The 480 GB Intel Optane 900P is one of the first NVMe PCIe SSDs available, based on Intel’s new Optane memory and 3D XPoint technology. 280GB versions are also available with almost identical performance at a lower price, in line with the reduced capacity. The 480 GB 900P is comes in a half height half length add-in card form and has a PCIe 3.0 x 4 interface. The sequential read and write speeds of 2500 MB/s and 2000 MB/s are the fastest of any consumer SSD on the market today, however this is only 10% ahead of the next best NVMe PCIe SSD based on flash technology, the Samsung 960 Pro. The random 4K read and write speed disparities are far greater, with the 480 GB 900P achieving a whopping four times faster random 4K read speeds than for the 960 Pro. If memory usage is heavily skewed towards random 4K reading, then shifting to the 900P would yield a huge performance boost worthy of the 900P’s high price tag. Access to this latest technology comes at double the cost per gigabyte compared to the 960 Pro. Currently the PCIe interface will be a bottleneck for even greater performance. However, it’s early days for Optane memory and it’s likely that Intel will release higher performing devices in the future as faster bus technologies emerge. [Nov '17SSDrivePro]
The 275GB Crucial MX300 supersedes the MX200. Unlike its predecessor, the MX300 is TLC based and therefore suffers from weak write speeds in comparison to MLC drives. The MX300 utilises a sophisticated algorithm to enable fast burst write speeds provided that there is sufficient free space on the disk but as the drive fills up write performance drops to the relatively poor levels seen on other TLC drives (similar to mechanical drives). At current prices (70 USD) the MX300 competes well with other low end drives such as the OCZ Trion, Adata SP550 and Samsung 750 EVO. As stocks build the MX300 is likely to see further price cuts, so it could become a very interesting value proposition. See the current value leaders here. [Sep '16SSDrivePro]
Welcome to our 2.5" and M.2 SSD comparison. We calculate effective speed for both SATA and NVMe drives based on real world performance then adjust by current prices per GB to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top SSDs. [SSDrivePro]
Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.