Question Which SSD and storage option would go with? Need some thoughts on 1TB vs 500GB.

[arandomguy]

Current storage setup is a 128GB Crucial M4 as the System drive + active games (has trouble fitting 2 games now, 1 MP and 1 SP). A 1 TB HDD short stroked to 600GB for games. A 4 TB for bulk storage.

Current system doesn't have NVME. Any future upgrade would be to a ITX or mATX motherboard so NVME slots will likely be limited to 2 if not 1 (currently looking at more likely 1).

Concern would be how much software, specifically games, get NVME based optimizations based on next gen consoles.

I currently bought the following -

500GB 860 EVO - $36.25 (500GB 860 EVO write speed drops after the SLC cache is exhausted as it doesn't saturate SATA, which is something I have reservations on)

I'm not sure how I'd configure my current storage. 500GB isn't enough for all the games so I'd still need to keep the game HDD. Really I don't play that many games at once so all active games would easily fit on the 500GB but this would still involve shuffling. Not sure if the M4 could sell for anything.

This would stop gap for 1-2 years until it's complimented by a 1TB-2TB NVME drive and gets put on duty as the system drive. Drives like the Adata/HP SM/64L drives or Intel/Crucial QLC drives will likely get on sale for $90 or less this year.

vs.

1 TB 860 EVO - $78

With this I'd retire the game HDD (maybe sell it for $15 or so). Use the M4 as the system drive only. The 1TB for games and some productivity apps. Keep the 4 TB for bulk storage. The convenience is this would mean no more drive management.

Hopefully in the longer run Optane (or alternative) consumer variants get better and that becomes the "fast" drive in the NVME slot. Or at least some "fast" NVME. 1 TB could be useful for some bulk storage down the line while 500GB is kind of in the middle of nowhere at that point.


Which would you go with?

 

[aigomorla]

2TB Intel 660p nVME and not look back. Its not the fastest, but its definitely near the best $$/GB/Perf

Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 2TB PCIe Internal SSD - Newegg.com

Buy Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 2TB PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 3D2, QLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDPEKNW020T8X1 with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

Also i am assuming your not even on the tip of casual gamer, and more relaxed gamer, as i probably go though 500GB every couple of months on new games, as they are getting ridiculously bloated these days with 3 major download services... Origin, Epic, Steam.

I would advise against any 2.5 inch SATA SSD no smaller then 1TB.
People are going the trait of either super fast and small cap, or the super high cap, moderate speed route, which makes the 500GB sata SSD horrible.

If you absolute must get a 2.5inch, for said reasons, dont have nVMe compatibility, i would go with nothing smaller then a 1TB, nothing lower then TLC.

 

[dlerious]

Getting higher TBW with larger capacities was what pushed me toward the largest capacity I could afford. Just wish the 4TB drives would come down to at least $.10 /GB. Almost grabbed one black friday, but the $450 was more than 2 2TB drives.

 

[arandomguy]

2TB Intel 660p nVME and not look back. Its not the fastest, but its definitely near the best $$/GB/Perf

Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 2TB PCIe Internal SSD - Newegg.com

Buy Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 2TB PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 3D2, QLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDPEKNW020T8X1 with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

Also i am assuming your not even on the tip of casual gamer, and more relaxed gamer, as i probably go though 500GB every couple of months on new games, as they are getting ridiculously bloated these days with 3 major download services... Origin, Epic, Steam.

I would advise against any 2.5 inch SATA SSD no smaller then 1TB.
People are going the trait of either super fast and small cap, or the super high cap, moderate speed route, which makes the 500GB sata SSD horrible.

If you absolute must get a 2.5inch, for said reasons, dont have nVMe compatibility, i would go with nothing smaller then a 1TB, nothing lower then TLC.

It's more of a play play style type thing. For SP games (story oriented ones) I only play one at a time until it's thoroughly completed (story finished, including extra stuff for completion). I might have 1 MP game, 1 story game, and 1 (or more) sandbox/open type games actively played (could be something like a turn based strategy game like Civ 6 and a survival game for instance). The current SSD is a problem as it's having trouble even fitting 1+1 (only around 50GB left after the MP game) now.

For SP story games they are basically shelved and get deleted. If I do want to replay it (which is certainly measured more in the years down the line time frame) I can just redownload it (have fiber anyways and no rush). Even when I look at that game HDD maybe half the games I've launched less than a couple of times over the last year or more.

But I'm not sure how much of the above is natural behavior versus ingrained behavior due to having to manage the lack of SSD space.

As for NVME it's looking likely I'd be limited to a single drive, which means that slot in itself will be a commodity to consider. Do I want to save it for a "fast" drive (especially if games do get design changes to leverage NVME drives with next gen consoles)?

I have the same concerns about the 500GB drive just being in the middle of nowhere (as well as because Samsung's larger dies it is actually slower). But it works out cheaper as a stop gap to pair with NVME down the the line, and it gets relegated to being purely a boot drive. Also I guess it's the better "deal" as you would expect worse than 1:1 price scaling from 1 TB to 500GB (due to other fixed costs aside from NAND/DRAM), and in this case it's better than 1:1 (just due to how the discounts worked out for me).

Whereas the 1TB can be games storage for now but is of a large enough size to be purposed for storage in the future. Or act as the game drive for a smaller Optane type NVME drive.