . Draws less power than all the others and doesn't need a heatsink.
Rated endurance 750tbw.


there is hynix ssd software now

glasskuter said:

I've got this wild hair that I want to replace my small m.2 NVME boot drive ( a 256gb SK Hynix) with a bigger one. I'm not a gamer. I have no real reason to get a larger drive as having all my data on a second spinner drive works for me and the way I work. I just want to. If I do this, I'll either move some of my data back to the system drive or partition this drive to where I can use some of its space to store my data drive backups.

I'm leery of buying a Samsung m.2 that seems to be the rage with most everyone else. I've read too many posts about difficulties people have when either cloning or restoring an image to Samsung drives. (I always image, never clone) Maybe those of you who use Samsung can rest my reservations regarding this issue.

I just want something practical in terms of reliability, longevity, and the best bang for my buck. For what I do, probably any drive would do. Since this will probably be the last computer I ever own, I feel I should keep it as updated as I can.

I need advice on which of these drives you would recommend (if I understand right since I have gen 3 slots my read/write is limited to 3500 MB/s no matter what drive I buy),

WD_BLACK 1TB SN850X NVMe Internal Gaming SSD Solid State Drive with Heatsink - Works with Playstation 5, Gen4 PCIe, M.2 2280, Up to 7,300 MB/s - WDS100T2XHE $68.00
This is the only drive on the list that includes a heatsink.

SK hynix Gold P31 1TB PCIe NVMe Gen3 M.2 2280 Internal SSD, Up to 3500MB/S, Compact M.2 SSD Form Factor SSD, Internal Solid State Drive with 128-Layer NAND Flash $64.00

Crucial P3 Plus 1TB PCIe Gen4 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD, up to 5000MB/s - CT1000P3PSSD8 $45.00

If I did happen to go with a Samsung, I would consider this one.

SAMSUNG 980 SSD 1TB PCle 3.0x4, NVMe M.2 2280, Internal Solid State Drive, Storage for PC, Laptops, Gaming and More, HMB Technology, Intelligent Turbowrite, Speeds of up-to 3,500MB/s, MZ-V8V1T0B/AM $60.00

Any recommendations on a good heatsink would be appreciated as well.

Click to expand...

Post # 17.
BTW, which one do want to install Gen 3 or Gen 4"?
If the slot is Gen 4 then , you would see a good improvement over Gen 3.
Not a gamer, you won't need the WD 850X.

SIW2 said:

I would get the hynix p31 it had great reviews. The 1tb is reasonably priced atm . Draws less power than all the others and doesn't need a heatsink.
Rated endurance 750tbw.

SK hynix Gold P31 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD Review

SK hynix drops its first retail NVMe SSD, and it is an SSD done right. Join us as we closely investigate the Gold P31 1TB drive.

www.tweaktown.com

there is hynix ssd software now

Download – SK hynix SSD

ssd.skhynix.com

Click to expand...

This seems like the winner to me as well.

I have a handful of the WD SN 750's and an 850 at home and they have been fabulous drives. My 850 is in a mobo that had a little heatsink cover, and I haven't found that I've needed anything more than that. Your temps should run cooler anyway as you will be limited to PCIe Gen 3 speeds and won't be pushing the drives to the point where they heat up anyway.

I've got a Samsung 980 Pro and a Samsung 970 EVO with a heatsink in my machine. I have had no problems whatsoever with them.

My suggestion is to go for the Hynix if you don't like the Samsung drives. In my opinion, there is no reason to go for a Gen4 drive unless you eventually want to move the drive to a newer computer that has Gen4 capability. That will save you some money. If you feel the need for an aftermarket heatsink, then by all means do, but I don't think it will be necessary with the Hynix drive.

Another possibility is the WD 750 or 850. The 850 is a bit of overkill for you, but WD does make solid (good) drives IMHO

glasskuter said:

I've got this wild hair that I want to replace my small m.2 NVME boot drive ( a 256gb SK Hynix) with a bigger one. I'm not a gamer. I have no real reason to get a larger drive as having all my data on a second spinner drive works for me and the way I work. I just want to. If I do this, I'll either move some of my data back to the system drive or partition this drive to where I can use some of its space to store my data drive backups.

I'm leery of buying a Samsung m.2 that seems to be the rage with most everyone else. I've read too many posts about difficulties people have when either cloning or restoring an image to Samsung drives. (I always image, never clone) Maybe those of you who use Samsung can rest my reservations regarding this issue.

I just want something practical in terms of reliability, longevity, and the best bang for my buck. For what I do, probably any drive would do. Since this will probably be the last computer I ever own, I feel I should keep it as updated as I can.

I need advice on which of these drives you would recommend (if I understand right since I have gen 3 slots my read/write is limited to 3500 MB/s no matter what drive I buy),

WD_BLACK 1TB SN850X NVMe Internal Gaming SSD Solid State Drive with Heatsink - Works with Playstation 5, Gen4 PCIe, M.2 2280, Up to 7,300 MB/s - WDS100T2XHE $68.00
This is the only drive on the list that includes a heatsink.

SK hynix Gold P31 1TB PCIe NVMe Gen3 M.2 2280 Internal SSD, Up to 3500MB/S, Compact M.2 SSD Form Factor SSD, Internal Solid State Drive with 128-Layer NAND Flash $64.00

Crucial P3 Plus 1TB PCIe Gen4 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD, up to 5000MB/s - CT1000P3PSSD8 $45.00

If I did happen to go with a Samsung, I would consider this one.

SAMSUNG 980 SSD 1TB PCle 3.0x4, NVMe M.2 2280, Internal Solid State Drive, Storage for PC, Laptops, Gaming and More, HMB Technology, Intelligent Turbowrite, Speeds of up-to 3,500MB/s, MZ-V8V1T0B/AM $60.00

Any recommendations on a good heatsink would be appreciated as well.

Click to expand...

I don't think heatsinks are necessary with m.2 drives. I don't have one on mine. As for the brand, I have a Silicon Power 500GB M.2 Drive. I partitioned it in to 2 X 250GB. I use half of it for my OS, and half of it for personal files.

I imagine that most of us don't flog an M.2 SSD for long enough periods that thermal throttling is a major issue.

However, using a heatsink isn't a big deal, so I do it anyway.

bobkn said:

I imagine that most of us don't flog an M.2 SSD for long enough periods that thermal throttling is a major issue.

However, using a heatsink isn't a big deal, so I do it anyway.

Click to expand...

Probably not. I don't game with mine anyway. Mine runs about 132°F though.

glasskuter said:

I've got this wild hair that I want to replace my small m.2 NVME boot drive ( a 256gb SK Hynix) with a bigger one. I'm not a gamer. I have no real reason to get a larger drive as having all my data on a second spinner drive works for me and the way I work. I just want to. If I do this, I'll either move some of my data back to the system drive or partition this drive to where I can use some of its space to store my data drive backups.

I'm leery of buying a Samsung m.2 that seems to be the rage with most everyone else. I've read too many posts about difficulties people have when either cloning or restoring an image to Samsung drives. (I always image, never clone) Maybe those of you who use Samsung can rest my reservations regarding this issue.

I just want something practical in terms of reliability, longevity, and the best bang for my buck. For what I do, probably any drive would do. Since this will probably be the last computer I ever own, I feel I should keep it as updated as I can.

I need advice on which of these drives you would recommend (if I understand right since I have gen 3 slots my read/write is limited to 3500 MB/s no matter what drive I buy),

WD_BLACK 1TB SN850X NVMe Internal Gaming SSD Solid State Drive with Heatsink - Works with Playstation 5, Gen4 PCIe, M.2 2280, Up to 7,300 MB/s - WDS100T2XHE $68.00
This is the only drive on the list that includes a heatsink.

SK hynix Gold P31 1TB PCIe NVMe Gen3 M.2 2280 Internal SSD, Up to 3500MB/S, Compact M.2 SSD Form Factor SSD, Internal Solid State Drive with 128-Layer NAND Flash $64.00

Crucial P3 Plus 1TB PCIe Gen4 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD, up to 5000MB/s - CT1000P3PSSD8 $45.00

If I did happen to go with a Samsung, I would consider this one.

SAMSUNG 980 SSD 1TB PCle 3.0x4, NVMe M.2 2280, Internal Solid State Drive, Storage for PC, Laptops, Gaming and More, HMB Technology, Intelligent Turbowrite, Speeds of up-to 3,500MB/s, MZ-V8V1T0B/AM $60.00

Any recommendations on a good heatsink would be appreciated as well.

Click to expand...

If your system board isn't like around four years old or younger you likely don't have a Gen4 ready board so PCIe Gen4 NVMe would be overkill - Unless you want to future proof your hardware to use it on a newer system board at some point in time. Otherwise you're wasting capital.

Ironically, I recommend WD BLACK SN770 because I've used it and it doesn't drop out on file transfer speeds as quickly as many others I've used. A heat sink can help extend the life of your silicon but it isn't essential in your case. This particular NVMe has come very close to that maximum 3.5 GB limitation on my PCIe3 work station and I find it very handy for making fast file transfers. Admittedly, it is not the cheapest NVMe going, but as for reliability and longevity it gets my vote. I have heard that SAMSUNG had dealt with their backward compatibility issues, but I fail to see the point in buying PCIe4 NVMe for PCIe3 platforms.

Since you're choosing to upgrade "just because", I also recommend a minimum of 1TB capacity even though you'll 'never use it' as you get better performance at this capacity. Read and write speeds are both improved. Remember the days we were told that nobody would ever need more than 256 MB of RAM? Remember days when 1TB of storage was considered overkill? Those days are gone.

Some here know how I feel about Western Digital mechanical drives. This has no bearing about my impressions concerning silicon from Western Digital. I have a RAID 10 array that consists of all Western Digital SATA SSDs that has never failed on me. I also have a RAID 10 array of Western Digital Velociraptors that are around 15 years old and still spinning without errors. Such a shame Western Digital doesn't make 'em like they used to. Still, there's a big difference between silicon and spinning rust.

I hope this helps :)

JAM83 said:

Probably not. I don't game with mine anyway. Mine runs about 132°F though.

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55.6C, for some of us.

My primary M.2 drive reports 38C (100F), but it uses a heatsink from the motherboard. The air flow isn't great where it sits. That's one downside to using an AIO water cooler.

bobkn said:

55.6C, for some of us.
That's one downside to using an AIO water cooler.

Click to expand...

I could not agree more. I often remind folks that when building a PC airflow is everything. I'd never be able to run 34 drives in my work station if it were not for the airflow it provides. The two huge 200mm fans (one on top and one on the side) plus the dual push/pull fan rigs (one on the bottom and one in the middle for the CPU) plus the mini fans blowing air through the heat sinks on my HBA cards make a huge difference. These modern cases that completely block off air intake at the front of the case present problems. Anyway, 55.6C isn't bad at all considering what CPUs are rated for these days and if that's what your NVMe is running at under load I'd say it is excellent.

Scannerman said:

I could not agree more. I often remind folks that when building a PC airflow is everything. I'd never be able to run 34 drives in my work station if it were not for the airflow it provides. The two huge 200mm fans (one on top and one on the side) plus the dual push/pull fan rigs (one on the bottom and one in the middle for the CPU) plus the mini fans blowing air through the heat sinks on my HBA cards make a huge difference. These modern cases that completely block off air intake at the front of the case present problems. Anyway, 55.6C isn't bad at all considering what CPUs are rated for these days and if that's what your NVMe is running at under load I'd say it is excellent.

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132°F for some of us lol

"reliability, longevity, and the best bang for my buck."

The exception in your list is the Crucial P3 Plus (Micron) which is cheaper as it's endurance TBW is only half the others.
The "standard" is roughly 600 TBW for a 1 TB SSD.

I have a Gen 4 Micron SSD and interface in my new Laptop which is essentially the same as Crucial P5 Plus (Micron) which has the 600 TBW rating, no heatsink, but that is provided by a plate in the Laptop.

A further point is physical dimensions, whether the SSD pcb is double sided and the height of the M.2 socket above any components underneath, and indeed room for a chunky heatsink on top.

It is advantageous to purchase a larger capacity drive than you need as there is wear levelling in the drive TRIM and all that, so if you just use say 200 GB of the drive that means in theory the drive lasting maybe 4x longer than the same use on a 256 GB drive.

As you can see from the prices you list you only pay a little extra for "Standard" endurance TBW.
You are also paying a bit more for Gen 4 drives which is no use with Gen 3 interface.

You are also paying a bit more for Gen 4 drives which is no use with Gen 3 interface.

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Apart from specialized activities like regular copying of vast quantities of data from one gen4 disk to another gen4 disk , I am not sure the difference gen3>gen 4 matters much.

One possibity is to run a gen4 in a gen3 slot for now, because it can be transferred to a newer machine in a few years. I prefer the p31 because the alleged possible gen4 benefits after transfer to newer machine in future are dubious to me and the p31 has power and heat saving advantages.

In any case a new machine in few years will probabaly have gen6 slot

SIW2 said:

Apart from specialized activities like regular copying of vast quantities of data from one gen4 disk to another gen4 disk , I am not sure the difference gen3>gen 4 matters much.

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Especially since "glasskuter" said that she has PCI-E 3.0 M.2 slots.

However, there doesn't seem to be a consistent cost premium for PCI-E 4.0 M.2 drives rather than PCI-E 3.0 ones.

bobkn said:

Especially since "glasskuter" said that she has PCI-E 3.0 M.2 slots.

However, there doesn't seem to be a consistent cost premium for PCI-E 4.0 M.2 drives rather than PCI-E 3.0 ones.

Click to expand...

The nvme SSD last long enough that they will still be a resource in gen 5+. Gen 4 on a gen 3 MB t is an investment too, and will run top gen 3 performance..

glasskuter said:

Since this will probably be the last computer I ever own, I feel I should keep it as updated as I can.

Click to expand...

I used to say similar things. Admittedly, I don't see myself building a newer PC for my own use anymore. I did however purchase an early GEN4 PCIe board because building a gaming rig for myself was on my bucket list. Laughable, really, but I can relate to "just because". As some here have already mentioned, another reason for buying bigger capacity NVMe is the reserve capacity in larger drives will last longer. I have actually had one stick of NVMe refuse to let me write anything more onto it. I can't even erase it. It's the very first stick of NVMe I ever purchased. I think it's around 256 GB and I keep it around as a curiosity. NVMe will eventually die over time as write ability of the cells diminishes.

I also own a Crucial P5 Plus drive which, off the stretch, is incredibly fast but it drops quickly in speed with large file transfers. In this regard my WD BLACK SN770 surpasses it in efficiency. I haven't determined if this is due to thermals, or backward compatibility, or whatever. Just something that I noticed and I can hardly blame Crucial for this as the P5 Plus was made for GEN4 PCIe.