Help choose M.2 SSD + questions - MyDigitalSSD / Transcend

Hi All,

I am currently looking at the following options for purchasing a 42mm M.2 SSD for my Lenovo Y510P:

MyDigitalSSD 128GB Super Cache 2
MyDigitalSSD 128GB Super Boot
Transcend 128GB MTS400

Here are my questions:
1. I have never used these 2 brands. Which one would you trust with your OS?
2. What is the difference between Super Cache and Super Boot from MyDigitalSSD? I have seen posts where people have installed OS on Super Cache 2 with no problems.
3. I have a Lenovo Y510P with 1TB HDD. I would like to split the SSD with a 20GB cache partition and use the remaining for Boot. I have seen people do it with MyDigitalSSD Cache Drive. Taking SSD life into account, Is this a good strategy in the long run? Will it be possible with Transcend SSD and MyDigitalSSD Super Boot?
4. Do I have any more options?

Thanks for your time everyone!

 

1. I too haven't used those brands myself, but I would tend towards the MyDigitalSSD products if I had no other choices (Intel, SanDisk and Crucial are my first choices for SSD's).

2. I would guess this is purely marketing differences, with possibly an inferior nand specification for one or the other.

3. 20GB cache (of any brand) is a waste of time. A 128GB (nominal) capacity SSD is also scraping bottom of the barrel, performance-wise for an SSD O/S drive and for capacity too (if you install many suites of programs like I do). For example, my current setups include 150GB (true) capacity for C: drive O/S + Programs and the remainder for my Data (with a 1TB SSD and 30% OP; that comes to 150GB for C:\ drive and 500GB for the Data drive with the remainder (~279GB) used for OP'ing).

4. You have many options.

a). Do nothing and simply use the system as-is.

b). Use a 1TB 2.5" SSD (configured as I outlined above) and if you need even more capacity for Data; install a larger M.2 SSD as needed.

c). Use the Optical Disk bay to install an additional high capacity 2.5" SSD for the most Data storage capacity.


Other options include selling your current system and buying a different platform with dual drive bays plus ODD plus M.2 or mSATA connections for even further options (all at considerable cost, of course).


I have to ask what is your usage model for this system? Is it gaming, school, work or ???? Be specific and we should be able to provide better suggestions for your specific needs.


Bottom line: As Anandtech found out, even a 256GB SSD used for caching is not sufficient to give you the full SSD experience in all workflows. A 128GB (nominal, ~119GB actual) SSD or worse, a 20GB partition out of that small capacity SSD used for caching will be noticeable, but not cost effective imo.

Keep in mind that there are performance difference's in SSD depending on the model and the capacity. Smaller capacity SSD's are not optimized with regards to fully populating the controller's nand channels, nor will they be optimally interleaved per channel either. This can make the smaller capacity SSD's have less than a third of the performance of their larger counterparts - and this is when they're fresh. In a steady state (basically; after they have been used a while), the performance they offer can be downright ugly and may give performance below HDD's in some or all aspects - depending on your workflow, of course and how often and hard you use the storage subsystem vs. how much time you leave the platform idle (the good SSD's can recover during idle time).

Over Provisioning (OP'ing) of almost all current SSD's available is also highly recommended. Not to squeeze extra performance from them (they have 'x' amount, period), but to reserve the performance they have for the user, instead of their internal GC and TRIM routines. A byproduct of OP'ing is that the nand is hammered less and the WA is as low as it can possibly be for the workflow given.

While Anandtech still recommends 25% OP'ing, I find (from many, many, many installations) that 30% is the sweet spot for usable capacity and maximum performance. Yes; that makes a 1TB (nominal) SSD effectively a 650GB (actual) capacity SSD - but that is the cost of doing business today with an fully optimized SSD platform.


Hope the above helps.

Good luck.

 

For a while, I was running the MyDigitalSSD 128GB drive in conjunction with a 256GB Crucial SSD. Then my wife wanted more space, so I gave her the Crucial to replace her 80GB Intel.

Right now, I'm using 80GB of the NGFF drive as a cache, with another 16GB allocated for the Rapid Start hibernate partition, and have put the factory 500GB HDD back in place. I'm fairly happy with it so far. Not as fast as the initial setup, but still decent.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone..

The 1TB SSD's are out of my budget for now. So there's that. Only SSDs that seem viable for me now are the M.2 SSDs. I know they are slower because of less channels available to the controller, but it still provides much better performance than a HDD. Upto 5x faster which is good in my case.

While I realize that 128GB M.2 SSD's are scraping the barrel in terms of capacity and performance, the only option currently available for a 256GB SSD is this Transcend 256GB SSD. There is one from MyDigitalSSD but that is not available in my location, nor shippable to my location. Would this be a good option? I can't find any reviews for it but it sure looks WAY faster than my current 5400RPM 1TB HDD.

I am not looking to go full SSD right now. Just want to speed up the OS, apps and general feel of the system. I see many posts on various forums drumming up about splitting the SSD into usable storage + cache to speed up the system, as well as speed up HDD a bit.

When I wrote about 20GB cache, I was under the impression that should be sufficient, since SSHDs ship with as little as 8GB cache and that already provides a big boost to HDD speeds.

Reading all the reviews about MyDigitalSSD and other Transcend SSDs, I get the following feeling:
1. MyDigitalSSD is a new brand, still getting it's feet firm on the ground, therefore the customer service is excellent BUT there are cases of failed drives here and there. The product is better than transcend in terms of write speeds.
2. Transcend is well known in some parts of the world, mostly for its memory modules. It is an every-person brand with products that are reliable. They do not blow the big boys out the water but they are slightly above good enough. Also their warranty and customer service reviews seem to be good.

My gut feeling is leaning towards Transcend 256GB SSD.

So now I am left with 1 question: Best strategy for partitioning the 256GB drive?

Following the 30% OP'ing advice, that leaves me with ~178GB free space. Is it wise to utilize ~28GB for caching and remaining ~150GB for Boot/OS/Apps?

 

I have a similar setup minus the cache and I think it's great. I don't know how much you need to worry about speeding up the HDD. At the end of the day, you're duplicating data on scarce storage space for a small amount of performance. It doesn't seem worth it, IMO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

If you'll be getting a 256GB SSD and also partition it by 30% - any caching capacity you can use for the HDD will be just a minor performance boost (and only in very specific scenarios).

And don't forget that the actual capacity you'll have after formatting will be closer to ~166GB than 178GB...

(Marketing Capacity vs. GiB capacity after formatting).

 

I just got Transcend 256GB m.2 2242 for my T440s. It is super fast. It beat my samsung 830 256GB with no doubt!!!! Check my brief test!!!!!
I am impressed by the small thing. View attachment 1.bmp

 

1. The MyDigitalSSD 128 GB Super Cache currently runs in my Lenovo Y510p 755M SLi as a boot drive for the past 1 year with no issues. I upgraded its firmware from version 1.6 to 1.9 to implement over provisioning (absent in the old firmware) to improve its performance and prolong its useful life.
2. Super Cache and Super Boot from MyDigitalSSD are basically the same.
3. If you intend to use the M.2 SSD as a primary boot drive and the 1 Terabyte HD as a data drive its best to not to use any part of the SSD as a cache drive.
4. All options already stated by above posters.
Goodluck!