2TB NVMe M.2 Secondary Drive for Games

Lbeatsntoons on 01/09/2021 - 12:34
Last edited 01/09/2021 - 12:35

Hi all

I didn't want to hijack someone else's similar thread.
I'm after a 2TB NVME SSD to store games on. I have a 970 Pro 1TB as my main drive, and a Lexar 1TB as my secondary games drive and I want to upgrade the latter.

Just after something that will be fast, but not run too hot. It will sit behind the motherboard in my SFF PC.

Thinking about the 970 Evo Plus. Is this a good drive and will the temps be okay?

Thanks!

Computing

Comments

  • FireRunner on 01/09/2021 - 12:51
    +1

    970 Evo Plus is probably overkill for a game drive.
    I use a 2TB Intel 660P for my secondary storage drive which is great for this purpose
    A Crucial P1 is comparable being also QLC with a small DRAM cache.
    Don't get a Crucial P2 since they've recently sneakily changed from TLC to QLC and has no DRAM cache

    • beatsntoons on 01/09/2021 - 12:56

      thank you. I see the 660p is not that much less than the Evo Plus. Are they basically similar in performance?

      • FireRunner on 01/09/2021 - 13:02
        +1

        If theres not much price difference then definitely go Evo Plus.
        For reference, I paid about $315 for my 2TB 660p in early 2020. I'd expect the normal price should be around $300 now, if it isn't then get something else.

        Edit: It appears the Crucial P1 is $290 delivered from shopping express

        • beatsntoons on 01/09/2021 - 13:05

          Nothing is near that :(
          Chip shortages and COVID. SSDs are impacted as well, sadly.
          They range from about $340-380 for the 660p

          thank you for your help; I'll get the Evo Plus then and get another $33 back in Samsung Cashback ($399 - $33 = $366)

          edit: thanks for the link for the Crucial!

          • FireRunner on 01/09/2021 - 13:11
            +1

            @beatsntoons: It's not a fantastic price for a P1 but it looks to be the cheapest around and would be suitable for your use case

            • beatsntoons on 01/09/2021 - 13:13
              +1

              @FireRunner: yeah I think you're right. The cheaper price also allows me to get an enclosure to easily use the older 1TB as a backup drive.

          • Agret on 01/09/2021 - 17:48
            +1

            @beatsntoons: You going to edit the date on your receipt to try and claim it? Might work, good luck.

  • Master Bates on 01/09/2021 - 13:36

    It will sit behind the motherboard in my SFF PC

    Is this drive going into a motherboard slot or are you connecting it via USB or Thunderbolt?

  • Caped Baldy on 01/09/2021 - 14:14
    +1

    Have you considered a 4tb 2.5" SSD drive? Should be room even in a SFF case. A lot cheaper too around the $500 mark for DRAMless.

    • beatsntoons on 01/09/2021 - 14:29

      Yeah I did initially, but I'll be honest, cable management is hard enough as it is. That's why I chose a board with 2x NVME slots. Adding an SSD requires data and power cables and my case is packed right now. Didn't want to add more to it (case is a Streacom DA2)

      • Switchblade88 on 01/09/2021 - 18:37
        +1

        Stick your SATA SSD into an external enclosure like the popular Orico ones - USB means you don't have to deal with space issues

        • beatsntoons on 02/09/2021 - 09:33

          I'm a minimalist. I don't like external anything :)

          This is my desktop. Even if I were to hide the drive, I'd know it was there, and just wouldn't like it.

          https://i.imgur.com/DHE3XSu.jpg

    • FireRunner on 01/09/2021 - 14:30
      +2

      Something like the 4TB Samsung 870 QVO has a small LPDDR4 DRAM cache

  • beatsntoons on 01/09/2021 - 15:59

    Thanks all for your help. Ended up with the P1 2TB and a Sabrent enclosure from Amazon. Should turn up on Saturday. The drive was pricier on Amazon, but no shipping (Prime) and I included the enclosure

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