My current SSD is struggling to keep up, it's almost full and has terrible loading times, especially for games like Fortnite. I'm in the market for a new SSD, ideally around 2TB, but don't want to overspend. I've heard about the benefits of an SSD with DRAM cache but not sure if they justify the cost. Should I make the new SSD my primary drive or keep my old one as a secondary? Is there an advantage to installing Windows on the new drive? Here are the SSD options I'm considering:
- Lexar NM790 SSD 2TB, M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe 1.4
- WD Black SN850X 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 Gen4 x4 NVMe
- Samsung 990 EVO Plus, 2TB, PCIe 4.0 x4 / 5.0 x2, NVMe2.0
- Crucial T500 2TB SSD PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2
- WD Blue SN5000 2TB SSD, M.2 2280 NVMe SSD
- WD BLACK SN7100 2TB NVMe SSD
My motherboard is a Gigabyte H310M S2H, which supports M.2 SSDs, but I'm a bit green when it comes to this stuff. Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated!
1 Answer
If you're planning to use the new SSD as a secondary for gaming, pretty much any of those options will perform well. Just a heads up, the DRAM cache and differences between Gen3 and Gen4 SSDs won’t hugely impact gaming performance. Your motherboard’s M.2 slot is only wired for x2 lanes, meaning it won’t utilize the full speed of Gen4 drives, but honestly, for gaming, this won't be noticeable. So, go for an option that fits your budget!
Thanks for the insight! What exactly do you mean by secondary drive?