Considerations when buying new SSD

What considerations do I need to know when shopping around for a new SSD?

I received a desktop from my wife this past Christmas that has SSD storage, my first SSD device ever.

Decided recently to start getting a little smart about SSD's as I realized if the SSD died, or I need larger storage, or it got sucked into an alternate universe, I'd need to know the important parameters/points to know when buying a new SSD.

So, what I have in the comp is:
256GB (storage size)
M.2 (form factor)
PCIe/NVMe (interface)
2280 (physical size)

Are the above the only considerations I need when shopping between brands, or are there more?

For what it's worth, the comp is working fine, still has 6 months under warranty. Inquiry for my own info.

Also consider the type of NAND cells - must be TLC. Triple Layer Cell, 3 bits stored per cell.

In the case of your SSD, you have an M2 based SSD which physically connects directly to your motherboard. (like a stick of RAM). Depending upon the motherboard in your system, you may have only 1 M2 connector, or you may have multiple. You would have to look at your motherboard documentation to see if multiple M2 based SSD's could be used.

With respect to the 2280 (physical size), typically your motherboard will allow smaller and larger SSD's on the motherboard. You would again have to look at the motherboard documentation to see which sizes will fit on the board.

The M2 PCIExpress based SSD's are the fastest SSD's on the market. Specifically the PCI Express Gen4, Gen3 is super fast too....but Gen4 is the fastest.. At the moment, the Gen4 PCI Express option is ONLY available if you have an AMD Ryzen CPU on an x570 motherboard chipset. So, if you have Intel, PCI Express Gen3 is the top option.

Now, in addition to M2 based SSD's, you can also use a standard 2.5" SATA based SSD drive. Performance on these will still crush standard hard drives. You can run as many of these as you have SATA ports on your motherboard.

Hope these things help.

Anibor said:

Also consider the type of NAND cells - must be TLC. Triple Layer Cell, 3 bits stored per cell.

No, it's not true that it must be Triple Layer Cells. MLC Two Level Cells are also available, that gives greater endurance, but at a higher price. Typically most are TLC, but Four Layer Cells also exist (with a corespondingly lower price and endurance).


Take the Samsung range as an example.

The 970 EVO is 3 bit MLC

MZ-V7E2T0 | MZ-V7E2T0BW | Samsung UK

The more expensive 970 PRO is 2 bit MLC

MZ-V7P512 | MZ-V7P512BW | Samsung UK

While the budget QVO range (only available as SATA) uses 4 bits per cell

Samsung Solid State Drive 860 QVO SSD

NVME SSDs are also available with PCI-E 4.0. (Most are PCI-E 3.0.)

That offers twice the nominal bandwidth of PCI-E 3.0. (The gain isn't 2X in use.) It requires CPU and chipset support. AMD was first to offer that.

Detailed specs?

SSD < PRODUCTS < SK hynix

In particular: https://www.skhynix.com/datasheet/en..._S3)_popup.jsp

Not very detailed. The read rate seems low, if it's a PCI-E 3.0 X4 device. I also don't see a mention of NVME.

The latest modern Laptops have like 32gb Hard Drive

There are two types of users.

Own a Disc for life or stream for life with f*** all

Pluginz said:

The latest modern Laptops have like 32gb Hard Drive...

Low end laptops often have a 32GB eMMC drive soldered onto the motherboard.

But that's OT for this thread, it's discussing high end machines with an M.2 slot and SSDs with capacities measured in TB, not GB.

Sorry Bree understood
It was just a consideration in the OP question. I wasnt trying to be negative or get anything confused.
I just hate modern 'you dont own any software' anymore type of