Adata’s XPG SX8200 offers NVMe PCIe SSD performance at SATA SSD prices, thereby offering outstanding value for money to casual and power PC users alike. Adata have combined two high performance commodity components: a Silicon Motion controller (SM2262) and Micron’s second generation 3D TLC 64 layer flash memory. The XPG SX8200 also includes a generous SLC cache and a DRAM cache buffer. Adata have not specified the exact size of the SLC cache in each model but it’s clear from our 60 second sustained write tests that the buffer is sufficient for more than 60 seconds of continuous writes which equates to over 60GB (60s x 1 GB/s) for the 240GB model and over 90GB (60s x 1.5 GB/s) for the 480GB and 960GB models. Unlike many other drives with SLC caching, the SX8200 has a large enough cache to ensure that consumers will almost always operate the drive within the cache and therefore experience no write degradation at all. Adata offer a 5 year warranty and a limited TBW warranty (160 TBW for the 240 GB version, 320 TBW for the 480GB and 640 TBW for the 960GB) on these SSDs, which is in line with other premium manufacturers. The NVMe PCIe SSD consumer market has been dominated by Samsung in recent years but the 240GB SX8200 beats Samsung’s 250GB 970 Evo hands down on both price and performance (the 250GB 970 Evo is let down by a relatively small SLC cache which allows for less than 10 seconds of writes before saturation after which the write speed on the Evo drops to mere sub SATA 300 MB/s). The SX8200 is the new value leader and heralds a new era of competition for the mainstream segment of the NVMe SSD market. [Jul '18SSDrivePro]
The Samsung 970 Pro is a third generation NVMe PCIe SSD which replaces the 960 Pro. It comes in a M.2. form factor and features Samsung’s latest Phoenix controller and 64 layer proprietary 3D MLC NAND. MLC NAND has better write consistency but is more expensive than the TLC NAND found in the 970 Evo. The 970 Pro demonstrates a 16% increase in peak sequential write speed over the 960 Pro. There are also improvements in random read and write speeds. Interestingly this iteration of Pro SSDs come with a price cut, with the 512GB retailing at just $250 and the 1TB at $500, whilst at the time of writing, the 512GB 960 Pro is $315. The 970 Pro targets professionals who may rely on Samsung’s 5 year or 600TBW warranty and who may need its extended write performance. But, for most users who rarely transfer more than 22 GB at a time (this is the size of the SLC cache the 500GB 970 Evo), the cheaper 970 Evo may represent better value for money. [May '18SSDrivePro]
Welcome to our 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.