New drive recommendations please

Jayman · 8 Apr 2020 at 10:53

Hi all,

Think it could be time to upgrade my HD's in my PC. Currently have an old 120gb ssd with my OS and a few programs on so thinking maybe a 500gb(ish) m.2 to replace that one and I have a 1tb mechanical drive with games on, thinking about maybe a 1tb ssd for this perhaps or a 2tb hybrid drive? Any suggestions would be most welcome.

ChrisLX200 · 8 Apr 2020 at 13:27

Make sure there are no known issues running and booting from an M.2 drive with your current kit first before buying. Two standard 2-1/2" SSDs of (say..) 500GB and 2TB might be a better option if that's the case. On its own a single M.2 drive as system disk will offer minimal improvements over a standard SSD, only where you have two NVMe drives does it start to get interesting - then you can swap files between the two, and run a disk image backup really quickly.

Jayman · 8 Apr 2020 at 14:04

I think the M.2 drive should be fine, I upgraded about a year back but kept my original hard drives so now thinking they maybe worth replacing especially the 1tb mech drive as its almost full hence why I am considering a 2tb hybrid or just throwing an additional 1tb ssd in there.

EsaT · 8 Apr 2020 at 21:23

Forget any "hybdid" drives.
NAND cache of those has always been too small to make any sense for anything but getting Windows started.

And if wanting better gaming experience, but don't want to pay SSD price for everything get PrimeCache and use partition from SSD as read cache for mechanical drive.
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/did-some-benchmarking-of-an-ssd-caching-solution.2533859/

Also Samsung brand overprices their drives.
By avoiding that trap you can get lot more for your money.

Jayman · 10 Apr 2020 at 09:10

Any particular 1tb ssd's & 500gb m.2's anyone would recommend please?

EsaT · 10 Apr 2020 at 10:50

WD SN550 is current one of the best priced NVMe's per GB.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/search?sSearch=WD+SN550
Next are Corsair MP510/TeamGroup MP34.

NVMe prices are just unstable right now and going up so very hard to accurate say what's most sense making at any moment.

For 2.5" SATA SSD WD Blue 3D is the most sensible.
Crucial MX500 would be another good, but nowadays tends to be pricier.