Question Are M.2 NVME drives reliable?

[tim9317]

I'm building a new PC with a Ryzen 5 3600 CPU and an Asus Tuf X570 motherboard. I was thinking about using an NVME drive as my boot drive but I see a lot of reviews on NVME drives where owners say they fail after a short period of time. I see this across many different brands and models. Are NVME drives reliable enough for a boot drive or should I just get a regular Sata SSD?

 

[UsandThem]

I was thinking about using an NVME drive as my boot drive but I see a lot of reviews on NVME drives where owners say they fail after a short period of time. I see this across many different brands and models.

You should see the around the same amount of SATA SSDs failing as there are PCIe SSDs that fail.

Are NVME drives reliable enough for a boot drive or should I just get a regular Sata SSD?

Yes, they are very reliable. Many of the better brands come with a 5 year warranty (the same as quality SATA SSDs).

 

[jhansman]

I am booting from a Samsung 970 Pro and so far (two months) it hasn't had a single hiccup. You'll want to spend your money on a name brand with a history of success. Keep in mind that NVMe drives are, on average, about 3-4 times faster than their SATA3 counterparts.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

I had a 960 Pro that died a few months ago. Still had 3 years on the warranty, and Samsung just sent me a new sealed retail box 960 Pro to replace it.

I will admit I never expected a Samsung Pro series drive to up and die, but failures are going to happen to someone. The warranty makes for good peace of mind.

 

[jhansman]

I've only used Samsung SSDs (with the single exception of the WD500 M.2 I'm currently running-on sale and couldn't resist), and have yet to have a problem with any of them. It's one brand I feel I can count on, regardless of product. And yes, a three-year warranty does buy you a measure of better sleep.

 

[zephyrprime]

A nvme is really the same thing as an ssd except with a different interface. They're both flash memory. If anything, the nvme has better cooling since they are caseless.

 

[UsandThem]

A nvme is really the same thing as an ssd except with a different interface. They're both flash memory. If anything, the nvme has better cooling since they are caseless.

NVMe is a SSD. The M.2 slot is the interface.

Plus, NVMe (PCIe) controllers run much hotter than SATA controllers, so they can overheat and throttle the drive's performance down to cool off.

 

[SSD Sean]

Failure rates should be similar. Get something with a long warranty and isn’t some Chinese knock off piece of crap.

A nvme is really the same thing as an ssd except with a different interface. They're both flash memory. If anything, the nvme has better cooling since they are caseless.

Ummm, “NVMe is really the same thing as an SSD?“ NVMe is a protocol. SSD is solid state drive...meaning any flash based drive....I think you meant same thing as a SATA SSD...

 

[Terabyte 11]

NVMe drives are quite reliable, they're just a different variety of SSD and are equally as reliable as older SATA type SSDs.

 

[wshirbeeny]

I'm building a new PC with a Ryzen 5 3600 CPU and an Asus Tuf X570 motherboard. I was thinking about using an NVME drive as my boot drive but I see a lot of reviews on NVME drives where owners say they fail after a short period of time. I see this across many different brands and models. Are NVME drives reliable enough for a boot drive or should I just get a regular SATA SSD?

NVMe PCIe M.2 is the fastest storage memory ever, though, mind your attention that this memory will reach its end of life after a certain amount of terra bytes been written to it. You have to periodically check the TBW factor every few months. I think it will be suitable to prepare yourself for that moment.
The number of terabytes written to the NVMe is not only the bytes written when you install or add some files to the storage, it includes each communication with the storage. For example, if the TBW now is 1, after working for a few hours or playing a game, without copying anything on the storage, the TBW will be increased by a certain amount of few megabytes.
TBW factor is given with the NVMe, for example, SAMSUN PRO 1T NVMe M.2 PCIe has a limit of about 1200 TBW. For example, after using SAMSUNG EVO PLUS 1T for about 2 months, 3 TBW have been written to the storage. At this rate, the memory will end up after about 800 months or less, which is 66 years, so take care.

 

[Shmee]

The TBW figure is not a hard limit for the SSD, but rather a warranty term. If the quoted TBW is exceeded, the warranty is no longer valid. Same as if you had the drive 6 years, and the warranty was only 5 years.

 

[Massive79]

I also find NVme quite reliable, havent have any problem since first time I'm using it a year ago.
And if you're not a heavy user, I think any Nvme will be good for you, you wont notice the difference between the fastest and slowest Nvme if it just used for booting and run an application

 

[Igo69]

Question with heat. How do NVMEs get so hot and how do they manage to work at such high heat?

 

[IntelUser2000]

NVMe PCIe M.2 is the fastest storage memory ever, though, mind your attention that this memory will reach its end of life after a certain amount of terra bytes been written to it. You have to periodically check the TBW factor every few months. I think it will be suitable to prepare yourself for that moment.

TBW durability being a problem for SSDs may have been true 10 years, ago, but nowadays its not, unless you really try, such as getting the Chinese no brand SSDs.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Question with heat. How do NVMEs get so hot and how do manage to work at such high heat?

I’ve thought this too.
I am no expert. I believe it has to do with the speed. I don’t know the technical reason but all things in tech as the data moves faster it generates more heat. Obviously dealing with heat can be factored into the design.

 

[Steltek]

Question with heat. How do NVMEs get so hot and how do manage to work at such high heat?

There are two sources of heat on any SSD - the controller, and the flash. The controller tends to get hot during operation like any other chip under heavy, constant use.

NAND flash write/erase cycles also take a lot of energy. When you force that much energy into a small NAND cell, the excess energy has to go somewhere. It is thus converted partly to heat which quickly accumulates.

JEDEC flash is actually rated to run at 40C, and this is the temperature its write endurance is estimated at. If you were to run it at a lower temperature, like room temp (say 25C), the write endurance of the flash memory is actually reduced (in some cases, by up to half). Thus, if you run flash memory too cool, it actually reduces its operational life.