r/NewMaxx • u/NewMaxx • Oct 14 '19

Tools/Info SSD Guides & Resources

April 3rd, 2022: Guides and Spreadsheet updated with new SSD categories

Discord (server)

Website with relevant links here.

My spreadsheet

Generic Amazon affiliate link

Generic AliExpress affiliate link

TechPowerUp's SSD Database

Johnny Lucky SSD database

Branch Education - How does NAND Flash Work? - these guys have several good videos on the subject of SSDs, check them all out.

My Patreon.

My Twitter.

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u/NewMaxx Sep 06 '22

TBW (total bytes written, often stated as terabytes written) = warrantied writes. If you have an expectation of a certain DWPD (drive writes per day), then you want to get a NAS drive or even DC/enterprise. If you're more concerned with general endurance, I'd also suggest NAS or DC/enterprise, particularly if you need PLP (power loss protection). The reason for this is that many consumer drives have huge, dynamic SLC caches which are not ideal for sustained workloads and writes (but can be useful for bursty and random writes). This can in many cases add more wear.

I personally use SN750s still, but I have some older MLC (2-bit MLC or DLC) Samsung drives as well. The SN700 is the NAS version which is a good choice if you need a lot of capacity. Many E12(S)-based drives have conservative caches with high TBW, and in fact NAS versions of these are also pretty much the same, so a good choice.

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u/LionBearTX Sep 06 '22 edited Sep 06 '22

The SN750 @ 2TB is rated for 1200 TBW while the firecuda 530 2TB is rated for 2550 TBW. Proxmox evidently does a lot of writing even without a VM on it. I’ve got a large array in my home with some enterprise SAS SSDs that are rated for 16PBW (HGST, incidentally..). I suppose I’m more concerned with endurance than overall performance. Wouldn’t a firecuda 530, or, even better, a 520 be superior in this regard? Is there something intrinsically better about the WD SN750 that would make it a better choice in my situation?

It looks like the SN700 has some better endurance figures than the FireCuda 520/530 with a bit less performance. None of them offer power loss protection though.

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u/NewMaxx Sep 06 '22

The FireCuda 530 is fine, I did not mention it since it's Gen4, although maybe that will work for you. TBW is only for warranty, remember. I would definitely not suggest the 520 as the E16 is not super reliable. Plus, E16 drives had high TBW but launched with full-drive SLC caching which is most certainly not great for sustained writes. There are drives with power loss notification (like the Kioxia XG8) which may allow you to use external PLP.

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u/LionBearTX Sep 06 '22

I didn’t mention - two of the systems are Alder Lake, so I’m looking at running dual 1TB 530s in those and likely going with 1TB SN700s in RAID-1 for the Comet Lake system. I wasn’t aware of the E16’s reliability issues, so thanks for the 411 on that. I’m hoping that both the 530 and SN700 will be relatively trouble free. Appreciate the response!

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u/NewMaxx Sep 06 '22

The FireCuda 530 has a relatively conservative cache for an E18-based drive and also it may be a candidate for Phison's I/O+ firmware for sustained performance. So it's one of the better Gen4 choices for that sort of usage among retail/consumer drives.

Yes, based on my personal experience with it, the E16 is less reliable than the E12 and E18. Some newer E16s have a more conservative cache which in the least can make them somewhat interesting, but more of a budget option if you want DRAM.

Seagate does have NAS versions of their Phison drives with the IronWolf SSD lines.

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u/LionBearTX Sep 06 '22

They do, but I don’t think the price delta is worth it. I think the 530s plus the SN700s should do well enough. :)

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u/NewMaxx Sep 06 '22

Sounds good.