Attention! The accuracy of the information and the results of the ranking is subjective and is not an advertisement.
Top 10 SSDs
2019 rating: the best solid-state drives according to experts and buyers
Author: Vladimir Nyenets, Stepan Kagner
Not so long ago, the abbreviation SSD was synonymous with insecurity, although in the first place it was not a problem of the very principle of data storage, but the imperfections of controllers. Nowadays, it is even possible in the budget segment to select the best SSD disk for a computer or laptop, which will be replaced faster for an upgrade than will run out of resources. Well, the obvious advantage of solid-state SSD-drives over any hard drives in speed is not worth mentioning. We especially mention the owners of laptops - not only speed, but also low power consumption is important for them, and here SSD is "on horseback" again.
Today we will evaluate the best and most popular solid-state drives on the market in the end of 2018 - the beginning of 2019. For the adequacy of the comparison, we take models with the same capacity of 256 GB: it’s chosen because it can now be called the “golden mean” - both the operating system and software that requires fast loading will fit on the SSD, while there will be enough space to provide high resource. Recall - the more unused space on the SSD, the longer it will last!
Ranking of the best SSDs in 2019
| Category | A place | Name | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The best SSD-drives 2.5 "for the budget assembly | 1 | Samsung MZ-76E250BW | 9.9 / 10 | 4 430 |
| 2 | Micron MTFDDAK256TBN-1AR1ZABYY | 9.8 / 10 | 4 578 | |
| The best SSD-drives 2.5 "with high resource | 1 | Samsung MZ-76P256BW | 9.8 / 10 | 7 837 |
| 2 | Kingston SKC400S37 / 256G | 9.7 / 10 | 9 040 | |
| 3 | ADATA Ultimate SU900 256GB | 9.6 / 10 | 3 926 | |
| 4 | Samsung MZ-7KE256BW | 9.6 / 10 | 9 760 | |
| 5 | Samsung MZ-7KE512BW | 9.3 / 10 | 17 330 | |
| Best PCI-E SSDs NVMe | 1 | Plextor PX-256M9PeY | 9.8 / 10 | 6 790 |
| Top SSD M.2 | 1 | Samsung MZ-V7E250BW | 9.8 / 10 | 6 150 |
| 2 | Intel SSDPEKKW256G801 | 9.7 / 10 | 5 760 |
The best SSD-drives 2.5 "for the budget assembly
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4 430
250 GB TLC 3D V-NAND ... Something like? Yes, the “stuffing” SSD-disk 860 EVO, which came to replace the previously popular 850 EVO, did not seem to have changed much. However, not everything is so simple: the memory here has already been produced using the new 64-layer technology instead of the previously used 32-layer technology, due to which the density of the data “packing” has increased. But, most importantly, the prefix EVO in this case really means "evolution." Taking into account all the known flaws of the 850 series, Samsung corrected, for example, the incorrect TRIM development that had previously caused the problem to Linux users. And the most important thing is that now, even by today's standards, the budget 256-gigabyte (and Samsung used to have always been the "weak link") on the TLC-memory has an official warranty resource of 150 TBW, and according to the results of testing it is doubled starts to lose speed, but maintains performance. For systems, usually collected on a budget SSD, it can be considered almost eternal. Partly in this merit and more powerful controller - instead of the Samsung MGX is now set their own MJX, the clock frequency of which is almost twice as much. Therefore, it can easily cope with file I / O operations, saving enough resources for the operation of the new error correction algorithm. And, finally, Intelligent TurboWrite technology previously used in the Samsung 960 EVO NVMe drive also appeared in the budget SSD, improving the actual performance of the write speed when working with large amounts of data: the cache now works “smarter” and faster. The maximum available SLC cache increased from 3 GB to 12. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.9 / 10
Rating
Reviews
An excellent disk for ridiculous money - you can safely put the system, and any applications, the resource is enough with a huge margin. |
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This drive belongs to the Crucial Micron 1100 family that was presented a year ago, and over time has managed to give a good account of itself.It is based on TLC 3D of own production, memory uses a 16-nm process technology. Manages the memory controller Marvell 88SS1074 - a combination already familiar to many models of budget SSD, in particular - Kingston SSDNow UV400.
The stated read and write speeds are close to the physical limits of the SATA 3 interface, amounting to 530 and 500 MB / s, respectively, on the passport. However, there is no point in chasing these numbers - in practice, the difference of several tens of megabytes per second can hardly be felt in practice. The passport speed of random reading / writing is 83000/53000 IOPS, which is also quite good for a budget drive, but the test results successfully confirm the statement. As for the warranty resource, it is 120 terabytes of recording or 1.5 million hours (hmm ... 171 years?). These characteristics are also traditional for SSD of this design. So this member of the budget rating gains his place in the list of the best SSD-drives, first of all, for the price and a small gap on reading / writing from the analogs - his “twin” can be considered Crucial MX300, which costs 15-20% more expensive. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.8 / 10
Rating
Reviews
With my budget, I counted for a maximum of 128 MB, but Micron was pleasantly pleased with the price. |
The best SSD-drives 2.5 "with high resource
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7 837
Continuing our ranking of the best SSD-drives Samsung solid-state drive. So, the 860 EVO changed the 850 with just great results. What happened when changing the 850 PRO to the new 860 PRO? Once again, the changes have become evolutionary. The Samsung MJX controller settled in the same way, the MLC 3D V-NAND became 64-ply, the DRAM-buffer with LPDDR3 “moved” to a faster LPDDR4. As a result, in terms of speed, the drive has already physically rested against the SATA3 bandwidth: in fact, we are already seeing the “last breath of Mr. PZH” in the field of SSD use on this interface in high-performance solutions, NVMe is becoming “Masthev” on the new motherboards. As for the resource, with its 300 TBW 860 PRO there is virtually no real competition. Judge for yourself: even with active use, this drive will work even not until failure, but simply until the loss of speed so much so that the SATA3 interface for the drives will seem to be just as anachronistic as the IDE is now. If you actively use a disk, then almost two-fold difference in price from 860 EVO and high read / write speeds will be completely justified. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.8 / 10
Rating
Reviews
I actually bought it “to death” - after a full upgrade, the system will have to be used no longer under the system, it will be at a faster M.2, and this one also will not exhaust one tenth of the resource. |
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This SSD-series SSDNow KC400 is based on an 8-channel Phison PS3110-S10 controller with a 256 MB cache on its own production DDR3-1600, the memory chips themselves are Toshiba's MLC. The stated resource for writing is also quite good: 300 TBW (almost twice as much as that of HyperX Savage, which is close in characteristics), read / write speeds are traditional for this class - 550/540 MB / s. Compared with HyperX, Savage has also increased the factory warranty period from 3 to 5 years.
In real life (for example, copying a large number of photos, unpacking large archives) Kingston demonstrates a noticeable lag from Samsung 850 PRO, and the larger the data, the more noticeable the lag: when coding video, the difference can go up to tens of seconds. Working with small files, this SSD will be indistinguishable from Samsung or ADATA ... If you do not turn on the RAPID mode in the 850 PRO, which uses caching in the computer’s RAM, and even in the not-so-top DDR3-1866 of the current times, the speed gap will increase times. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.7 / 10
Rating
Reviews
I have been using Kingston SSDs for a long time, and installed the KS400 on the next computer. It works smartly, it is heated in moderation, the resource promises good - what else is needed? |
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The seemingly frivolous drive, which started sales this February, has proven itself in real work: it uses Micron's 3D MLC, while the SMI SM2258 controller supports SLC caching. The stated sequential read and write speeds are 560/520 MB / s. However, taking into account the fact that the SLC-cache uses free space, it is not necessary to fill the disk by more than 50% - the data exchange rate will drop to decent HDD values, but not SSD.
The warranty period is 5 years, the stated performance is 2 million hours. However, it is more interesting to us, naturally, the resource by appointment, and the declared 200 TBW can be considered an excellent result. Then why this SSD-drive loses in the ranking of the more expensive Samsung and the direct competitor from Kingston? First of all, due to the not very successful design - the memory controller does not have a thermal interface and, with active use, heats up noticeably. If in the desktop assemblies the case purge will be able to bring the temperature into a decent frame, even despite the high thermal resistance between the controller and the case, then in laptops the drive will be hot. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.6 / 10
Rating
Reviews
I bought over the Internet, because we in the city for the money you can buy except that 750 EVO. But here the resource is much higher, and I use the SSD-drive actively. |
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9 760
One of the best solid-state drives, whose performance is limited only by the capabilities of the SATA interface. The model has a capacity of 256 GB and can be used both as a system disk and for organizing high-speed processing of multimedia data with intensive read and write operations. The drive has an MLC memory with a three-dimensional layout (3D V-NAND), which ensures high packing density of the storage cells. The manufacturer uses a 40-nanometer process, thanks to which the memory resource reaches an impressive value of 150 TB. With a limit of 40 GB per day, Samsung guarantees 10 years of operation of this SSD. Main features: · The sequential write speed is about 520 Mb / s, reading - 550; · Speed of random block writing - 90000 IOPS, reading - 100000; · Power consumed at rest and in read / write power, W - 0.4 and 3.0 / 3.3. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.6 / 10
Rating
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17 330
High-speed and reliable consumer-grade solid-state drive from the Samsung 850 PRO line. Its high performance is achieved thanks to the combination of a time-tested controller and a new type of memory, without using hardware tweaks with a cache and automatic switching of operating modes. In fact, in this drive reached the limit of bandwidth SATA III interface. The daily limit is 40 GB with a 10-year warranty on the device, while other manufacturers set the quota usually for 5 years of operation. The drive allows you to encrypt stored data without loss of performance, on the fly. Main characteristics:
Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.3 / 10
Rating
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Best PCI-E SSDs NVMe
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6 790
If the previous model used the “good old” MLC, now here is the omnipresent TLC 3D. Well, this technology has really been brought to a state when its use is no longer a true sign of an exceptionally budgetary low-resource models. Now the user is no longer available 900 MB / s write speed, and all 1000. Small difference? How to say - when recording a volume of several gigabytes it will already be noticeable. Well, the increase in read speed immediately by 1000 MB / s (from 2000 to 3000) will definitely be noticeable, especially in the latest AAA games when choosing the maximum quality of textures that have long been measured in gigabytes. In short, Plextor continues to improve its products - if you thought about purchasing an SSD in a PCIe slot, then why not do it? (Tip - modified BIOS for booting from such SSDs can be found on the Internet even for boards that did not receive official support for NVMe-bootable drives. The author with his GA-970A-DS3P rev 2.0 guarantees this). Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.8 / 10
Rating
Reviews
The system just flies, the difference even with ordinary SSDs is noticeable, not to mention the HDD. |
Top SSD M.2
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6 150
Let Samsung's SSDs do not demonstrate the latest technology or the highest speeds, love them for something else - proven reliability: even the old budget series significantly overlapped the stated warranty life. Well, this 250GB hard drive of the 970 EVO series on the TLC 3D NAND and the Samsung Phoenix brand controller definitely deserves to be recognized as one of the best in terms of price / quality ratio. What do we offer? The claimed resource is 150 terabytes of recording, and, knowing Samsung, one can speak of much larger numbers in actual operation. Yes, even if it works exactly the stated period, these 150 terabytes need to still be able to record (the author, for example, in a year and a half without any settings for "saving resources" barely exceeded the 8 TB level on the system disk with actively used applications). However, it should be noted that for tight cases this SSD will not be the best choice: it heats up with a large number of hits strongly enough, and it would be best to “feel” in a well-blown midi-tower case and more. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.8 / 10
Rating
Reviews
SSD from the “set and forget” series, it is more likely to become obsolete several times than to deplete the rewriting resource. |
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5 760
Although according to the resource declared by the manufacturer, Intel and lost 6 terabytes Samsung (which, in general, is not critical), he is also worthy of interest. First of all, due to the well-known feature of “Intel's” drives - after the resource is exhausted, it does not “fall off” from the system, taking all the data with it, but goes into read onlyThat allows you to clone its contents to a new drive. It is also somewhat slower in reading / writing speed, but you will hardly feel this in practice. So we can say that the new Intel 760p competes on equal with Samsung, which was not there before - the old 600p had a much bigger gap with 960 EVOthan 760p - from 970 EVO. Main advantages:
Minuses:
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 9.7 / 10
Rating
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Nuances of choosing the best SSD for a computer and laptop
Let's start with the concept of form factor and interface. “Classic” for SSD is a traditional 2.5-inch hard drive with SATA interface. Such SSDs are the most versatile - they can both “cheer up” an old computer with SATA 2 ports, and achieve high performance from modern desktop and laptop hardware.
However, the capabilities of solid-state drives are much more than what SATA allows. And here the confusion begins, because SSD with interface M.2 is, in fact, two different types of drives - they can work as in SATA mode with the same speed limits (such compact disks as expansion cards were used initially for laptops , but they can also be installed in the corresponding connectors on motherboards of stationary PCs), and they can directly use the PCI-E x4 bus (PCI-E NVMe interface) with much more bandwidth - if you are going to purchase an SSD with connector M.2, immediately specify in how om mode it works on your computer. For example, MacBook Air until 2012 used M.2 SATA, and then began to work with M.2 PCI-E NVMe. Externally, they can be distinguished by the number of cuts on the key: there are two on M.2 SATA, and one on the PCI-E NVMe.
However, there are also atypical M.2 SSDs on the market, designed for a PCI-E x2 interface and using the same key with two notches as M.2 SATA. They can easily work on motherboards with an M.2 connector, having both SATA lines and PCI-E lines, but on cards designed only for SATA-SSD, they will be useless, although outwardly they do not differ from SSD M.2 SATA. Therefore, the type of supported SSD must be taken into account.
And finally, there are SSDs that are installed in a standard PCI-E slot on desktop motherboards as an ATX expansion card - this is an option for those who need high speed, and there is no slot M.2 on the mother.
None of the SSD-drive is eternal - these are the features of the flash memory, allowing only a limited number of write cycles. Therefore, naturally, it is best to choose a drive with a maximum passport TBW (Total Bytes Written) - but do not forget that the Samsung-looking SSDs, which look pale against the background of competitors, actually can withstand a significantly larger number of write cycles than is written in the passport.
The type of memory determines the resource SSD, and its speed, and price. The cheapest drives use TLC or 3D-TLC, allowing just over a thousand rewriting cycles. This SSD is worth taking with a decent margin in capacity - it will provide an adequate resource. MLC-memory is more expensive, but it allows you to overwrite a cell several thousand times. The most "enduring" memory is SLC, which can withstand up to 100 thousand cycles, it is also the fastest ... and the most expensive. The trade off is the MLC SSD with SLC caching: unallocated space works there as a high-speed cache, but such disks are sensitive to free space, and when it decreases below the critical line, their data exchange rate decreases.
As for the manufacturer, any SSD is a combination of several options for controllers and memory chips, so it’s incorrect to compare brands: manufacturers who do not manufacture memory themselves will use the same chips as SSD from leading manufacturers (Samsung, Micron / Intel, Toshiba , Hynix).
Have a good choice!
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Updated: 14.01.2019
Rating in categories:
