Advice for my first SSD.

H

Hulk

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
6,217
I would like to purchase this SSD:

Samsung 960 EVO Series - 250GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD - $128

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-960-...F8&qid=1515299091&sr=1-4&keywords=960+Samsung



My motherboard is the ASRock Z87 Extreme4 Socket LGA, is that compatible with the above SSD?

https://www.amazon.com/ASRock-Z87-C...fkmr0&keywords=ASRock+Z87+Extreme4+Socket+LGA


And this is my GPU:
XFX FURY X

https://www.amazon.com/XFX-R9-FURY-...TF8&qid=1515300778&sr=8-1&keywords=XFX+FURY+X


If it is not compatible can I just buy this adapter?

EZDIY PCI Express M.2 SSD NGFF PCIe Card to PCIe 3.0 x4 M2 Adapter (Support M.2 PCIe 22110 ,2280, 2260, 2242)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GCXCR7W/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I2XOYQ5GH4I1ZV&colid=1SYDWH66RTUXX&psc=1


Also, I have read that the above SSD takes up "lane space" so it will make my GPU run at x8 and not x16? However I only plan on having one GPU and don't plan on going crossfire so I think I should be OK?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Z87 boards don't support NVME natively.

If this is your first SSD, you'll be completely happy with an 850 EVO.
 
That was going to be my suggestion as well. If your first SSD, the regular SATA-based 2.5 inch SSD will blow you away! Wager that you'll think you have a new computer! And honestly the speed increases with newer drives is very nearly unnoticeable--mostly in milliseconds or some such. Saw the Samsung 850 Evo 250 GB on Amazon for just under $90. And SATA SSD is basically plug and play--no chore to set up at all.
 
I would suggest that you buy the largest sized SATA SSD that meets your budget constraints.
 
Yeah, you can get the 500GB EVO for only about $10 more than the NVMe drive you were considering.
 
off topic but wow ... 17K reviews in the 850 EVO amazon page, most of them are insanely long & boring!
 
So you guys are recommending the Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E500B/AM?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OBRE5UE/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I19CVI5S91VJHH&colid=3FV7CVRMSBUHE&psc=1



My only question is how to these two SSDs compare to the 850 EVO:


Crucial MX300 525GB - 140

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IAGSD68/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I26YL29ZGEN0VN&colid=1SYDWH66RTUXX&th=1




Transcend 256GB MLC - $130

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VX82P38/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=IMJU06XFJYXJF&colid=3FV7CVRMSBUHE&th=1


Which of the three would you get and why?
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
You can see I my specs that I lately purchased an 850 Evo--mostly for storage and not for the OS. Also notice that the Transcend SSD you listed is only 256 GB and not 500/525 GB as the other two units are--equal storage on the Transcend costs about $300--much more expensive than the Crucial or Samsung. The Samsung has a 5 year warranty as opposed to 3 years for the Crucial and Transcend--that is always an important factor in case of a problem . Crucial and Samsung are highly rated--don't know that much about Transcend.

Crucial and Samsung both list using 3D-NAND for the flash storage. Transcend lists MLC which is a bit older technology. All are suitable. On Amazon the Samsung EVO gets a 5-star rating in 15,000+ reviews. That speaks volumes. Know that Samsung has a software application for keeping the SSD up to date and cleaned out--not sure about Crucial or Transcend.

I've always used Intel SSD storage but that is just my deal--they have the reliability but maybe not the best price or the fastest units. As someone else mentioned, get the biggest storage you can afford--the differences among brands is not nearly as great as it once was.

Remember that it is always good to keep some empty space on the SSD and none of them come with the advertised capacity useable--20-30 GB are generally kept idle for "over-provisioning" so the NAND units don't get overworked--there are articles about all that should you have an interest in the details.

I'm still for the Samsung 850 EVO for price, durability and speed--it is a bit faster than the other two but you'll hardly notice a big difference with any of them. For whatever reason the Transcend seems to be more expensive than either the Crucial or the Samsung--both of those are excellent if user reviews are to be believed.
 
I think you will be well-pleased and very amazed at how much faster and responsive your computer will be. Many have said the very best upgrade that can be done to a computer is to install an SSD--I know that was my impression--can never look back at a spinning drive again. All that sitting and waiting for things to boot up and load--happens in 15-20 seconds now.

BTW, if you are Amazon Prime, the 850 EVO is sold by/ships from Amazon and qualifies for Prime which is another bonus. Let us know what you think when you get the SSD installed.
 
Thanks for posting that link--ran it just to make sure. Do you use Samsung Magician? Does it disable defragging and such on the SSD? The Intel Toolbox for Intel SSD does those things and guessing Magician does as well. Really only a couple of caveats for installing/using an SSD. Couldn't think of the utility name in a previous post to Hulk.
 
Definitely go with the Samsung. I have both the 850 Evo and the MX300 in two different rigs.

I'd say they are in the same performance range just from my personal use, but the benchmarks say the Samsung is a little better.

Also, they are the same price for 500GB, so it's a no brainer to get the Samsung.
 
One more question, I know with the old school HDDs it was wise to do a clean install of Windows every 6-12 months. With the SSD and Win 7 should I still do a clean install every 6-12 months or is that not necessary?
 
No, you don't have to reinstall Windows every 6 months.

That is kind of extreme, and probably more related to installing junk or getting infected visiting shady sites rather than any problem with the hard drive.
 
If you do get an SSD, though, it's recommended you install Windows fresh rather than trying to clone your existing install. Also, definitely go with Window 10.
 
cybereality said:
If you do get an SSD, though, it's recommended you install Windows fresh rather than trying to clone your existing install. Also, definitely go with Window 10.
Click to expand...

This is probably good advice, but I have cloned many drives onto an 850 Evo at work and they have performed marvelously
 
Right, yeah. It will work if necessary. Just that you want to get the experience of a fresh SSD on new Windows install.
 
What are your thoughts on buying refurb SSDs?

BestBuy has the 500GB Samsung 850 EVO for $97.99 and the 1TB Samsung 850 EVO for $209.99.
 
Hulk said:
What are your thoughts on buying refurb SSDs?

BestBuy has the 500GB Samsung 850 EVO for $97.99 and the 1TB Samsung 850 EVO for $209.99.
Click to expand...

Best advice I can give you is: give it a shot and run Crystal Mark Info once you get it.

If the health of the drive is good, keep it.

If not, return it.
 
Hulk said:
What are your thoughts on buying refurb SSDs?

BestBuy has the 500GB Samsung 850 EVO for $97.99 and the 1TB Samsung 850 EVO for $209.99.
Click to expand...

The thing I dont like is the 90 day vs 3yrs warranty and for the price difference I dont think is worth it
 
Get a new Samsung 860 series or new Crucial MX500 series. Both have great endurance and 5 year warranties.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top