I'm putting together a new PC and choosing between two 1TB M.2 NVMe SSDs. Their read speeds are nearly identical, and one has somewhat higher write speeds—about 600 MB/s faster—but the main difference is that it includes a DRAM cache and costs roughly $50 more. This will be my primary operating-system drive, likely running either Linux or Windows, and I'll mainly use it for programming, productivity, and gaming. Is the DRAM model worth the extra money?
3 Answers
The extra DRAM is more useful for sustained, heavy writes and workloads that constantly move large amounts of data. Unless you’re writing hundreds of gigabytes or more every day, the performance drop on a decent DRAM-less NVMe drive should be small. I’d prioritize the drive’s controller, NAND type, endurance rating, warranty, and price instead.
For programming, office work, gaming, and normal desktop use, probably not. DRAM-less NVMe drives can use Host Memory Buffer (HMB), which is generally sufficient for everyday workloads and gaming. You’re unlikely to notice a meaningful difference between the two drives in those situations.
DRAM matters more on SATA SSDs, where a DRAM-less model can slow down noticeably during tasks like large downloads or sustained transfers. NVMe drives generally handle the tradeoff better through HMB, so for a main OS, gaming, and productivity drive, I’d save the $50 unless the DRAM model also has better overall specifications.
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