With the emergence of thinner yet powerful laptops, the need for compact but lightning-fast storage media is inevitable. What else is it if not an NVMe SSD or also called a PCIe NVMe SSD.
NVMe SSD is a type of SSD used in laptops to process very fast read / write. It is small in size and long in shape, more similar to RAM than SATA SSD on a desktop PC. (Also read: what is an SSD?)
In 2021, ideally all laptop manufacturers must use SSDs for their laptop storage media if they want to compete. Especially for popular gaming laptops such as the Razer Blade or Asus ROG series, the use of NVMe SSDs with fast read / write speeds is a must.
But as consumers, sometimes our problem is that the price of a laptop is much more expensive if you choose a variant with a large SSD. A gaming laptop with a 1TB SSD versus the 512GB variant can cost a lot differently and make no sense. What’s the best choice? Buy a variant with a small SSD then upgrade yourself.
Well, it cannot be denied that the price of NVMe SSD is expensive. But take it easy because it is comparable in quality. Here are the best choices!
WD Black SN750 (1TB)
- Controller: Western Digital
- Memory: SanDisk / Toshiba 3D TLC
- Interface: M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4
- Seq. read: 3,470MB / s
- Seq. write: 3,000MB / s
The placement of the WD Black SN750 in the first place might be a scandal. Although all other reviews put the Samsung 970 Evo Plus in first place, we don’t agree, let alone the extreme variants of price differences between Western Digital’s 1TB and Samsung’s 1TB variants. The difference in performance? Do not feel!
Western Digital is a longtime player in the HDD industry, and the brand’s entry into the SSD market is driving competition for other brands to maintain product performance while maintaining reasonable prices. WD’s NVME SSD is very fast, and you can also turn on Gaming Mode in the default SSD dashboard software from WD.
Of course turning on this gaming mode will generate excess heat on the SSD, so if you really intend to “overclock” this SSD, WD recommends using an additional heatsink which is sold separately.
Based on benchmark tests, the Samsung 970 Evo Plus won with a higher score, but in actual use the WD Black SN 750 SSD feels exactly the same as the Samsung 970 Evo Plus and at a much cheaper price.
Unless you are a hardcore content creator who creates super complex animations, or creates physics simulations with billions of read / write processes, it might be worth buying the Samsung 970 Evo Plus. But for the rest (and me), the WD Black SN 750 is the right fit for both performance and price.
Sabrent Rocket Q
- Controller: Phison PS5012-E12
- Memory: 3D QLC NAND
- Interface: M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4
- Seq. read: 3,400MB / s
- Seq. write: 3,200MB / s
Sabrent Rocket Q is one of the most impressive NVMe SSDs you can buy right now. The high price for the 4TB variant can certainly scare you, but with such a large capacity, you no longer need to separate files from other programs. Put everything on this SSD and don’t keep changing it again for the next few years.
If you are serious about being lazy to change SSDs again until the end of the day you come to pick them up, there is an 8TB variant that must be balanced between SSD care and personal health care so that you are old enough to enjoy it.
ADATA XPG SX8200
- Controller: SMI
- Memory: 3D TLC
- Interface: M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4
- Seq. read: 3,500MB / s
- Seq. write: 3,000MB / s
Based on the experience of building dozens of PCs, the Adata SX8200 produces very satisfying performance, far above the Samsung 970 Evo Plus and several other SSDs. Not only faster, this SSD also doesn’t experience any slowdown when moving large files.
If you are a desktop PC user, this NVMe SSD is equipped with a built-in heatsink that works very well, and only touches 65 degrees Celsius in heavy use.
In our opinion, the Adata XPG SX8200 is one of the most “worth it” options for performance and price. With a much cheaper price, you get higher performance than most big brand SSDs which are priced much more expensive.
Samsung 970 Evo Plus
Controller: Samsung Phoenix
Memory: Samsung 3-bit MLC
Interface: M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4
Seq. read: 3,400MB / s
Seq. write: 3,300MB / s
Samsung is the first brand to release an M.2 NVMe product, and not many other brands can beat it. The 970 Evo Plus is one of the fastest PCIe 3.0 M.2 drives on the market. Samsung’s latest release, the 970 Pro, outperforms the 970 Evo Plus, but at a price that’s 50{7ae9dcebd9dd004c164f5ac83492ab0da83c9658891ee56b8436678e90c11220} more expensive, again in our opinion it’s not worth it.
Like the 970 Pro, the 970 Evo Plus model gets a high rating for durability, with the 1TB model being able to write 600TB of data in 5 years (aka 329GB per day). A bit redundant and pointless of course for normal users and gamers.
If you are a hardcore user such as for complex scientific simulations or making 3D animations like Pixar, then maybe this SSD could be an option, because it has outstanding performance. For normal people like me it is not worth it. Too expensive.
Corsair Force MP600
- Controller: Phison PS5016-E16
- Memory: Toshiba TLC
- Interface: M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4
- Seq. read: 4,950MB / s
- Seq write: 4,250MB / s
If you are looking for an SSD with the potential for extraordinary speed and far above other SSDs, the Corsair Force MP600 is none other than your final destination.
Instead of using the PCIe 3.0 interface, the Corsair Force MP600 uses PCIe 4.0 which has far above performance, but until this article was released, not many motherboards were compatible with PCIe 4.0.
If you are a user of the latest generation of AMD Ryzen and one from the previous generation, you can feel the maximum potential of this SSD. But unfortunately Intel users should be disappointed because the motherboard does not yet support the maximum potential and PCIe 4.0.
From the price, of course this product is very expensive compared to other SSDs which are still PCIe 3.0. Corsair Force MP600 is not for just anyone, and not all motherboards can maximize the speed of this SSD, so research your laptop first before deciding to buy.
Addlink S70
- Controller: Phison PS5012-E12
- Memory: Toshiba 3D TLC
- Interface: M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4
- Seq. read: 3,400MB / s
- Seq. write: 3,000MB / s
With the availability of easy-to-access SSD memory controllers, anyone with qualified manufacturing facilities can now produce quality SSDs. Addlink has proven this by connecting a Phison controller with a Toshiba 3D TLC memory, resulting in the S70 that is now in demand. Of course, this SSD is not as fast as the Samsung 970 Evo, but the speed is not that lagging behind, plus the price is quite much cheaper.
Crucial P1
- Controller: Western Digital
- Memory: SanDisk / Toshiba 3D TLC
- Interface: M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4
- Seq. read: 3,430MB / s
- Seq. write: 3,000MB / s
Crucial P1 does offer better performance than SATA SSD, but if you compete with other NVMe SSDs, this product is relatively inferior because it still uses QLC memory. The read / write speed listed often drops when it is under heavy processing, or when its capacity is almost full.
When we filled P1 to half of its total storage capacity, the transfer speed was reduced and the results were similar to SATA SSDs on the market there.
But back again, if it’s only used for gaming, this SSD still competes with its competitors. Especially if you have an unemployed M.2 slot and a limited budget, of course you don’t lose buying this product.