Question Which one is a better SSD from Intel DC P3600 1.2TB and Intel DC P4510 1TB?

Dev P. First

Junior Member
Jan 24, 2019
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I have two options as a primary boot SSD for my CAD workstation:
1. Intel P3600 1.2TB, and
2. Intel P4510 1TB.

Which one is better in terms of reliability, versatility, durability and performance? (Price is no issue..)

As per specs; P3600 is 20nm MLC and P4510 is 64-Layer 3D TLC. Which one can hold data longer and intact without power and why?

I appreciate if anyone can explain the details and help me to decide. Thank you in advance!
 

Billy Tallis

Senior member
Aug 4, 2015
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A boot drive in a CAD workstation doesn't sound anywhere close to the kind of scenarios where you would have to care about unpowered data retention. Unless you can make a very strong case for why it actually matters to your use case, that's not a factor you should be considering. Likewise, write endurance for either drive probably far exceeds your needs.

Why are you considering only datacenter drives and not client/consumer drives that are actually optimized for interactive desktop/workstation usage?
 
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Dev P. First

Junior Member
Jan 24, 2019
6
1
36
A boot drive in a CAD workstation doesn't sound anywhere close to the kind of scenarios where you would have to care about unpowered data retention. Unless you can make a very strong case for why it actually matters to your use case, that's not a factor you should be considering. Likewise, write endurance for either drive probably far exceeds your needs.

Why are you considering only datacenter drives and not client/consumer drives that are actually optimized for interactive desktop/workstation usage?

Thank you for your reply Billy! I know that it might be an overkill just for a CAD workstation. But, I want to expand this rig's workload eventually and want to use it for video editing and gaming too.

The main reason that I'm considering these datacenter drives is they have Power Loss Protection. Another reason is, I already have these both drives. I want to use one in my rig and I might just sale another on ebay. I'm curious about unpowered data retention just because I want to know if I can use one of these for a long time personal storage drive (currently I'm only using HDDs to archive personal data).
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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I'm curious about unpowered data retention just because I want to know if I can use one of these for a long time personal storage drive (currently I'm only using HDDs to archive personal data).
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the JEDEC spec for unpowered data retention in consumer drives is only a year, and in datacenter drives, more like three months or so.

You really don't want to use an SSD for long-term archival storage. Really. HDDs are actually very good for that, and tape/optical probably better.
 
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Dev P. First

Junior Member
Jan 24, 2019
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but the JEDEC spec for unpowered data retention in consumer drives is only a year, and in datacenter drives, more like three months or so.

You really don't want to use an SSD for long-term archival storage. Really. HDDs are actually very good for that, and tape/optical probably better.

These JEDEC specs for unpowered data retention only applies to the device at the end of its prescribed service life.

I found this Micron Blog about Data Retention in SSDs.

I really want to know is which one is more prone to lose data (or corrupt data) in unpowered state or harsh conditions, 20nm planar MLC NAND or 64-layer 3D TLC NAND?
 

Harry_Wild

Senior member
Dec 14, 2012
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I have two options as a primary boot SSD for my CAD workstation:
1. Intel P3600 1.2TB, and
2. Intel P4510 1TB.

Which one is better in terms of reliability, versatility, durability and performance? (Price is no issue..)

As per specs; P3600 is 20nm MLC and P4510 is 64-Layer 3D TLC. Which one can hold data longer and intact without power and why?

I appreciate if anyone can explain the details and help me to decide. Thank you in advance!

Maybe you should ask that question of Intel Community forum! There are tons of engineers that will be glad to share their thoughts on the SSDs.
 
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