Biostar M720 256Gb (SI216PME36) m.2 good or bad?

masterdeejay · Jun 29, 2023

This m.2 nvme ssd is very cheap in my country now, but I don't know if it is reliable or not.
Speed doesn't matter, I just want to use it on my office computers. (replacing old 128Gb Kingston U400, SU400, A400, A300... sata drives)
It is just ~10 USD.

I can't find any information, review about it. It is a rebranded drive?

joemama · Jun 29, 2023

How bad can it be? Office computers aren't gonna write a crazy amount of data every day

csendesmark · Jun 29, 2023

It should be ok, to replacing the old SATA drives with this one.
But I did not find any description about it's TBW on the manufacturer's site...
I would also notice that a Samsung 980 250GB m.2 SSD is only a little bit more expensive.
So if you are more interested in reliance then, I would say spend the extra bucks on a "better" drive.

masterdeejay · Jun 29, 2023

The Biostar M720 is ~3-4k HUF
https://www.wincity.hu/biostar-m720-256gb-1326891
https://www.bluechip.hu/termek/biostar-m720-256gb
The Samsung 980 250Gb is at least 10k HUF

I researched a little, the cpu on this is a sm2263xt (no cache), flash chips are Intel made.

Shou Miko · Jun 29, 2023

Research the drive comes up with 3D TLC Nand which ain't bad and for the price why not.

One think doe it looks to be dramless so no cache.

masterdeejay · Jun 29, 2023

I will order one and try it.

Wirko · Jun 29, 2023

The lack of available information means one thing: this is an OEM drive. It doesn't mean it's bad but it comes without manufacturer's warranty or support.

It's probably not rebranded but made by Biostar and based on SMI's reference design, almost any electronics manufacturer can do that and Biostar surely can, too.

I saw a similar example lately at a few (smaller) resellers in Slovenia, they had (and still have) a 128 GB Samsung PM991 OEM drive in M.2 2230 size for 10 EUR. It's quite obvious that they found a stock of cheap laptops somewhere, ripped out these SSDs and put something larger inside. Probably the same thing happened to the Biostars you're looking at. I'm actually considering buying one or two of those Samsungs for torture testing.

csendesmark · Jun 29, 2023

masterdeejay said:
I will order one and try it.

Where did you order?
I adviced the Samsung, because it is also comes with 5 years warranty.

masterdeejay · Jun 29, 2023

csendesmark said:
Where did you order?
I adviced the Samsung, because it is also comes with 5 years warranty.

https://www.bluechip.hu/termek/biostar-m720-256gb

I ordered just 4 (but i have 10+ ssd that needs to be replaced).

Out of stock but there is another webshop
https://kazycomputers.hu/biostar-m7...ereso&utm_medium=cpp&utm_campaign=direct_link

csendesmark · Jun 30, 2023

Cool, now I get it.
Then I would recommend to order one extra piece in case you need one quick.

System Name	MU-TH-UR 6000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9800X3D ECO mode
Motherboard	Asrock B650 PG Lightning
Cooling	Corsair H100 AIO AM2+
Memory	4x16GB Puskill DDR5 6400@6000 CAS32
Video Card(s)	Sapphire RX7900XT 20GB Nitro+ undervolted
Storage	Samsung PM9A1 1Tb + 2x PM981 512Gb + Kingston HyperX 480Gb + Samsung Evo 860 500Gb
Display(s)	HP ZR30W (30" 2560x1600 10 bit)
Case	Chieftec ‎GX-01B-OP Alien style
Audio Device(s)	Genius Cavimanus
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex 750w Platinum
Mouse	Logitech G400
Keyboard	IBM Model M122 (boltmod, micro pro usbc)
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64

Processor	i5-9600K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z390 Gaming X
Cooling	Scythe Mugen 5S
Memory	Micron Ballistix Sports LT 3000 8G*4
Video Card(s)	EVGA 3070 XC3 Ultra Gaming
Storage	Adata SX6000 Pro 512G, Kingston A2000 1T
Display(s)	Gigabyte M32Q
Case	Antec DF700 Flux
Audio Device(s)	Edifier C3X
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex Gold 650W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V2
Keyboard	Ducky ONE 2 Horizon

System Name	Kincsem
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
Motherboard	ASUS ProArt X870E-CREATOR WIFI
Cooling	Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 5
Memory	Kingston Fury KF560C32RSK2-96 (2×48GB 6GHz)
Video Card(s)	Sapphire AMD RX 7900 XT Pulse
Storage	Samsung 990PRO 2TB + Samsung 980PRO 2TB + FURY Renegade 2TB+ Adata 2TB + WD Ultrastar HC550 16TB
Display(s)	Acer QHD 27"@144Hz 1ms + UHD 27"@60Hz
Case	Cooler Master CM 690 III
Power Supply	Seasonic 1300W 80+ Gold Prime
Mouse	Logitech G502 Hero
Keyboard	HyperX Alloy Elite RGB
Software	Windows 10-64
Benchmark Scores	https://valid.x86.fr/9qw7iq https://valid.x86.fr/4d8n02 X570 https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/g46uc

System Name	MU-TH-UR 6000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9800X3D ECO mode
Motherboard	Asrock B650 PG Lightning
Cooling	Corsair H100 AIO AM2+
Memory	4x16GB Puskill DDR5 6400@6000 CAS32
Video Card(s)	Sapphire RX7900XT 20GB Nitro+ undervolted
Storage	Samsung PM9A1 1Tb + 2x PM981 512Gb + Kingston HyperX 480Gb + Samsung Evo 860 500Gb
Display(s)	HP ZR30W (30" 2560x1600 10 bit)
Case	Chieftec ‎GX-01B-OP Alien style
Audio Device(s)	Genius Cavimanus
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex 750w Platinum
Mouse	Logitech G400
Keyboard	IBM Model M122 (boltmod, micro pro usbc)
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64

System Name	Lynni PS \ Lenowo TwinkPad L14 G2
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Raphael (Waiting on 9800X3D) \ i5-1135G7 Tiger Lake-U
Motherboard	ASRock B650M PG Riptide Bios v. 3.10 AMD AGESA 1.2.0.2a \ Lenowo BDPLANAR Bios 1.68
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.Black (Only middle fan) \ Lenowo C-267C-2
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 2x16GB DDR5 6000MHZ CL36-36-36-96 AMD EXPO \ Willk Elektronik 2x16GB 2666MHZ CL17
Video Card(s)	Sapphire PURE AMD Radeon™ RX 9070 Gaming OC 16GB \| Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Storage	Gigabyte M30 1TB\|Sabrent Rocket 2TB\| HDD: 10TB\|1TB \ WD RED SN700 1TB
Display(s)	KTC M27T20S 1440p@165Hz \| LG 48CX OLED 4K HDR \| Innolux 14" 1080p
Case	Asus Prime AP201 White Mesh \| Lenowo L14 G2 chassis
Audio Device(s)	Steelseries Arctis Pro Wireless
Power Supply	Be Quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W Goldie \| 65W
Mouse	Logitech G305 Lightspeedy Wireless \| Lenowo TouchPad & Logitech G305
Keyboard	Ducky One 3 Daybreak Fullsize \| L14 G2 UK Lumi
Software	Win11 IoT Enterprise 24H2 UK \| Win11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 24H2 UK / Arch (Fan)
Benchmark Scores	3DMARK: https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/89434432? GPU-Z: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/details/v3zbr

Processor	i5-6600K
Motherboard	Asus Z170A
Cooling	some cheap Cooler Master Hyper 103 or similar
Memory	16GB DDR4-2400
Video Card(s)	IGP
Storage	Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
Display(s)	2x Oldell 24" 1920x1200
Case	Bitfenix Nova white windowless non-mesh
Audio Device(s)	E-mu 1212m PCI
Power Supply	Seasonic G-360
Mouse	Logitech Marble trackball, never had a mouse
Keyboard	Key Tronic KT2000, no Win key because 1994
Software	Oldwin