2019 the Year of 1TB SSDs: Prices Fall by 50%

[RichF]

Funny, the same thing was said about MLC when MLC came out, and then about TLC when TLC came out. And now we use both without issue, and we'll be using QLC without hesitation in a year too, because the reality is it has plenty of write cycles and people way overestimate how much they actually write to their drives.

TLC was a serious downgrade from MLC, especially in smaller capacities in steady state. The thing that made TLC good is the 3D process, which greatly improved the robustness of the NAND. 3D TLC did not come out until some time after planar TLC drives were sold.

QLC is a lot worse than TLC.

Judy: "It's safest to drive with both hands on the wheel in the proper positions."
Judy: "However, it's probably okay for you to drive with two hands somewhere on the wheel."
Jack: "I know, but I can drive all day long with just one."
Judy: "Okay, but you shouldn't get reckless."
Jack: "Hey, today I'm going to drive with no hands, just my knees."
Judy: "Not a great idea."
Jack: "Oh really? Tomorrow I'm going to try driving with nothing but my feet!"
Judy: "You have to be trained for that and maybe need a special car."
Jack: "Well, I plan to evolve from this to driving with just my mind."

Sometimes the slippery slope is real. There is a limit to how many voltage states NAND can effectively handle.

Anandtech just posted a review that shows the Intel 660p to be particularly terrible in multiple metrics. Latency is bad. Write performance is bad. Steady state performance looks troubling.

 

[cucker tarlson]

TLC was a serious downgrade from MLC, especially in smaller capacities in steady state. The thing that made TLC good is the 3D process, which greatly improved the robustness of the NAND. 3D TLC did not come out until some time after planar TLC drives were sold.

QLC is a lot worse than TLC.

Judy: "It's safest to drive with both hands on the wheel in the proper positions."
Judy: "However, it's probably okay for you to drive with two hands somewhere on the wheel."
Jack: "I know, but I can drive all day long with just one."
Judy: "Okay, but you shouldn't get reckless."
Jack: "Hey, today I'm going to drive with no hands, just my knees."
Judy: "Not a great idea."
Jack: "Oh really? Tomorrow I'm going to try driving with nothing but my feet!"
Judy: "You have to be trained for that and maybe need a special car."
Jack: "Well, I plan to evolve from this to driving with just my mind."

Sometimes the slippery slope is real. There is a limit to how many voltage states NAND can effectively handle.

Anandtech just posted a review that shows the Intel 660p to be particularly terrible in multiple metrics. Latency is bad. Write performance is bad. Steady state performance looks troubling.

Yes and no

I have both 850pro and 860evo.
In a full capacity test 850pro 512 slows down to 200-230mb/s while 860evo maintains 300mb/s.
In endurance test I saw on the internet 960 Evo took 6pb of writes before dying.

Some tlc memories are crappy same as not every mlc is good.

 

[lexluthermiester]

QLC is a lot worse than TLC.

This. QLC is really only good for incidental storage, IE, infrequent use and very few expected PE cycles over the live of the device. Totally unacceptable for system boot drives.

Some tlc memories are crappy same as not every mlc is good.

While that's a good point, even the crappiest MLC will still be better than the best TLC, generally.

 

[trparky]

even the crappiest MLC will still be better than the best TLC, generally.

Except for most Samsung SSDs, then again you generally pay for that kind of quality and performance. I may have to pay more for a Samsung SSD but I know it will perform well and will generally last a good long time regardless of it being MLC or TLC NAND.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Except for most Samsung SSDs, then again you generally pay for that kind of quality and performance. I may have to pay more for a Samsung SSD but I know it will perform well and will generally last a good long time regardless of it being MLC or TLC NAND.

Also a good point. However, Samsung MLC drives are the same next-level quality and thus will be that much better.

 

[trparky]

Also a good point. However, Samsung MLC drives are the same next-level quality and thus will be that much better.

Also a good point. Though I do have to say that a Samsung TLC NAND SSD will be better than anyone else's TLC NAND SSD. I really do hate to sound like a Samsung SSD fanboi but it is what it is. Their 860 EVO and 970 EVO SSDs are probably the best performing TLC NAND equipped SSDs on the market.

Oh sure, ADATA is coming damn close but they're not quite there yet. If you want performance and quality, make it a Samsung.

 

[kapone32]

Also a good point. Though I do have to say that a Samsung TLC NAND SSD will be better than anyone else's TLC NAND SSD. I really do hate to sound like a Samsung SSD fanboi but it is what it is. Their 860 EVO and 970 EVO SSDs are probably the best performing TLC NAND equipped SSDs on the market.

Oh sure, ADATA is coming damn close but they're not quite there yet. If you want performance and quality, make it a Samsung.

UM the Adata SX8200 Pro has the exact same specs as the 970 EVO. it is just as fast and has the same warranty. Adata has indeed come a long way and are keeping up with Samsung in TLC for sure.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Though I do have to say that a Samsung TLC NAND SSD will be better than anyone else's TLC NAND SSD. I really do hate to sound like a Samsung SSD fanboi but it is what it is.

I would generally agree with this. The only expection is Micron's 3D-TLC. They are on-par or even a bit better in the reliability area. Performance wise they seem a bit behind, but when we're talking about 500MB per second for both lines of products the difference isn't that big.

UM the Adata SX8200 Pro has the exact same specs as the 970 EVO. it is just as fast and has the same warranty.

However, the rated durability is not as high. Still a quality drive, certainly, but not on the same level.

Adata has indeed come a long way and are keeping up with Samsung in TLC for sure.

They have come a long way. However they have a bit further to go to hit the same levels of quality and performance of Samsung and Micron.

 

[kapone32]

I would generally agree with this. The only expection is Micron's 3D-TLC. They are on-par or even a bit better in the reliability area. Performance wise they seem a bit behind, but when we're talking about 500MB per second for both lines of products the difference isn't that big.

However, the rated durability is not as high. Still a quality drive, certainly, but not on the same level.

They have come a long way. However they have a bit further to go to hit the same levels of quality and performance of Samsung and Micron.

At the top level yes but the 970EVO is not Samsung's best. I agree with you on MIcron I have 2 x2 TB SSDs IN RAID 0.

 

[trparky]

At the top level yes but the 970EVO is not Samsung's best.

Could've fooled me, I have a 970 EVO in my system and it's a solid performer. It's why I suggest buying Samsung if you want good performance. Again, I hate to sound like a Samsung fanboi but it is what it is.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Could've fooled me, I have a 970 EVO in my system and it's a solid performer.

I think he was referring to the reliability aspect of things.

Again, I hate to sound like a Samsung fanboi but it is what it is.

Doesn't really come off like fanboyism. You're sharing personal experiences. Nothing wrong with that.