Worth upgrading 7 year old SSD?

oli_ramsay · Dec 2, 2018

Would I see any tangible benefit upgrading my old crucial M4 SSD to an m.2 drive when I build a new PC and carry across storage.

I've heard in real world usage it's unnoticeable but obviously benchmarks tell a different story...

Thoughts?

Zyll Goliat · Dec 2, 2018

oli_ramsay said:
Would I see any tangible benefit upgrading my old crucial M4 SSD to an m.2 drive when I build a new PC and carry across storage.

I've heard in real world usage it's unnoticeable but obviously benchmarks tell a different story...

Thoughts?

Well...Yes and No....You could see some benefit maybe in certain games loading time could be faster also if you do a lot of copy/paste paticularly larger files,also maybe in some apps you can benefit to but do not expect miracles like when you switched from HDD on SSD.....

Deleted member 67555 · Dec 2, 2018

oli_ramsay said:
Would I see any tangible benefit upgrading my old crucial M4 SSD to an m.2 drive when I build a new PC and carry across storage.

I've heard in real world usage it's unnoticeable but obviously benchmarks tell a different story...

Thoughts?

Yes it does make a difference.
IMO it is worth it.
Most of the gimp in your system is fetching data so faster is still faster whether or not it adds to your user experience or not.

hat · Dec 2, 2018

Note that m.2 is just a form factor. An m.2 can either be the really fast NVMe type (what you seem to be referring to) or it can still be a plain SATA drive. That said, I think you would see a bigger benefit from getting more SSD storage and... storing more stuff on it. If you're storing a lot of games on that spinner, you might notice better load times and overall performance from having it on a SSD instead, even if it's SATA and not NVMe.

Komshija · Dec 3, 2018

Depends what you are doing with your PC. Moving, copying or editing large files will be slightly faster even on the budget (cheapest) newer M.2 NVMe or mSATA compared to an old SSD. Maybe even the OS will load some 2 seconds faster...
If you need more space, like 240 GB or 480 GB, 2.5" SSD's are reasonably priced at the moment.

tabascosauz · Dec 3, 2018

M.2 is more useful for smaller ITX builds where 2.5” drives just might not be feasible, hence the presence of M.2 2260 or 2280 in a lot of ITX boards.

What I want to know is how much you’ve used that M4 and what CrystalDiskInfo says about its health and total writes.

newtekie1 · Dec 3, 2018

If you were upgrading from a more modern drive, I'd say it isn't worth it. However, the M4 is a pretty old drive, and performance wise is quite a bit behind modern SSDs.

So, yes, I say it is worth it to upgrade the M4. Even if you just upgrade it to another SATA drive...

oli_ramsay · Dec 3, 2018

Samsung Evo 970 any good?

Deleted member 67555 · Dec 3, 2018

oli_ramsay said:
Samsung Evo 970 any good?

Yeah... They are fantastic.
So are 3rd generation WD Black NVMe.

rtwjunkie · Dec 3, 2018

newtekie1 said:
If you were upgrading from a more modern drive, I'd say it isn't worth it. However, the M4 is a pretty old drive, and performance wise is quite a bit behind modern SSDs.

So, yes, I say it is worth it to upgrade the M4. Even if you just upgrade it to another SATA drive...

This^^^. It’s exactly what I came into thread to say. Even a SATA would be an improvement.

R0H1T · Dec 3, 2018

Yes & yes, it is noticeable in real world usage but really it depends on what you're doing. If all you're doing is browsing the web or watching movies, listening to songs then you won't see too much benefit.
Depending on your budget & needs a regular SATA or NVMe drive will do quite well.

bug · Dec 3, 2018

jmcslob said:
Yeah... They are fantastic.
So are 3rd generation WD Black NVMe.

Adding the mandatory Crucial MX500 to the list.
Get whichever is cheapest, performance is more or less the same

But beware. Your motherboard only has one mSATA (not M2) port and that is SATA 3Gbps only. It also disables ~~two~~ one of your other SATA ports. Imho you should be looking for a plain SATA SSD instead. That means no 970EVO or WD Black for you. 860 EVO will do nicely though.

Deleted member 67555 · Dec 3, 2018

bug said:
Adding the mandatory Crucial MX500 to the list.
Get whichever is cheapest, performance is more or less the same

But beware. Your motherboard only has one mSATA (not M2) port and that is SATA 3Gbps only. It also disables two of your other SATA ports. Imho you should be looking for a plain SATA SSD instead. That means no 970EVO or WD Black for you. 860 EVO will do nicely though.

Nice catch on the chipset limitation.

cucker tarlson · Dec 3, 2018

get a bigger sata ssd over a smaller nvme one.

bug · Dec 3, 2018

jmcslob said:
Nice catch on the chipset limitation.

Either way, unless you frequently do large file transfers, most metrics used in benchmarks are meaningless for home usage. What you should look at is 4k random reads (at QD1). If you can find a drive that is 20-30% better than what you currently have, that would be something you will feel.
Higher queue depths are hard to reach at home (you only go up to QD4 if you manage to stress your PC, anything higher is reserved for servers serving multiple clients simultaneously). Sequential transfer is only useful when reading/writing large files and you rarely do that. Video editing, backing up or restoring often would benefit from better sequential transfers, but otherwise the reads/writes are too small for them to make a difference. Game level loading will also benefit from better sequential reads, but it depends on how much time you are currently wasting because of that.

FreedomEclipse · Dec 3, 2018

oli_ramsay said:
Samsung Evo 970 any good?

Yeah. you missed the boat though. Amazon were doing them for £89 for 500GB on black friday. I bought one myself to save me from a slightly slower western digital SSD.

Voluman · Dec 3, 2018

Yeah, its a good drive, but there was improvement in the past couple of years, especially if you get a bigger one, like a 240gb version.
Probably wont be as big jump like from hdd to ssd, but maybe if you choose a nvme drive you will notice that.

newtekie1 · Dec 3, 2018

bug said:
But beware. Your motherboard only has one mSATA (not M2) port and that is SATA 3Gbps only. It also disables ~~two~~ one of your other SATA ports. Imho you should be looking for a plain SATA SSD instead. That means no 970EVO or WD Black for you. 860 EVO will do nicely though.

oli_ramsay said:
when I build a new PC

The OP's current motherboard doesn't matter in the decision.

Deleted member 67555 · Dec 3, 2018

newtekie1 said:
The OP's current motherboard doesn't matter in the decision.

Nice catch on that not mattering... Lol.
@Knoxx29
Yeah..Rapid mode is in Samsung Magician and what I was thinking was Intel Rapid storage..
I stand corrected

eidairaman1 · Dec 3, 2018

oli_ramsay said:
Samsung Evo 970 any good?

Even the 840 Pro, 850 Pro, 860 Pro kick rear. MX 200, 300, MX400 do as well.

Drawback on m.2, heat.

hat · Dec 3, 2018

eidairaman1 said:
Drawback on m.2, heat.

Only for NVMe. SATA m.2 drives don't have this issue.

eidairaman1 · Dec 3, 2018

hat said:
Only for NVMe. SATA m.2 drives don't have this issue.

So the protocol is still SATA but fits into a M.2 slot, nvme utilizes pcie arch

hat · Dec 3, 2018

Right. As I said before, m.2 is just a form factor. It can either be SATA or NVMe (pci express). I don't think every m.2 port can do both, though, anyone looking into purchasing relevant items should check the motherboard specs to see what's what.

bug · Dec 3, 2018

hat said:
Only for NVMe. SATA m.2 drives don't have this issue.

Not even that. NVMe drives only throttle when they write (tens of?) GB of data at once. A really artificial scenario for home users.

hat · Dec 4, 2018

Just saying, I recall heat issues and NVMe drives. SATA drives don't have heat issues.

System Name	Dream Weaver
Processor	Ryzen 5600
Motherboard	B450 MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Cooling	NH-D14
Memory	16GB Flare X @ 3200MHz CL14
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Vega 64 Nitro+
Storage	500GB evo 970 m.2 + 4TB HDDs
Display(s)	ASUS 27" 1440p 144hz FreeSync
Case	Fractal Design Define R3
Power Supply	Corsair 850W
Software	Windows 10 x64

Processor	Intel I9 7940X
Motherboard	Asus Strix Rog Gaming E X299
Cooling	Xigmatek LOKI SD963 double-Fan
Memory	64Gb DDR4 2666Mhz
Video Card(s)	1)RX 6900XT BIOSTAR 16Gb***2)MATROX M9120LP
Storage	2 x ssd-Kingston 240Gb A400 in RAID 0+ HDD 500Gb +Samsung 128gbSSD +SSD Kinston 480Gb
Display(s)	BenQ 28"EL2870U(4K-HDR) / Acer 24"(1080P) / Eizo 2336W(1080p) / 2x Eizo 19"(1280x1024)
Case	Lian Li
Audio Device(s)	Realtek/Creative T20 Speakers
Power Supply	F S P Hyper S 700W
Mouse	Asus TUF-GAMING M3
Keyboard	Func FUNC-KB-460/Mechanical Keyboard
VR HMD	Oculus Rift DK2
Software	Win 11
Benchmark Scores	Fire Strike=23905,Cinebench R15=3189,Cinebench R20=3791.Passmark=30689,Geekbench4=32885

System Name	Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor	i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard	ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling	Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory	4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s)	PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage	Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s)	Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case	Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply	FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software	Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores	>9000

System Name	1.21 gigawatts!
Processor	Intel Core i7 6700K
Motherboard	MSI Z170A Krait Gaming 3X
Cooling	Be Quiet! Shadow Rock Slim with Arctic MX-4
Memory	16GB G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4 3000 MHz
Video Card(s)	Palit GTX 1080 Game Rock
Storage	Mushkin Triactor 240GB + Toshiba X300 4TB + Team L3 EVO 480GB
Display(s)	Philips 237E7QDSB/00 23" FHD AH-IPS
Case	Aerocool Aero-1000 white + 4 Arctic F12 PWM Rev.2 fans
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Audio Boost 3 with Nahimic Audio Enhancer
Power Supply	FSP Hydro G 650W
Mouse	Cougar 700M eSports white
Keyboard	E-Blue Cobra II
Software	Windows 8.1 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	Cinebench R15: 948 (stock) / 1044 (4,7 GHz) FarCry 5 1080p Ultra: min 100, avg 116, max 133 FPS

System Name	ab┃ob
Processor	7800X3D┃5800X3D
Motherboard	B650E PG-ITX┃X570 Impact
Cooling	NH-U12A + T30┃AXP120-x67
Memory	64GB 6000CL30┃32GB 3600CL14
Video Card(s)	RTX 4070 Ti Eagle┃RTX A2000
Storage	8TB of SSDs┃1TB SN550
Display(s)	43" QN90B / 32" M32Q / 27" S2721DGF
Case	Caselabs S3┃Lazer3D HT5

Processor	Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super
Storage	500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

Processor	Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard	Asus H670 TUF
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 34
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage	500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s)	Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case	Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s)	Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply	Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard	G.Skill KM780R
Software	Arch Linux + Win10

System Name	Purple rain
Processor	10.5 thousand 4.2G 1.1v
Motherboard	Zee 490 Aorus Elite
Cooling	Noctua D15S
Memory	16GB 4133 CL16-16-16-31 Viper Steel
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio
Storage	SU900 128,8200Pro 1TB,850 Pro 512+256+256,860 Evo 500,XPG950 480, Skyhawk 2TB
Display(s)	Acer XB241YU+Dell S2716DG
Case	P600S Silent w. Alpenfohn wing boost 3 ARGBT+ fans
Audio Device(s)	K612 Pro w. FiiO E10k DAC,W830BT wireless
Power Supply	Superflower Leadex Gold 850W
Mouse	G903 lightspeed+powerplay,G403 wireless + Steelseries DeX + Roccat rest
Keyboard	HyperX Alloy SilverSpeed (w.HyperX wrist rest),Razer Deathstalker
Software	Windows 10
Benchmark Scores	A LOT

System Name	Codename: Icarus Mk.VI
Processor	Intel 8600k@Stock -- pending tuning
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strixx Z370-F
Cooling	CPU: BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 {1xCorsair ML120 Pro\|5xML140 Pro}
Memory	32GB XPG Gammix D10 {2x16GB}
Video Card(s)	ASUS Dual Radeon™ RX 6700 XT OC Edition
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 512GB SSD (Boot)\|WD SN770 (Gaming)\|2x 3TB Toshiba DT01ACA300\|2x 2TB Crucial BX500
Display(s)	LG GP850-B
Case	Corsair 760T (White)
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V573\|Speakers: JBL Control One\|Auna 300-CN\|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply	Corsair AX760
Mouse	Logitech G900
Keyboard	Duckyshine Dead LED(s) III
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

Worth upgrading 7 year old SSD?

Deleted member 67555

Guest

Enthusiast

Moderator

Semi-Retired Folder

Deleted member 67555

Guest

PC Gaming Enthusiast

Deleted member 67555

Guest

~Technological Technocrat~

Semi-Retired Folder

Deleted member 67555

Guest

The Exiled Airman

Enthusiast

The Exiled Airman

Enthusiast

Enthusiast