5 Of The Most Reliable SSDs For Your PC
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In the digital age, where everyone is working, learning, or running a business through a computer, getting fast and reliable storage devices is crucial. The speeds and reliability of solid state drives (SSD) determine how quickly one can read/write data from the device, as well as how long it functions before it needs to be replaced. Combined, these qualities make for a digital storage solution that not only saves time, but also provides peace of mind.
Although someone can easily get a fast SSD on the market, it is tough to tell the reliable ones from cheaper alternatives unless shoppers know about the correct specifications. The easiest and quickest way to predict an SSD's longevity is to check the manufacturer warranty's duration. Most high-quality solid-state drives offer a four or five-year warranty, showing the maker's confidence in the device. They might cost a tad more than other models of the same capacity, but it should ensure buyers are getting their money's worth of use out of it.
What's terabytes written?
There is another important factor to consider before investing hard-earned money in a storage device: TBW, or Terabytes Written. In simple words, it is the endurance rating of the device, which tells how much data you can write to an SSD in its warranty term before it starts to wear down. As the name suggests, Terabytes Written describes how many terabytes (equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes) a drive can write and save on the SSD before it begins to wear down.
TWB also gives us a rough idea of how much data the drive can handle daily. For instance, if a 1TB SSD is rated 1,200 TBW and offers a warranty of five years, you can easily write about 650 GB a day for the warranty period, which should be more than enough for an average PC user in 2023. Usually, SSDs with higher capacity have a higher TBW, but they typically cost more.
Generally, a 500 GB SSD with a TBW of 300 or a 1TB SSD with a TBW of 600 is considered durable. That being said, these are some of the most highly-rated drives in the market.
WD Black SN850X NVMe SSD
With a 600 TBW rating for 1TB and a 1,200 TBW rating for a 2TB variant, the WD Black SN850X NVMe SSD is one of the most affordable models available. You can get the 1TB variant on Amazon for around $100, where the product has over 15,000 customer ratings and an average of 4.8 stars from reviewers. The 2TB variant costs about $140.
This NVMe drive is an excellent choice for most workflows, especially those requiring high throughput. It offers up to 7,300/6,350 MB/s of read and write speed, putting it among the best internal storage drives at the price. It also can be bought with an integrated heatsink that helps maintain optimum temperature for best performance. With the SSD, you also get free access to WD Dashboard, wherein you can check the drive's status, install firmware updates, and more.
There's a 4TB WD Black SN850X NVMe SSD model (rated for 2,400 TWB) that costs about $300, but it doesn't come with a heatsink — something that you should keep in mind while making a purchasing decision for anyone's rig. All variants come with a warranty of up to five years.
Samsung 990 Pro Series
Although the Samsung 990 Pro Series offers the same endurance rating as the WD Black SN850X NVMe SSD, it provides 256-bit AES encryption, a security feature missing in the WD model. This makes it slightly more expensive, too, as the 990 Pro's 1TB (600 TBW) storage variant costs $89.99 on Amazon, whereas the 2TB (1,200 TBW) variant costs $159 for the models without a heatsink. Getting the trims with a heatsink adds $10 to the base and $20 to the top storage variant.
The storage drive matches its rated sequential read/write speed of 7,450/6,900 MB/s, making it one of the best SSDs in the segment. Along with the drive, you get Samsung's Magician Utility and Data Migration app, which help install firmware upgrades, troubleshoot, and transfer data. When it comes to assurance, the company provides up to five years warranty on the product or until you utilize the TBW limits, which are fairly decent.
It is noteworthy that the Samsung 990 Pro series is ideal for most creative and professional use cases, but its gaming benchmark scores shy away from others on the list.
SK Hynix Platinum P41
Next up on the list is the SK Hynix Platinum P41, which offers 750 TBW for its 1TB variant that costs $89.99 on Amazon. Although there are 500GB and 2TB storage variants, the NVMe Gen4 drive offers the best endurance ratings for the 1TB variant, giving you some extra headroom before the SSD slows. Further, the manufacturer also provides a warranty of five years from the date of purchase.
Regarding read/write speeds, the company claims to provide up to 7,000/6,500 MB/s — slightly less than the other two models in the list — but nothing to worry about. You also get System Migration and Drive Manager tools. The downsides, however, are that the storage device doesn't come with a heatsink variant, and there's no 4TB storage option.
That said, the SK Hynix Platinum P41 is for professionals who could benefit from the additional 150 TBW based on their daily usage, since regular users might not be able to cross that threshold within the warranty period.
MSI Spatium M470
The MSI Spatium M470 PCle 4.0 NVMe offers up to 3,300 TBW if you're looking for the absolute best endurance ratings. The $75.70 1TB storage variant can last for a whopping 1,600 TBW — more than twice the endurance rating of other drives on the list. Further, the $119.99 2TB variant on Amazon is rated at 3,300 TBW. The manufacturer also offers a warranty of five years. Unless you're not writing about 1TB of data on the device daily, it should last well beyond the warranty period.
However, the makers have cut some corners to provide higher TBW ratings at a relatively affordable price. For instance, the maximum read/write speed of the SSD is capped at 5,000/4,400 MB/s. The absence of a heatsink might bother those who wish to push the drive to its absolute best, running hot and consuming more power to maintain sequential speeds. Last but not least, there's no drive management software. Nonetheless, it's still one of the most durable consumer SSDs.
Seagate FireCuda 530
So far, four options have offered trade-offs between one another to some degree: some drives have a higher read/write speed, while some have a better endurance rating. However, for those who want the best of both worlds, go for the Seagate FireCuda 530 M.2 NVMe SSD.
The company offers several trims, but we're talking about the one with a heatsink. It comes in four storage options: starting from the 640TBW 500GB base variant, which costs $56.99, and going all the way up to the 5,100 TBW 4TB variant, which costs $456.65.
However, the average buyer should look at the 1TB and 2TB storage variants. For $110.11 on Amazon, the 1TB Seagate FireCuda 530 SSD is rated at 1,275 TBW, one of the segment's highest endurance ratings. It provides up to 7,300/6,000 MB/s read and write speeds, which is also at par with the best PCle drives. The 2TB storage version costs $203.55, which is a little pricey, but lasts for 2,550 TBW.
To add more value to the package, the Seagate offers up to three years of Rescue Data Recovery Service on top of the standard five-year warranty. Moreover, it is one of the most reliable and well-rated SSDs for a PC. Any buyer who has a solid enough budget and doesn't want to compromise in storage, speed, or warranty, this SSD may be the best choice.