BIWIN = OEM for Acer and HP NVMe drives
Top tier specs without the recent NAND hyperinflation
Double-sided PCB
PS5 compatible
Reviews: TechPowerUp and Tom's
BL.9BWWR.107
Controller: InnoGrit IG5236
Memory: Micron 176L TLC
DRAM Cache: Hynix 4GB DDR4
Sequential Read: 7400 MB/s
Sequential Write: 6700 MB/s
Random Read: 1,350,000 IOPS
Random Write: 1,150,000 IOPS
Endurance (TBW): 3000 TB
Warranty: 5 Years
CamelCamelCamel.
Yes it is
It has Dram buffer. TLC memory. Top tier Gen 4 speeds. It's a good deal.
Shit controller that kills drives. IG5236.
Skip it.
Man people are going to be rueing missing the Lexar 780 deal 6months ago. 4tb with heat sink for 260
Difference class of SSDs. While most people probably can't tell the difference under general use. This SSD (assuming no component swap) uses flagship class controller + DRAM + Micron 176L TLC.
Basically, this is in the same class as SN850(X), Seagate 530, Samsung 990 Pro. NM790, I am going to be blunt, Maxio and YMTC knows how to optimise SSD to make it difficult for general public to resist. Also, when I try to point out some of the weaknesses of that design, I generally attract negative votes (not that I care - coz. I am not a nice guy anyway). Don't get me wrong, I do have multiple NM790 SSDs (coz. they were cheap). There are OZBers with high end graphics cards so when they setup their PCs, NM790 may not feel quite right.
I don't think anyone, even eye for detail PC enthusiasts/ part 'trainspotters" would be disappointed with the m790 as a steam drive or ps5 expansion.
But yeah if you've only got one m.2 slot then you go for a top drive. I have a 2tb t500 as my system drive, recently upgraded from the sn850x 1tb and I'm very happy with it. Wish I had a second slot though. I might spend a few more dollars on the MB on my upcoming itx am5 build. .
Well, see, that's the thing, even you and me went for traditional flagship SSDs as main system SSD and for you, NM790 is either for Steam or PS5 expansion. To be honest, while it is less overkill, it is still overkill. NM790 4TB did sell for $255 from memory (too lazy to double check) so that's better than going for a 4TB QLC.
I would advocate people pickup on deals like this because they might be harder to come by once existing inventory is sold… 4TB for ~ $400 is pretty good. A decent TBW as well.
Many OEMs like Samsung (a prime NAND chip supplier internationally) has been intentionally & systematically driving up SSD prices via raising lower level sub-components since 2023 as the company takes steps to control and reverse the lower price of SSDs especially during 2023.
Essentially it’s like OPEC artificially inflating oil prices to preserve & increase their own profits and hopefully you know now. Just Google Samsung driving up NAND prices…
So buy this off you can afford it even if you’re not planning upgrading your rig’s storage till later.
this looks like it has heatsink or some kind of thermo pad? would it fit into enclosure? plan to use it as external drive.
Depends on your enclosure. If it is one of those el cheapo, ultra thin one with very little height clearance, being double sided and having what looks like a tiny thermal pad might cause a problem.
What you can do is buy an enclosure that includes / provides a thermal pad. That way, you know there is likely enough clearance (basically just don't use the thermal pad provided).
Buyers note that as double sided might not fit in some laptops. ( most 4tb are double sided )
What does double sided mean? Would this fit in a lenovo yoga c940 laptop please?
I means it has memory on the top side and bottom side of the M2 chip.
In desktops this isn't a problem as there is typically more room.
In laptops, sometimes the slot is much closer to the board and a double sided will not fit.
Oh ok thank you lucky I didn't buy it, not sure if this will fit my laptop. Appreciate your help
Here's hoping the Gen 5s will be this price per TB once I upgrade later this year
Hi, so I'm a bit new to PC components but I was wondering if this SSD can only be used in desktops or laptops? Are NVME M.2 generally interchangeable between desktops and laptops? If not, how would I tell the difference between the 2?
They are generally the same however some laptops need smaller sized drives. 2280 is the size, 80 being 80mm long. Some laptops can only take 2230 30mm or 2242 42mm sized drives. So check your laptop what size drives it can take. Desktop motherboards can usually take any size.
Most NVMe drives are 2280 in size unless otherwise stated.
Ahh ok. Cool, thanks for clarifying Skramit. I just bought a new gaming pc rig from techfast which only comes with a 1TB SSD so I guess I would just need to search up the motherboard it comes with online to determine if this SSD would also fit?
Yes thats advisable first. Most modern motherboards, even low end ones, have at least 2 x M.2 NVMe 2280 slots. But defs check the motherboard model first.
Can someone who has experience buying from a seller via Amazon Japan help explain to me how the warranty would work if the SSD experiences issues? It sounds like a nightmare dealing with an overseas seller who may or may not be able to communicate in english
I can't explain the warranty side of things but I have bought and cancelled from Amazon JP before so understand this, you will have to communicate with them in Japanese. You could just type what you want to say and translate it with DeepL as it's the most accurate translator for English to Japanese that I'm aware of.
Thanks
What would you like to know? It is a nightmare.
You have to ship it back to Japan at your expense. You also have to pay for the return shipping back to you (though they might insist on local Japanese address). And then you have to wait for them to ship it to Taiwan for warranty and replacement. And that's assuming you can communicate effectively in Japanese to speed things along.
Is all that time, hassle, and costs worth it to you? Only you can decide.
Having had 2 die and gone through the process I can tell you it's not.
Have saved nothing since the shipping costs ate it all up.
Been waiting over a month for replacement.
Lost 8tb of data.
They won't refund and have admitted there is no fix.
It's all the controller IG5236 that kills these and others with it.
SKIP THIS!!! You have been warned.
It has the IG5236 controller. See all the reports and issues cause of it. Value your data or sanity? Skip
Had 2 die on me, both purchased December last year.
No fix exists.
Which SSDs did you get? This particular model (Acer GM7000)? I did see some reports. There were quite a few OZBers who bought Silicon Power XS70 2TB, which had component swaps to IG5236 + YMTC NAND flash chips. Not seeing them reporting the issue.
I did have a SSD with IG5236 briefly. I was expecting Phison E18 so I returned it.
4TB Acer GM7000 (yep this exact model)
X 2
You can see piles of complaints on Reddit, Amazon, forums and so on. Even a warning on pcpartpicker.
The culprit is the IG5236 and no fix. Instead it's ssds on sale most places and moved on to the gen 5 IG controller instead.
It is not worth the risk. Or the warranty claim costs and hassles.
As many have found out, doa, days old, months old or even years old, you likely will find it dead one day without warning.
Better buy something else instead.
I am not seeing piles of complaints on any of the platforms. I see a bit complaint here and there but nothing super alarming. Most things I am seeing are anecdotal.
Can you link some of more official warnings on these?
@thispasito: Plenty around. Just look at any drive that uses this controller on Amazon clicking 1-2 star option and you'll see the same pattern. Even on the Acer. It's the controller and you can't get around it.
I've literally got 2 dead and still waiting for replacements that I won't touch and sell for PS5 storage only or something.
https://pcpartpicker.com/forums/topic/431121-smart-problems-…
Thanks for this deal, I picked up a 2GB stick for $200. Very happy with that.
Good luck. I wouldn't trust and rely on it.
Oh, that's alarming. I didn't read all the comments on this post.
I will attempt to cancel the order.
Order cancelled! Thanks for the heads up
Dodged that one! LoL
Have you considered the Lexar NM790 for your needs?
If the Samsung 990pro, WD SN850x or Crucial T500 aren't cost effective atm.
@evangelion: Thanks for your guidance!
I haven't really got much of a clue regarding these tbh, so happy to take advice where I can find it.
That Lexar NM790 seems affordable at $195 with good speeds, but it seems the speed isn't the only important aspect.
Is this Lexar drive known to be reliable? That is more important to me than raw speed, but I do have a $200 budget for 2TB.
@APD2022: The ACER drive would have been very good, minus that problematic controller.
The Lexar NM790 (not NM800 same IG5236 controller as Acer GM7000) so far seems like a good drive. It's extremely fast and works well with reliable maxio controller. It has HMB rather than DRAM, meaning it will use some of your system for maximum speed transfers. High speed dram drives like the Samsung, WD and Crucial models mentioned earlier would perform a little better in certain contexts eg synthetic benchmarking, main OS drive with all kinds of file sizes. For most everyone else you won't notice any meaningful difference.
So it depends on your use case somewhat and how bleeding edge performance you want to be. I would lean towards one of those drives I mentioned earlier for the main OS drive if possible eg Crucial T500 2tb might only be $30 more than your budget.
As an example, I've got the Samsung 990 pro and WD SN850x for my main OS drives and the Lexar NM790s for storage. Also have the Lexar in a PS5 too. And have the Lexar in an external nvme usb4/tb4 enclosure too (portable storage).
All working great so far.
@evangelion: I'm not that demanding a user. In a past life I needed the good stuff for my work but since I've changed careers it's more about wanting high end rather than actually needing it!
This will go in as a second drive into my new lappy. The OS drive is a nice fast Hynix in my Lenovo P1, so I'll pick up that Lexar and it sounds like it will. Be great for me.
Thanks again, I appreciate your time!
@APD2022: Lexar NM790 is currently overpriced. It was $129 last year:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/805043
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/792769
That's why a lot of OZBers have good impression of that SSD. Verbatim Vi7000g 2TB now uses the same components, but looks like it is now out of stock:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/834184
For people I know wanting high end SSDs, every time I mention consider NM790 or Maxio + YMTC 232L combo SSDs, they are not interested. They are after true flagship SSDs with DRAM. I wouldn't get NM790 at the current price. Right now, I cannot recommend NM790, especially given how much Verbatim Vi7000g was selling recently. It does appear YMTC based SSDs have the ability to be priced well in the current market so NM790's price is overly inflated.
@netsurfer: To be fair, what isn't over inflated at current market prices down here?
Everything is and I suspect will only continue to increase in price because of Samsung and others reducing production thereby artificially manipulating prices to increase even further. Samsung alone has cut by 50% already. They have projected even greater profits for following quarters to come and easy to see why.
Only week ago bought my newest 4tb and the choices were either the Lexar for $369 domestic or Samsung 990pro about $535 Amazon AU import ($670-700 domestic). Nothing else at this performance caliber.
And we get scammed on prices in general down here anyway.
@evangelion: CPU prices, RAM prices aren't too bad right now and I'm cynical about this Feb and March lack of discounts on SSDs has to be the new norm moving forward. I know some people pointed out PNY 4TB external SSD (Gen 2x2) has thermal throttle issue, but it did reach its all time low of $200 (+ delivery) 2 weeks ago.
When it was known last year that the flash NAND makers intend to reduce production to stop the bleeding of SSD price drop, the view from the reviewers was that it is not a long term solution for them and YMTC stockpiled 2 years worth of NAND chips. Currently, mainstream SATA3 SSDs (due to lack of demand) appear to be cheaper than NVMe SSDs. That wasn't the case last year.
It all comes down to the perspective and opinions on this issue is biased. For people wanting to buy SSDs now, they are more likely to predict this is the new norm. However, based on Verbatim's equivalent of NM790 deals, people who don't need additional SSDs right now can't help but wondered why Verbatim is able to offer deals at those prices but Lexar ANZ is unable to do that.
Let's be honest here, most of us like NM790 because it was priced really well and we are more than happy to let CrystalDiskMark results numb our brains. Otherwise, Lexar's lack of firmware updates (honestly, if there is an issue found later on, the chance of getting a firmware upgrade is really low) and the subpar warranty service from at least one of the retailers don't make Lexar NM790 feel like a true flagship. It's uneven performance means its shinny results are really for general usage, rather than really demanding PCIe gen 4 x4 usage.
@evangelion: There was this deal early Feb:
Verbatim Vi7000G 4TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe M.2 2280 SSD $290.66
It's NM790 equivalent and includes a heatsink.
Most OZBers who bought NM790 4TB last year probably went for the $255 deals (or +$10 for the heatsink version). However, after the Lexar rep told people SSD prices will go up and started raising prices for NM790 late last year, MWave cleared its last batch of 4TB NM790 at $227.15 + Delivery. Lexar rep was clearly upset about it. I tried hard to ask the rep to explain why MWave was able to still drop price. Clearly, those $255 deals earlier included a profit margin for retailers.
What NAND flash makers are doing right now is shrewd. However, I am still cynical about some of the SSD makers' pricing. That said, it does look like local SSD prices are still trending upwards for March 2024.
@netsurfer: I don't overall disagree with you.
Are we in general paying more here than many other places eg USA? Generally yes, the colloquial 'Australia tax'.
Would I love to get the Samsung 990pro for the price of the Lexar? Of course.
But, is either situation likely to change in the foreseeable near future? No.
Are the ANZ prices artificially manipulated and inflated? Of course, even more than many other places.
Great example are ANZ prices of Samsung 990 pro and Samsung T9. It's considerably cheaper to buy and import both from USA/Germany/Asia than buy domestic here.
Have prices in general globally increased too? Yes again.
Even verbatim have increased their prices in general overseas and it will follow most every market soon enough.
I don't see this situation improving any time soon and if someone needs one now your choices are basically summed up in my earlier statement. If someone can wait and wants to gamble on it dropping in several months, all the more power to them and may they end up being right.
@evangelion: Well, there are people who posted good deals on OZB. OZBer Look Up (aka ChatGPT) is one of them. We had quite a few good deals last year.
Samsung 990 PRO 1TB M.2 SSD $55.92 Delivered
That's why we check OZB. Lexar ANZ did really help us out last year by importing NM790, but last year was a bit unusual where there were many good deals. Even Centrecom was enticing people with $10 for a WD Green 240GB SATA SSD.
4TB SSDs, most people can afford to wait for a good deal. Other than NM790 and PNY CS2241, 4TB SSDs weren't cheap last year either. A friend built a PC early this year, he opted for Kingston KC3000 2TB for $200 (more expensive than last year, but not too bad). He did save money on GPU compared to last year, so overall, he still saved more (the GPU saving was more than $80 and clearly KC3000 2TB at $120 is unrealistic expectation).
Reasonably priced SSDs still exist but most people want PCIe gen 4 x4 SSDs with Crystal DiskMark results for max read/write over 7000/6400. SSD makers / sellers know this and will take the opportunity to milk customers. Anyway, most of us simply cannot resist those marketing figures of SSDs.
If you must get one right now (i.e. building a new PC right now), then you have to get one so try to save money elsewhere to compensate. However, checking OZB regularly is a good idea. All the great SSD deals were posted on OZB last year. Just went to a store any time last year wouldn't have gotten you a deal like the ones posted on OZB.
@evangelion: For those who have to get an SSD right now, then obviously they have no choice. For people who don't need large size (4TB+) SSDs right now, it is best to go full OZB mode and wait for a decent OZB deal:
Comparing discount Amazon deals vs regular AU prices is not exactly objective. Right now, with the SSD price rises, whichever seller selling discount SSDs will later have to face the music of newer stock being higher. I see examples for retailers who were more expensive 2 weeks ago on certain SSDs now become the cheapest this week because retailers selling them cheaper finished their old batches.
@APD2022: Sure.
And remember if you are willing to stretch your budget for the 2tb by about $30 you can get Samsung 990 pro, WD SN850x on Amazon AU imports or Crucial T500.
Otherwise I think you'll be happy with the Lexar NM790.
FWIW, there's currently a lightning deal on Amazon US also from Biwin Tech https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BNTFVVGDat US$212.40 which after shipping to Sydney 2000 and 10% GST ends up at US$253.01 or AU$383 for the 4TB at mid market rates. (Shipping is US$17.52 before hence why it ends up so much.)
Likewise the 2TB https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09F5W62N8/ at US$105.99 after shipping to Sydney 2000 and GST ends up at US$135.86 or AU$206 at mid market rates. (Not sure how this compares to Jp.)
Not going to make a post since there's only 55 minutes left and frankly, I don't trust the IG5236, although Micron does seem to have fewer issues than YMTC with it, there are still reports of problems and from what I've heard Innogrit has been unresponsive to those who've tried to help them.
BTW I actually live in NZ, and Amazon US are willing to ship to me in NZ for free (and they would only charge US$9.28 if it wasn't free) making these deals a fair amount cheaper (still have to pay NZ's 15% GST of course but that applies to any deal). And I'm also in the market for a SSD. But I rejected the deal given concerns over the controller.
Anyone else having trouble buying from amazon japan, its not letting me login my aus amazon account, so not sure what going on how can i purchase it with prime?
$400 for a 4TB Gen 4 SSD? Sorry, what am i missing? Is this one better than the previous 4TB SSD deals?