I'm looking to upgrade the main drive for my PC. Right now, I have a Samsung SSD 950 PRO 256GB, but I'm aiming for a 1TB NVMe drive. My motherboard is an MSI PRO B650-S WIFI, which only supports PCIe 4.0 right now, so I can't fully utilize PCIe 5.0. I'm considering these three options: Kingston NV3 1TB, Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB, and Crucial P510 1TB. Given that my build is only a year old and I don't plan to upgrade for at least 8 years, I'm curious if the PCIe 5.0 drives are worth the extra cost.
2 Answers
If you're planning to keep your PC for a long time, I’d recommend looking at 2TB options instead. They usually have better durability for long-term use. Among your listed drives, the Samsung 990 EVO Plus is solid with 600TBW. However, consider the 2TB P300, which has a higher TBW rating at 960 for just a bit more. With extra space, you'll have less hassle deleting and redownloading data later, which is a bonus for longevity.
I’d stay away from drives like the NV3 that use QLC flash. Honestly, the generation number doesn’t make as big a difference as people think. There are some solid options within your budget. For example, you could consider the TEAMGROUP MP33 for around €117 or the Western Digital WD Blue SN5000 for about €146. If you're up for it, even a 2TB drive would fit your budget with a good value like the Patriot P300.
For sure! Have you checked out the Seagate FireCuda 530? It's 2TB and performs well for around €212.
That's a good point about the extra space! But I was mainly looking for something faster, as I'm currently limited by an older drive.