Buying a new SSD for my Acer nitro 5 laptop - Guidance REQD.

archz2 · Jun 14, 2019

I currently have 16 GB intel optane memory installed in my Acer Nitro 5 laptop. I bought it in March 2019.

Acer Nitro 5 AN515-52 laptop
Core i7 8th Gen 8750H Processor 15.6-inch FHD Gaming Laptop (8GB RAM/16GB Optane/1TB HDD/Windows 10/NVIDIA GeForce GTX Graphics 1050 Ti 4 GB GDDR5)

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07GXV9LS6/ref=pe_3025041_189395861_pe_194751_29698841_dp_1

I never play any games on my laptop. I strictly use my laptop for architecture and graphic design work software viz. Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, AutoCAD, Rhinoceros 3D, photorealistic rendering using V-Ray, Adobe Illustrator, etc. . Sometimes I do video editing, like once in two months.

In order to get better performance, I am planning to buy a 500 GB M.2 SSD stick. I will remove the optane stick. and install the SSD in its place. I intend to use the SSD solely for windows installation (i.e. as a boot device )and all my software installation.

I am unable to decide which one to buy from the following ones. What are the key points to compare while choosing different brands of hard drives with the same capacity?

Kingston SSDNow 480GB M.2 Hard Drive (SUV500M8/480GIN) - PRICED AT 6800 Indian Rupees
https://www.amazon.in/Kingston-SSDN...+SSD+KINGSTON&qid=1560435537&s=gateway&sr=8-7

Western Digital Blue 500GB M.2 Internal Solid State Drive (WDS500G2B0B)
Priced at 6,699 Indian Rupees
https://www.amazon.in/500GB-Interna...words=M.2+SSD&qid=1560435111&s=gateway&sr=8-7

Samsung 860 EVO Series - 500GB M.2 SATA Internal Solid State Drive (MZ-N6E500BW)
Priced at 8,499 Indian Rupees
https://www.amazon.in/Samsung-860-E...ords=M.2+SSD&qid=1560435111&s=gateway&sr=8-10

Intel 660p Series SSDPEKNW512G8X1 512GB M.2 80mm PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Solid State Drive (QLC)
Priced at 7,575 Indian Rupees
Amazon.in: Buy Intel 660p Series SSDPEKNW512G8X1 512GB M.2 80mm PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Solid State Drive (QLC) Online at Low Prices in India | Intel Reviews & Ratings

Please suggest.

SleepyDude · Jun 14, 2019

Hi,

There are two types of M.2 SSD some are Sata and others are PCI-Express

I think because you have Intel Optane the SSD must be PCIe or it will not work.

One thing to compare is the Reading and Writing speed also better drives will have a warranty of 5 years.

Digerati · Jun 14, 2019

I don't believe any difference in speeds will be noticeable (except, maybe, with benchmark programs). So if me, I would go by warranty and price.

I agree with SleepyDude and you must insure you have the necessary interface to support whatever drive you get. I prefer Intel and Samsung but WD and Kingston are well known reputable brands too.

As a side note, I was curious why that Kingston said "hard drive" when clearly it is not a hard drive. So I looked on Amazon's US webpage and there it just says Internal Solid State Drive, which, of course, it is.

SleepyDude · Jun 14, 2019

The theoretical max speed differences can be big!

Examples for the same brand but different level/edition drives:

WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD | WD
500GB
Up to 3,430 MB/s Read
Up to 2,600 MB/s Write

WD Black NVMe SSD 2018 | WD
WD Back NVMe SSD 2018 500GB
Up to 3,400 MB/s Read
Up to 2,500 MB/s Write

WD Blue SN500 NVMe SSD | WD
WD Blue SN500 NVMe SSD 500GB
Up to 1,700 MB/s Read
Up to 1,450 MB/s Write

Digerati · Jun 14, 2019

I agree - but that still does not mean it will be noticeable under normal use. Yes, if you are transferring huge files from one drive to another, you might see the difference, but how often do people do that under normal use?

Do you really need a Bugatti when a BMW M4 will do?

SleepyDude · Jun 14, 2019

Digerati said:
Do you really need a Bugatti when a BMW M4 will do?

Yes

if I want to drive very fast if the road I'm on is up to it!

The question is how much speed/data can handle the PCIe express bus of the machine... before getting overloaded!

I don't have experience with this to say if those numbers will be noticeably or not. I'm waiting for the prices to fall and then I will update the NVMe that I have now for one of those black editions.

archz2 · Jun 14, 2019

Okay I found another one

Crucial P1 500GB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD - CT500P1SSD8 - This one costs me 6600 bucks.

The samsung one is SATA. So NVMe is better than SATA III if I stay within the maximum budget limit of 8499 indian rupees.

Amazon.in: Buy Crucial P1 500GB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD - CT500P1SSD8 Online at Low Prices in India | Crucial Reviews & Ratings

I think this is better then? I cannot find Samsung's benchmark for the specified model on user benchmark. The one shared here is the 2.5 in size, not the PCIe one.

Digerati · Jun 14, 2019

SleepyDude said:
Yes if I want to drive very fast if the road I'm on is up to it!

What I want and what I need typically are two very different things. In any case, pretty sure I could scare the sh!t out myself in a BMW M4 too - since I can already do that in my F150, and did on my little Suzuki 550 motorcycle.

Crucial is a good brand.

Regardless, it is important to note even the slowest SSD can run circles around the fastest hard drive. So if used to a hard drive, you will love just about any SSD you use.

SleepyDude · Jun 14, 2019

archz2 said:
The samsung one is SATA. So NVMe is better than SATA III if I stay within the maximum budget limit of 8499 indian rupees.

The NVMe is better than SATA but the important part is that the slot on the motherboard are differents so isn't exactly a choice because you need to match the M.2 SSD with the available slot.

satrow · Jun 14, 2019

With NVMe it might be useful to check at what temperature they throttle back, in desktops you could add a heatsink but that's pretty difficult in the tight confines of a notebook.

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Buying a new SSD for my Acer nitro 5 laptop - Guidance REQD.

archz2

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SleepyDude

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Digerati

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Hardware Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)

SleepyDude

Windows Update Moderator, Security Analyst

Digerati

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Hardware Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)

SleepyDude

Windows Update Moderator, Security Analyst

archz2

Well-known member

Digerati

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Hardware Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)

SleepyDude

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satrow

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Buying a new SSD for my Acer nitro 5 laptop - Guidance REQD.

Well-known member

Windows Update Moderator, Security Analyst

ModeratorHardware ExpertMicrosoft MVP (Ret.)

Windows Update Moderator, Security Analyst

ModeratorHardware ExpertMicrosoft MVP (Ret.)

Windows Update Moderator, Security Analyst

Well-known member

ModeratorHardware ExpertMicrosoft MVP (Ret.)

Windows Update Moderator, Security Analyst

Moderator, BSOD Kernel Dump Senior Analyst

Moderator
Hardware Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)

Moderator
Hardware Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)

Moderator
Hardware Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)