Nowadays, the demand for storage media is increasing among more and more people, and solid-state drives (SSDs) are no longer the "high-end toys" of the past. NVMe M.2 solid-state drives are now essentially one of the standard configurations for computer assembly and upgrades, and NVMe M.2 has developed into PCIe 3.0 and PCIe 4.0 interface standards. If the capacity requirement is not large, I personally think that choosing a high-quality 1TB solid-state drive is basically sufficient.

Before purchasing a solid-state drive, it is natural to carefully understand the various parameters of the solid-state drive. Here's the key information!

1. Selection of Storage Cells

Based on the differences in storage unit density, they can be divided into SLC, MLC, TLC, and QLC.

In terms of performance and lifespan, SLC > MLC > TLC > QLC. SLC is no longer available in the consumer market, and MLC is only available in the Samsung 970 Pro in the consumer market. The mainstream solid-state drives on the market are mainly TLC. As for QLC solid-state drives, they are a minefield and should be avoided as much as possible. For home or office use, try to choose TLC, and for enterprise users, try to choose MLC or above, or add a mechanical hard drive as a backup.

2. Cache

A simple explanation of solid-state independent cache is the memory on the solid-state drive, which has built-in DRAM cache. DRAM is a very fast type of memory that can help solid-state drives read and write data faster. However, most solid-state drives now do not have an independent cache and instead use SLC dynamic cache technology. This technology simulates the working mode of SLC particles by allocating independent space within the flash memory particles through the controller mechanism and firmware, and can perform writing performance comparable to SLC particles within a certain space and time. Based on the different speeds before and after the consumption of the independent space, i.e., the OP space, there are cache internal writing and cache external writing.

3. Solid-State Drive Compatibility

Whether a solid-state drive can achieve the theoretical speed and performance depends on its compatibility and the degree of matching with the computer. The main points to look at are:

- InterfaceThere are four types of interfaces for solid-state drives (SSDs): SATA, mSATA, M.2, and PCIe slots. (In addition, there is also the U.2 interface, but it is not commonly seen). These can be seen on the computer motherboard, and each interface type has a different shape. Therefore, before buying an SSD, you need to check the interface type of the computer motherboard.

Protocols

There are also two mainstream protocols: SATA protocol and NVMe protocol. Currently, SSDs with NVMe protocol are divided into PCIe 3.0 and PCIe 4.0.

Common Questions When Choosing

1. Chip

TLC is currently the mainstream of SSDs, with a small amount of MLC existing in the enterprise market, and QLC is rarely distributed. It is easy to distinguish, but SLC is basically out of reach for everyone, mainly used in military-grade applications, and there are basically no related products in the consumer market. So, the type of chip is not that important, unless it is a refined scenario. In terms of daily use, there is no big difference.

2. Lifespan Parameters

The main indicators to measure the lifespan of an SSD are: DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) and TBW (Terabytes Written). DWPD refers to how many times the user can fill the disk with data every day during the warranty period of the SSD. TBW refers to the total number of bytes that can be written during the lifespan of the SSD.

The larger the numbers of both, the longer the lifespan. But I think there is no need to worry too much. Ordinary SSDs have a TBW of 600, and with large data erasure and writing every day, it will take at least seven or eight years to finish writing, let alone the numbers of high-end disks are even larger.

3. PCIe 3.0 or PCIe 4.0?The transfer rate of PCIe 3.0 is 8 GT/s per channel, with a bandwidth of 985 MB/s per channel. In contrast, PCIe 4.0 has a transfer rate of 16 GT/s per channel, with a bandwidth of 1.969 GB/s per channel. This means that the bandwidth of PCIe 4.0 is nearly twice that of PCIe 3.0. In the past, many people believed that PCIe 3.0 was sufficient and that the cost-effectiveness of PCIe 4.0 was not high. However, now some entry-level PCIe 4.0 products have significantly dropped in price and become very affordable. If possible, it is recommended to choose PCIe 4.0, provided that the motherboard and other configurations are compatible.

V. Recommended PCIe 4.0 High-Speed Solid State Drives

After discussing so much technical information, many people may not want to do their homework. Is there any solid state drive that can be chosen without thinking too much? There definitely is!

From the first generation that was controversial to the current global popularity, major manufacturers have also focused on the development of solid state drives. It is difficult to say which solid state drive is worth recommending. However, having tried more than 10 different solid state drives, I personally recommend the following four models.

Lexar ARES War God Series

Lexar has always had a good reputation and is a brand dedicated to making storage accessories. Its strength and quality are trustworthy. I personally like this Lexar War God series solid state drive, which offers 1TB/2TB/4TB options with ample capacity.

It supports the NVMe protocol and PCIe Gen4x4, with the highest sequential read speed reaching 7400MB/s and sequential write speed at 6500MB/s. It also uses the HMB mechanism and SLC Cache dynamic caching technology, ensuring stable and high-speed data reading and transmission during frequent data access.

This Lexar War God solid state drive features a new generation of graphene composite material heat dissipation stickers, which can prevent the drive from overheating and getting damaged during operation. In addition, it also has an intelligent temperature detection mode to ensure the stable performance to the greatest extent. You can also download the SSD Dash software from the Lexar official website to monitor the health status of the War God solid state drive at any time and support permanent data deletion to ensure information security.

Samsung 980 PROThe Samsung 980 PRO is currently Samsung's most cost-effective M.2 solid-state drive (SSD). However, I feel there's not much to say about it; the product quality has always been up to par, and the performance is also high. It adopts the PCIe 4.0 protocol, with a maximum sequential read speed of up to 6900MB/s. The controller chip features a nickel-plated coating design, and there is a copper foil heat dissipation label on the back, which provides good heat dissipation effects. It also offers capacities up to 4TB. Overall performance is decent, but the price is still a bit too high. After buying the first one, I'm not very willing to buy the second one.

SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD

This SanDisk Extreme Pro drive uses TLC flash memory, with a sequential write speed of 3000MB/s and a sequential read speed of 3500MB/s, without cache. The performance is average and stable, and the continuous read and write speeds for large files are acceptable. If you're looking for stability and cost-effectiveness, you can choose this one, as the price is not expensive. However, the maximum capacity is 2TB, which may not be enough for players with many games on the Steam platform or video creators with a large amount of material. The 4K random read and write performance is relatively average, which is considered a medium level among NVMe SSDs, but it is sufficient for ordinary people.

Western Digital SN850X

This SSD is positioned for gaming and esports, making it more suitable for installation in high-performance gaming laptops and desktops. It's not really necessary for ordinary expansion. The maximum sequential read speed can reach 7300MB/s, and the sequential write speed is 6300MB/s, with the highest capacity of 4TB. The performance of long-term continuous read and write is also very good, able to maintain high-speed read and write stably. Like Samsung, the price is very unfriendly to ordinary people with limited budgets who want to pursue high-speed writing!

In general, SSDs should ultimately serve consumers, providing high performance and large capacity while being affordable for us ordinary people. Among these four SSDs, my favorite is still the Lexar Thor series SSD. It maintains high-speed and stable read and write performance with large capacity, and the price is affordable, which is really great.