Is Crucial P3 Plus a good deal?

grenade0

grenade0

Contributor
Screenshot_20241226_182053_Amazon.jpg
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20241226_173845_Amazon.jpg
    Screenshot_20241226_173845_Amazon.jpg
    149.8 KB · Views: 22
  • Like
Reactions: Goutam4818
Crazy_Eddy said:
P3 Plus uses QLC NAND.
Try to look for something with TLC NAND if its going to be your main drive.
Click to expand...
Thanks brother. Can you please tell me what important terms that we need to check before buying an ssd, and if you can please explain yourself In layman terms, that would be helpful.
 
grenade0 said:
Thanks brother. Can you please tell me what important terms that we need to check before buying an ssd, and if you can please explain yourself In layman terms, that would be helpful.
Click to expand...
The first thing is obviously the form factor and the interface. 2.5” SSDs connect through a SATA interface and max out at 500-550 MB/s speeds. M.2 SSDs can be either SATA or NVME. NVME drives are of course more expensive and can have R/W speeds from 1,000 MB/s to over 14,000 MB/s with the newer gen 5 SSDs.

Then comes NAND type which determines the number of bits stored per cell in the flash memory, which impacts speed, endurance, and cost. There are four major types: single level cell (SLC), multi level cell (MLC), triple level cell (TLC) and quad level cell (QLC). SLC offers the best performance and durability but is very expensive, while QLC is the cheapest but lacks in performance and endurance. TLC provides a good balance b/w performance/endurance and cost.

Speaking of endurance, you should take a look at the TBW or DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) ratings to understand the drive’s lifespan. Higher TBW indicates the SSD can handle more writes before it starts to degrade. For typical consumer usage, a TBW of 300-400 TB is usually sufficient. For intensive use (e.g., servers, video editing), look for a higher TBW rating.

Finally, you should also consider the presence/absence of DRAM cache. DRAM is used in SSDs to store a map of the NAND cells and speed up read/write operations. DRAM-equipped SSDs offer much better performance, especially during heavy write tasks. DRAM acts as a cache, improving both sequential and random read/write speeds. DRAM-equipped SSDs are ideal for tasks that involve heavy write operations, such as gaming or video editing. DRAM-less SSDs tend to be slower, especially during random write operations. They typically rely on Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology, which uses a small amount of system RAM as a cache, but it’s less effective than dedicated DRAM. They are suitable for light or everyday usage like boot drives, basic gaming, or general computing. These are cheaper but can show slower performance under heavy workloads.

I posted a guide here that you can leverage for determining which SSDs suit your use case.

Hope this helps. Sorry for any typos, using a 4.7” phone.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: grenade0, Crazy_Eddy and aadilxdev
kewlboy9 said:
The first thing is obviously the form factor and the interface. 2.5” SSDs connect through a SATA interface and max out at 500-500 MB/s speeds. M.2 SSDs can be either SATA or NVME. NVME drives are of course more expensive and can have R/W speeds from 1,000 MB/s to over 14,000 MB/s with the newer gen 5 SSDs.

Then comes NAND type which determines the number of bits stored per cell in the flash memory, which impacts speed, endurance, and cost. There are four major types: single level cell (SLC), multi level cell (MLC), triple level cell (TLC) and quad level cell (QLC). SLC offers the best performance and durability but is very expensive, while QLC is the cheapest but lacks in performance and endurance. TLC provides a good balance b/w performance/endurance and cost.

Speaking of endurance, you should take a look at the TBW or DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) ratings to understand the drive’s lifespan. Higher TBW indicates the SSD can handle more writes before it starts to degrade. For typical consumer usage, a TBW of 300-400 TB is usually sufficient. For intensive use (e.g., servers, video editing), look for a higher TBW rating

Finally, you should also consider the presence/absence of DRAM cache. DRAM is used in SSDs to store a map of the NAND cells and speed up read/write operations. DRAM-equipped SSDs offer much better performance, especially during heavy write tasks. DRAM acts as a cache, improving both sequential and random read/write speeds. DRAM-equipped SSDs are ideal for tasks that involve heavy write operations, such as gaming or video editing. DRAM-less SSDs tend to be slower, especially during random write operations. They typically rely on Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology, which uses a small amount of system RAM as a cache, but it’s less effective than dedicated DRAM. They are suitable for light or everyday usage like boot drives, basic gaming, or general computing. These are cheaper but can show slower performance under heavy workloads.

I posted a guide here that you can leverage for determining which SSDs suits your use case.

Hope this helps. Sorry for any typos, using a 4.7” phone.
Click to expand...
just came back from there & man this is such a nice info you put out above [btw what's with the 4.7" phone? is it iPhone mini or se ?] also what about MLC you didn't talk about them I guess they are too on the costlier side itself with slight performance increase from TLC or TLC & QLC come under MLC ?
 
kewlboy9 said:
The first thing is obviously the form factor and the interface. 2.5” SSDs connect through a SATA interface and max out at 500-550 MB/s speeds. M.2 SSDs can be either SATA or NVME. NVME drives are of course more expensive and can have R/W speeds from 1,000 MB/s to over 14,000 MB/s with the newer gen 5 SSDs.

Then comes NAND type which determines the number of bits stored per cell in the flash memory, which impacts speed, endurance, and cost. There are four major types: single level cell (SLC), multi level cell (MLC), triple level cell (TLC) and quad level cell (QLC). SLC offers the best performance and durability but is very expensive, while QLC is the cheapest but lacks in performance and endurance. TLC provides a good balance b/w performance/endurance and cost.

Speaking of endurance, you should take a look at the TBW or DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) ratings to understand the drive’s lifespan. Higher TBW indicates the SSD can handle more writes before it starts to degrade. For typical consumer usage, a TBW of 300-400 TB is usually sufficient. For intensive use (e.g., servers, video editing), look for a higher TBW rating.

Finally, you should also consider the presence/absence of DRAM cache. DRAM is used in SSDs to store a map of the NAND cells and speed up read/write operations. DRAM-equipped SSDs offer much better performance, especially during heavy write tasks. DRAM acts as a cache, improving both sequential and random read/write speeds. DRAM-equipped SSDs are ideal for tasks that involve heavy write operations, such as gaming or video editing. DRAM-less SSDs tend to be slower, especially during random write operations. They typically rely on Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology, which uses a small amount of system RAM as a cache, but it’s less effective than dedicated DRAM. They are suitable for light or everyday usage like boot drives, basic gaming, or general computing. These are cheaper but can show slower performance under heavy workloads.

I posted a guide here that you can leverage for determining which SSDs suit your use case.

Hope this helps. Sorry for any typos, using a 4.7” phone.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much
 
  • Like
Reactions: kewlboy9
aadilxdev said:
just came back from there & man this is such a nice info you put out above [btw what's with the 4.7" phone? is it iPhone mini or se ?]
Click to expand...
Thanks! Haha, yeah I'm using an iPhone SE.
aadilxdev said:
also what about MLC you didn't talk about them I guess they are too on the costlier side itself with slight performance increase from TLC or TLC & QLC come under MLC ?
Click to expand...
Yes, MLCs are also quite rare. They're more performant than TLCs and QLCs, but more expensive. For most consumers, TLC would be the best if they'd like to prioritize performance and longevity.
 
  • Like
Reactions: aadilxdev
Top Bottom