Question Getting SSD for ThinkPad X1 - 980 Pro or SN850?

[sakete]

Alright, I just got a new ThinkPad X1 Yoga laptop, with 11th Gen Core i7, so it supports PCIe4. It came with a 1TB Toshiba PCIe Gen3 drive, and I either way want to put in a 2TB drive (it only has 1 M.2 slot).

I'm looking for the overall best mix of performance and power efficiency, and am considering the Samsung 980 Pro and the WD SN850. I can get the WD for $30 less than the Samsung at my local Micro Center, but otherwise not too concerned about that price difference, as it's only a 7.5% difference.

I read through the reviews here on Anandtech and as I'll be using this 2TB drive as the only drive, it'll accumulate some data (I also have a desktop, so this laptop is not my primary system).

It looks like the 980 Pro performs better when the drive is fuller compared to the SN850?

And then, which one of these would be more power efficient, better latencies, etc.?

Thanks.

 

[Soulkeeper]

The performance is relatively close imo. I'd give a slight nod to the 980 pro.
Samsung is basically the performance leader in most all categories, but it's not night and day.
That being said, nobody is likely to notice the performance difference.

This is kind of a personal choice $30 vs. a slight advantage (maybe 1% in most things, losing/tied in others).

 

[sakete]

The performance is relatively close imo. I'd give a slight nod to the 980 pro.
Samsung is basically the performance leader in most all categories, but it's not night and day.
That being said, nobody is likely to notice the performance difference.

This is kind of a personal choice $30 vs. a slight advantage (maybe 1% in most things, losing/tied in others).

Thanks. I've actually decided to repurpose a 2TB 970 Evo Plus drive from my desktop that only had 200gb of data on it. Will do a swap tomorrow, and that'll save me $400

It's not as fast as the PCIe4 drives, but in real world usage the difference is probably barely noticeable. And "free" is hard to beat

 

[Super Spartan]

Thanks. I've actually decided to repurpose a 2TB 970 Evo Plus drive from my desktop that only had 200gb of data on it. Will do a swap tomorrow, and that'll save me $400

It's not as fast as the PCIe4 drives, but in real world usage the difference is probably barely noticeable. And "free" is hard to beat

that's the wiser choice IMO and remember, those big numbers that PCIe 4 offer are just sequential speeds but the 4K Random Read/Write which is what most users deal with is close.

 

[Golgatha]

Thanks. I've actually decided to repurpose a 2TB 970 Evo Plus drive from my desktop that only had 200gb of data on it. Will do a swap tomorrow, and that'll save me $400

It's not as fast as the PCIe4 drives, but in real world usage the difference is probably barely noticeable. And "free" is hard to beat

Smart choice. I put some cheaper (but not too cheap, TLC with DRAM) 2TB drives in my laptop and don't feel like I'm missing out. Paid about $450 after tax for 4TB of PCIe3 storage.