Question Please help me pick out an SSD

[ibex333]

I am looking to buy an SSD for my HP Z400. This computer does not support SATA 6/gb, it's SATAII only. However, I am sure I will still get a nice boost in performance.

I am looking to spend no more than $50-60 and there are two well reviewed SSDs available at this price range which are the WB Blue 500gb and the Samsung EVO 860 also 500gb. The question is, which one is better for me? WD Blue is a tiny bit faster, but then there's all this business about V-NAND I have no clue about...

Please help.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Honestly, I think that you would be very happy with either one. I'm surprised to hear that the WD Blue is actually faster. I was always under the impression that the Samsung SATA drives, with their custom triple-core controller, were tops in SATA SSD performance. Maybe not anymore? Anything above 500-520MB/sec is pretty-much gravy though.

With SATA II controller ports, you would be looking at 250-280MB/sec transfer rates, which, given the lower latency of a SATA SSD over a HDD, is still a pretty decent "win".

 

[Jimminy]

@ibex333
I too, think you'll be happy with either. I've been using an el-cheapo Team Group 480 GB drive for the last year, and it's worked quite well for me so far.

I still use a larger WD hard drive for general data storage.

 

[Shmee]

Either should do well. I believe the current WD Blue drives use 3D TLC nand as well as the Samsung. They both have 5 year warranties. Between the two, I would get whatever is cheaper, or also consider the Crucial MX500 500GB if that is the best buy.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I think the blue uses the same controller/nand as the Sandisk ultra, which can be had for a few dollars cheaper and is a solid budget option imo. Honestly both the options and the crucial or sandisk would be fine. You won't notice the difference.

 

[MalVeauX]

Any of them will work. Get the least expensive decent one. You don't have the bus to take full advantage, but they will indeed be faster than HDD at all things, and it will help a lot in many applications/uses. You can't go wrong with the WD, Samsung, TeamGroup, Crucial, Sandisk, etc in this situation in the $50 price point range.

Very best,

 

[nosurprises]

Get the Samsung drive. I think Samsung SSDs are generally more reliable, and you should be guarantee to get a TLC drive.

 

[TnTecks]

Crucial is a great option. Adata and team Group are also great. The intel one goes on cheap sales too