Best bang m.2 NVMe

Checkout the hot deals section... .they are back to $130ish on newegg
$124 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-660p-1-0TB-80mm-978350/dp/B07GCL6BR4
500gb?
game drive?
I have 2x 500gb .. and almost full as steam games are HUGE!!!!
ive got a pci-e 16x nvme quad card so got room for 2 more.. hah..i just keep pointing games to different areas...
Ja, I only have 6 newer games installed on my sexy new 1TB 970 Pro and it is already a little more than half full. I'm going to be putting these new, huge games that love streaming assets on the 970 while everything else can go on the 850s.
 
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Since this is going in to a laptop, you might consider getting a drive that is not power hungry. I realize it's a "gaming" laptop, but cord free is cord free.

I put a Intel 660p 1TB in my Macbook Air since it is one of the lowest power using NVME's out right now. It still gets decent speeds (1600 read / 1400 write on my Air). But uses significantly less power than the Samsung PRO's and EVO's, which can get very very hot on the aluminum chassis Apple's.

Intel 660p 1TB is around $135-$140 at Amazon and Microcenter. Plus Intel has very very good reliability record (which I will take over speed).
 
I'm not sure if I'd personally want to go with a QLC drive even to save power, unless it's for an aluminum-case laptop as specified above. DRAM-less 2.5" SSDs were a thing for awhile given lower power usage, however at least in my experience this came with significant tradeoffs in unusual stuttering and standby issues. Maybe that's less of a concern with NVME drives, but at least with the cache-less 2.5" drives performance was noticeably worse than a standard SSD, although battery life was slightly improved.
 
oops, I bought and received an Intel 660P and not a 600P. Anyways using an adaptor NVMe card PCIe 4x and placed it in available 4x PCIe 2x socket on the motherboard.
The adaptor turned out to be very high quality and worked right of the bat. Drive runs over 10c cooler then the motherboard M.2 slot, it has cooling fins and thermal pads (it has spare pads, total of 4, only one is needed).

The SSD is the same model as my system drive C: which is 1TB. Anyways I was surprised with the results and not sure why they are so different:

2TB Intel 660P SSD, new drive installed in 4x pcie2, 0% used at time of test:

2TB660P.png

1TB Intel 660P SSD, System drive, 55% used, 4x pcie3

1TB660P.png

I can understand the lower Read results on Seq Q32T1 due to being pcie2 vice pcie3 but why are the writes way better on the 2TB drive and frankly everything else?
 
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One is half used and the other is pristine. Also I believe the 2TB unit has double the SLC write cache.
 
I boughtf the 660p 1tb for 124. Slapped it in a Sintech adapter and now my MacBook Pro has a 1tb drive for about 1/6 the cost of wha apple wanted. Oh and it’s faster also.
 
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One is half used and the other is pristine. Also I believe the 2TB unit has double the SLC write cache.
Thanks, I should have said half filled viced used, both indicate 100% device health in HWinfo.

Have 14% loaded and the results are as follows, virtually the same, well I hope it stays this way:

2TB660P14%.png

OK, using Intel SSD Toolbox, my 1TB drive is a 600P and the 2TB drive is 660P. My mistake, they are not the same model, looks like Intel improved significantly the 660P over the 600P. The 600P 1TB drive has an updated Firmware which I will upgrade once done with other stuff, will be the third since I've had this drive.
 
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Newegg has the 660p 1TB for $104 but what's the realiability of these drives. Is there data degradation over time with the QLC?
 
I've used several of the Adata varieties with pretty good success. I had one fail and they were easy to deal with and prompt about the warranty replacement. Recommended for a cheap option.
 
For reference here's my old Samsung 960 EVO that's nearly full:

zjOpyJo.jpg



The Inland drive at Microcenter is currently the best deal IMO if you can find one.
 
I have to recommend against budget NVME drives such as ADATA's. The below screenshot isn't mine but I have the same issue with ADATA 960Gb SX8200 NVME. I called their support team who reports there is a bug that they refuse to fix beyond Windows 10 1803 as the product 'is no longer supported.' Ridiculously poor support for a product less than a year old. My NVME may be under warranty but I have no idea how its performing beyond tests and daily use.

Moving forward I plan on replacing the ADATA NVME with a Samsung 970 model when I see a really good sale and make the ADATA an external drive using an enclosure.


ssd-tooleox-adata-drive-info-drive-info-dis-256gb-disk-40996149.png
 
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intel has really good support though. They will overnight you a replacement if the part fails. usually..
 
I'm waiting or saving up for a Intel 660p 2TB version. Should be great for a storage drive.
 
NewEgg still has the Intel 660p 2 TB for $220, hoping it plummets further. Think it was $220 as far back as last week, maybe they're not moving enough of them.
 
The only thing that i dont like on the 660p is the drop on sequentials, if it was to sata III ssds levels would be fine, but to hdd levels to me its too much, its a drive that depends purely on the slc cache, not that it will matter to most, just more a personal thing.
 
The only thing that i dont like on the 660p is the drop on sequentials, if it was to sata III ssds levels would be fine, but to hdd levels to me its too much, its a drive that depends purely on the slc cache, not that it will matter to most, just more a personal thing.


I thought that was an issue on the 600p not the 660p especially not on 2tb version.
 
I got the HP EX920 and it's great 84.99 at Newegg yeah I know I missed sales for lower price.
 
Given the reasonably priced options from companies with quality support and good reputations (intel etc.) I am surprised at the recommendations for adata and the like. I guess for a steam drive where you can just redownload everything it doesn’t matter much.
 
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