Which 1TB SSD to buy for laptop?

When it comes to SSD, many DIYer are familiar with it. SSD has now transformed into the necessary hardware for computers installations from the luxury that was originally high price. Owing to the high speed of SSD compared with HDD, it tends to gain more popular among users. SSD capacity have increased and prices have fallen since 2018. The collapse in the price of memory chips has once again fueled the popularity of high-capacity SSDs. 1TB SSD will become mainstream in the near future.
So, do we have the need to buy 1TB SSD? Next, let’s discuss this topic.

High-capacity SSD such 1TB SSD has advantage in speed

Whether in theoretical or practical, large-capacity SSDs are faster than small-capacity SSDs. The principle is also very simple, like cars driving faster on two lanes than one lane. For example, Samsung 860PRO 1TB SSD uses two 512GB NAND flash while the 256GB SSD uses only one 256GB NAND flash.

high-capacity SSD have advantages in life

Samsung 860PRO warranty varies in capacity. 250GB SSD have the warranty of 300TBW, 512GB SSD with warranty of 600TBW and 1TBW SSD with warranty of 1TBW. This is because the smaller the SSD capacity is, the more frequently it wears a single flash chip, and therefore the shorter life is, and the larger SSD does not have this problem.

high-capacity SSD have advantage in cost performance

High-capacity SSDs are more cost-effective. For example, Samsung 860EVO 500GB SSD is $69.74 equivalent to $0.14 per GB while 1TB SSD is $114.71 equivalent to $0.11 per GB. Although the total price is high while the cost per GB is much lower. So, don't look at large-capacity SSD expensive, but it is still cheaper than small SSD hard drive.
If you buy a 250GB SSD, you'll also need to buy a 1TB mechanical hard drive. As game and movies take up more and more space, 250GB SSD can only be used as a system. A lot of data needs to be copied back and forth between mechanical hard drives and SSDs, which risk losing data so is not secure enough.
The benefits of high-capacity SSDs are clear. High-capacity SSD is easier to get higher speeds of reading and writing and longer life under condition of the same NAND flash. Just 1 year ago, 1TB SSDs designed for games were more than $250. After the price of NAND flash chips collapsed, some 1 tb SSD fall to $100. It is the right time to buy it.
Today SSDs are no longer the exclusive product of fever players. With the maturity and upgrading of 3D NAND technology, SSD prices are becoming more affordable. However, owing to the SSD industry is mixed, picking SSDs is still a headache and it is difficult to buy favorite products for users. So, the following are introduction of three high-quality 1TB SATA SSDs, by which you can choose appropriate SSD.
The three SSDs we selected are Samsung 860PRO 1TB SSD, Crucial MX500 1TB SSD, SanDisk Ultra Plus 1TB SSD，which are capable of producing flash memory independently.

Reviews of three SSDs

Samsung 860PRO 1TB SSD

Samsung 860PRO SSD is obtained the highest attention. The SSD adopt a new MJX controller with SATA 3.06 Gbps transmission interface, which is compatible with SATA 2.5/2.0/1.0. The read speed of 860PRO SSD is 550MB/s and write speed is 520MB/s. TBW(Terabytes Write) is 8 times than 850 PRO SSD.

Crucial MX500 1TB SSD

The MX500 1TB SSD use mainly Silicon Motion SM2258 controller, with its own 64-layers 3D TLC NAND flash and the latest firmware. Its continuous read and write speed are 510MB/s, 4K random read speed is 95K IOPS and random write speed is 90K IOPS.

SanDisk Ultra Plus 1TB SSD

SanDisk Ultra Plus 1TB SSD features Marvell 88SS1074 controller, supporting next-generation NAND flash, 15nm SLC/MLC and TLC NAND flash and 3D NAND flash. We have gained some understanding about the features of the three SSDs. Then let’s see how big the gap among the three SSDs in the benchmark and actual performance gap.

Non-compression/sequential read and write speed comparison

CrystalDiskMark read and write speed tests tend to be non-compression algorithms, so its continuous read and write speed is more performance-identifying. Non-compression algorithm SSDs have the characteristics of not losing speed and their continuous read and write speed and maximum read and write speed are not very different.

Samsung 860 Pro CrystalDiskMark Test Result

According to the CrystalDiskMark test, the Samsung 860PRO 1TB has sequential read speed at 563.4 MB/s and sequential write speed is 533.3 MB/s.

Summary
In CrystalDiskMark test, the default test was uncompressed data testing and the results seemed reasonable. The read-write data of the three SSDs were very good. Since the three products all adopt 3D NAND flash and the excellent controller algorithm, the test results of the three products are almost same.

AS SSD 4K performance comparison

AS SSD Benchmark is a standard inspection program specifically designed for testing SSD because it provides customization.
Its performance display can be divided into two forms, mb/s and IOPS. This test mainly uses the 4K random read and write function to test 4K-64 Thrd multitasking random read/write speed.

Crucial MX500 1TB SSD Read performance AS SSD 4K Test

In terms of 4KB file access, the 4K-64Thrd of the Crucial MX500 1TB SSD is written to 87644iops. Its 4K-64Thrd reading value is 96977iops, with a total score of 1252 points.

4K-64Thrd is a random 64 queue depth test. The software generates 64 16MB-sized test files (total1GB), and then meanwhile take write and read tests in 4KB units in 64 files. The final result is average score.

The gap between the three SSDs is still small. The Samsung 860PRO is fastest in the 4K-64Thrd reading, reaching 97499 iops. In term of 4K-64ThrdIn writing, SanDisk ultra plus 1TB SSD is the fastest, reaching87644 iops.

PCMark8 hard disk simulation score comparison
PCMark8 is a comprehensive and professional test method for rating PC performance. It requires operating system is Win7. Of course, as a software tailored to Win8, the support for win8 is perfect.

PCMark8 has built-in several test projects, including Storage testing projects that measure hard drive performance, including two games and various office application tests.

SanDisk SDXC UHS-I 1TB SSD has a score of 4944 and a hard drive bandwidth of 232.21MB/s.

Judging from Pcmark 8 score performance, the score gap between thre SSDs is not large. Samsung 860PRO 1TB SSD ranks 1st with score of 4997 and Crucial MX500 1TB SSD ranks 2nd with score of 4989. SanDisk ultra plus 1TB SSD ranks 3rd with score of 4944, 53 points away from the first place.

Summary
As 3D NAND flash get popular, SSDs develop rapidly. At present, the price of SATA SSD is going into stable and it is the right time to buy it.

The 250-500gb SSDs is mainstream at present. Larger capacity SSDs are also more focused than ever before, which are indispensable to support the mainstream SSD market. As the first - line brands cut prices, there will more thing happen in this market.

According to the test results, the Samsung 860PRO SSD is well-deserved for the high performance among the SATA SSD. But owing to limitation in transmission rate of the SATA interface, it has no great gap with other products.

In terms of price, the IndyD MX500 1TB SSD is attractively priced and performs very well. Of course, we should make the final decision about how to choose according to own needs.

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