±250GB SSD: Samsung 850 EVO vs Intel 545s?

[Mike64]

Does anyone have any thoughts about one or the other being significantly better? The Samsung is, well, the Samsung 850 EVO, but otoh, Intel is Intel (assuming that "still" means something?). I haven't looked up this particular Intel model at all yet, but superficially they seem pretty comparable. The Samsung is a wee bit faster and has a 25% longer rated MTBF, while the Intel is (a "whopping") 6GB bigger and, well, it's an Intel. But for practical purposes, the difference in specs doesn't seem significant. (And they both have a 5 year warranty.)

Microcenter has both for $80 (Samsung, Intel) hopefully through Monday. It's not really a cost savings worth mentioning vs buying a Samsung somewhere else for $90 (which price seems to happen fairly regularly) since I'd have to pay 8.875% sales tax at Microcenter. But at least I could exchange it more quickly and easily than by mail if necessary...

 

[PliotronX]

They don't really trade punches, the evo has a clear performance advantage despite its age but the 545s notably gets within spitting distance of Samsung's voodoo magic that all others have failed to get close to in the 3D NAND market.. You basically can't lose although if there is a problem, I have had better experience with Intel support than Samsung's.

 

[UsandThem]

Either one is a excellent choice. Just flip a coin if undecided.

I would have no concerns buying either one.

 

[UsandThem]

The Crucial MX300 and BX300 are solid choices as well if you catch them on sale.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I wouldn't buy either when 500GB is only ~$130 and 250GB is cutting really close even for a Win10 installation with updates and nothing else inside.

 

[UsandThem]

I wouldn't buy either when 500GB is only ~$130 and 250GB is cutting really close even for a Win10 installation with updates and nothing else inside.

I think that only comes out to around 30GB. It will come down to what else OP wants to install on drive. At least the BX300 being a MLC drive, it will not slow down even when full.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yes, I still install Windows 7 and 10 on 128GB drives (individually). That still leaves room for downloads and upgrades.

 

[Shmee]

I would go with the 850.

 

[Mike64]

I wouldn't buy either when 500GB is only ~$130 and 250GB is cutting really close even for a Win10 installation with updates and nothing else inside.

If I were buying an SSD for a laptop I'd go for the biggest one I could afford, but for my desktop anything bigger than 256GB would be overkill. (For another $20 I'd say what the hell, but not for $50.) I'm not a gamer, nor do I use/need a lot of other large programs, so in all seriousness, even 256GB is bigger than I "need" (I still have > 35GB free on the ancient 96GB Kingston I'm currently using, with Vista). It does seem kind of pointless to me to go with a 128GB, as much for price-to-performance reasons as anything else, but buying an even bigger C drive for a Win7 machine would truly just be a complete waste of money for my purposes. At least for the foreseeable next few years, and I'm not going to worry now about what I might need 5 years from now...

At least the BX300 being a MLC drive, it will not slow down even when full.

That's a good point, I managed not to notice that that the BX300 is MLC. Though since there's very little more than a snowball's chance in hell I'll ever come close to filling up even a 250-ish GB drive, I don't know how much that really matters. Otoh, I haven't been paying close attention to new SSD releases for a while. Have you noticed any reported and "tested" difference in longevity between 3D TLC and MLC? Given my tendency to stick with stuff until it literally starts falling apart, that strikes me as more important than relatively smaller differences in performance...

I would go with the 850.

For any reason other than what seems to me like a fairly narrow performance edge? (At least based on the rated specs, I haven't looked at in-depth review benchmarks yet.)

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I wouldn't buy either when 500GB is only ~$130 and 250GB is cutting really close even for a Win10 installation with updates and nothing else inside.

Yes, I still install Windows 7 and 10 on 128GB drives (individually). That still leaves room for downloads and upgrades.

Heck, I have 10 installed on a 64GB drive. Even without windows image compression, and a few applications installed its only about half full.

32GB would be cutting it close.

 

[UsandThem]

That's a good point, I managed not to notice that that the BX300 is MLC. Though since there's very little more than a snowball's chance in hell I'll ever come close to filling up even a 250-ish GB drive, I don't know how much that really matters. Otoh, I haven't been paying close attention to new SSD releases for a while. Have you noticed any reported and "tested" difference in longevity between 3D TLC and MLC? Given my tendency to stick with stuff until it literally starts falling apart, that strikes me as more important than relatively smaller differences in performance...

Not really any longevity difference. Both 3D NAND and MLC drives will last you a long time. Right now the price of the BX300 is the same as the Samsung or Intel drive, so I'd personally go with one of those. They both give 2 years more warranty (5 vs. 3). The BX300 is a good choice when you are going to use most of the available space, but since it sounds like you will never fill more than 50% of your drive, it really doesn't matter if you choose the 3D NAND drives, and they are a little faster out of the box.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The Samsung free migration software works great for moving your existing OS onto a new (Samsung) SSD without needing to do an image backup and restore. I've done this on a couple of different PCs now with zero issues.

 

[Mike64]

The Samsung free migration software works great for moving your existing OS onto a new (Samsung) SSD without needing to do an image backup and restore. I've done this on a couple of different PCs now with zero issues.

I would/will be installing it on a completely new-to-me machine, so even doing a fresh install wouldn't be that big a deal, but that's good to know.

***************
Overall, I'm kinda leaning toward the Intel, but from Newegg. I hadn't noticed before that while the Samsung is $10 higher there than at Microcenter, Newegg does have the 545s for $80 O/S at the moment, so between the savings on sales tax, the subway fare, and the time to get to Microcenter (in an extremely inconvenient location), it's looking better and better for Newegg with Shoprunner...

 

[UsandThem]

Overall, I'm kinda leaning toward the Intel, but from Newegg. I hadn't noticed before that while the Samsung is $10 higher there than at Microcenter, Newegg does have the 545s for $80 O/S at the moment, so between the savings on sales tax, the subway fare, and the time to get to Microcenter (in an extremely inconvenient location), it's looking better and better for Newegg with Shoprunner...

It sounds like Intel is the winner then. You save money, and don't have to get on the subway next to a person coughing all over you. Just stay home and wait for the delivery.

 

[Mike64]

It sounds like Intel is the winner then. You save money, and don't have to get on the subway next to a person coughing all over you. Just stay home and wait for the delivery.

LOL, Well, "just staying home" isn't an option, but I was using "subway fare" and the time saved as shorthand for "taking the subway to a station I never normally get off at to a bus I rarely ever take to go halfway across Brooklyn to a long-defunct industrial zone under the Belt Parkway where I can't even double-up on other errands (given that I don't need a tattoo at the moment, nor whatever probably-low-rent, overpriced porn the big porn-slash-sex-toy emporium over there probably sells), and then reversing the process"...