Looking for a new SSD Drive

[Grifman]

I am getting a new 2 TB SSD drive for my PC. Any recommendations? I'm looking at this one but to be honest, I don't know much about SSD's or what to look for.

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Internal ... true&th=1

Thanks!

Edit: Do I need a heat sink? I see some drives being sold with them. Again, thanks.

[Kasey Chang]

SATA or M.2?

[gilraen]

Samsung or WD are both good choice for consumer-grade SSD.

Not very familiar with heatsink but my understanding it you need it on PCIE4 drives, since they run much hotter.

[Grifman]

SATA or M.2?

I have no idea, that’s how much I know about hard drives.

[Kasey Chang]

Heatsinks generally only appear on the M.2 type SSDs, which are smaller (looks like oversized memory modules) and much smaller than hard drives. M.2 can be quite fast for mainboards that have the M.2 slots, as those are often directly attached to PCI-Express bus. You can also buy expansion cards that plugs into PCI-Express slots that you can plug a M.2 SSD into. M.2 are really popular on laptops, but due to the high density, they can heat up in use, which is why they often have heatsinks, and later, aftermarket heatsinks.

Regular SATA SSD hooks up to PC with SATA power and data cable, and goes into the same drive mounting points as spinning hard drives. But they are technically a little slower due to SATA limits. Those don't have heatsinks as the exterior case helps spread out the heat.

[Blackhawk]

SATA or M.2?

I have no idea, that’s how much I know about hard drives.

Simplified version: Do you want something that looks like a small platter drive, sits in a bay, and is connected to the motherboard by wires like a hard drive (SATA), or a 'chip' style drive (like the one you linked to) that plugs directly into a special M.2 slot in your motherboard? You'd need to check your motherboard manual to make sure it supports M.2 drives. Most modern ones support 2-3.

FWIW, the M.2 drives are a little more expensive, but are considerably faster.

[Montag]

If an M.2 I would recommend the Samsung 980 Pro. It is a premium drive - but not ultra premium. With them being PCI 4, you would be able to carry them forward to a future rig without really giving up much performance.

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/me ... /#benefits

For the 2.5" SATA, I went with a Samsung EVO 870. You have a lot more comparable options here.

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/me ... 7e1t0b-am/