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    500GB SSD for laptop; which one?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by PolarBear2k, May 20, 2014.

  1. PolarBear2k

    PolarBear2k Newbie

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    Hi,

    I'm building an Alienware 17 laptop on XoticPC and want to get a 500GB SSD mSATA boot drive. I have 3 options and price difference is minuscule. I can barely find any info on these PM drives and how they compare to the EVO.

    • 500GB Samsung 840 EVO Series Solid State mSATA ( + 359 )
    • 512GB Samsung PM841 Solid State mSATA III ( + 369 )
    • 512GB Samsung PM851 Solid State mSATA III ( + 379 )
    Other specs: i7-4910MQ, 32GB 1866MHz, 1TB 7200
     
    PolarBear2k, May 20, 2014
    #1
  2. sangemaru

    sangemaru Notebook Deity

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    sangemaru, May 20, 2014
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    HTWingNut likes this.
  3. Jarhead

    Jarhead 恋の♡アカサタナ

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    For the SSD question, Any of those Samsung drives would be a decent buy, though it'd be cheaper still to buy a SSD on your own and install it yourself.

    As for the rest of the specs, I'm curious why you chose what you chose. Namely (assuming that this will be a gaming machine for you), why 32GB of RAM? If you're just gaming on this AW, that's *massive* overkill and just throwing money down the drain... To a lesser extent, the same could be said about the CPU over a base i7-4700MQ.
     
    Jarhead, May 21, 2014
    #3
  4. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    I would not recommend the PM (OEM) drives...

    and for the price of the 500GB EVO, you could get the 1TB version if you look for a sale.
     
    tilleroftheearth, May 21, 2014
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  5. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    Yup... I would recommend the Scandisk Extreme II...
     
    TomJGX, May 21, 2014
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  6. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    You mean this one?

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/com...0-samsung-840-crucial-m4-new-barely-used.html
     
    HTWingNut, May 22, 2014
    #6
  7. Marksman30k

    Marksman30k Notebook Deity

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    I would avoid the 840 EVO until it is confirmed that Samsung has fixed the non-functional TRIM issue.
    AnandTech | Samsung SSD 840 EVO mSATA (120GB, 250GB, 500GB & 1TB) Review

    The PM851 seems to be slightly faster in sequential bandwidth but trawling through the data. The PM841 uses 21nm MLC NAND whereas the PM851 uses 21nm TLC NAND. Exactly the same MDX controllers....bummer, I was hoping for at least the MEX controller for the PM851 to mitigate some of the performance hit.

    Samsung PM841 512GB MSATA SSD Review - Performance and capacity in a client SSD
    States that PM841 uses 21nm MLC NAND and MDX controller (so its basically an mSATA 840Pro)

    MZMTE512HMHP-00000 - Samsung PM851 512GB mSata Internal SSD
    Samsung are being pretty cagey about the NAND used officially but these guys are pretty reliable, 21nm TLC NAND, MDX controller

    For those prices? I will recommend the PM841 simply because...MLC for cheaper.
     
    Marksman30k, May 22, 2014
    #7