The difference between SSD and HDD, which is better and more reliable for your PC. Different SSDs: is there a difference?

I recommend purchasing an SSD drive with an optimal speed/reliability ratio of MLC or 3D NAND memory. Read/write speeds closer to 500/500 MB/s are considered quite high. The minimum recommended speed for more budget SSDs is 450/300 MB/s.

The best brands are: Intel, Samsung, Crucial and SanDisk. As a more budget option you can consider: Plextor, Corsair and A-DATA. Among other manufacturers, problematic models are more common.

For a work or multimedia computer (video, simple games), an SSD with a capacity of 120-128 GB will be sufficient, and here the A-Data Ultimate SU900 on MLC memory would be an excellent choice.
SSD A-Data Ultimate SU900 128GB

A mid-class gaming computer requires a capacity of at least 240-256 GB; an SSD from the A-Data Ultimate SU900 or Samsung 860 EVO series is also suitable.
SSD A-Data Ultimate SU900 256GB

SSD Samsung MZ-76E250BW

For a professional or powerful gaming computer, it is better to take a 480-512 GB SSD, for example Samsung SSD 860 EVO.
SSD Samsung MZ-76E500BW

For computers and laptops with an M.2 connector, a good option would be to install an ultra-fast SSD (1500-3000 MB/s) in the appropriate format.
SSD Samsung MZ-V7E500BW

When choosing a volume, be guided by your needs, but you should not neglect it for the sake of higher speed. If you doubt the correctness of your choice, we recommend reading reviews of specific models.

2. What is the difference between expensive and cheap SSDs

Inexperienced users may be confused why SSD drives of the same volume, with the same declared speed characteristics, differ so much in price, sometimes several times.

The fact is that different SSD drives can use different types of memory, which, in addition to speed indicators, also affects reliability and durability. In addition, memory chips from different manufacturers also differ in quality. Naturally, cheap SSDs are equipped with the cheapest memory chips.

In addition to memory chips, the SSD disk has a so-called controller. This is a chip that controls the processes of reading/writing data into memory chips. Controllers are also produced by different companies and they can be either budget ones with lower speed and reliability, or higher quality ones. Cheap SSDs, as you understand, also have the worst controllers installed.

Many modern SSDs use fast DDR3 memory, just like computer RAM, as a clipboard to further improve performance. Most budget SSDs may not have a clipboard, making them marginally cheaper but significantly slower.

But that's not all, it even comes down to saving on such important components of an SSD drive as capacitors, which are necessary to prevent integrity violations and data loss. In the event of a sudden power outage, the electrical energy stored in the capacitors is used to complete writing from the clipboard to the memory chips. Unfortunately, not all even high-quality SSDs are equipped with backup capacitors.

The layout itself and the quality of the printed circuit board wiring are also different. More expensive models have more sophisticated circuit design, quality components and wiring. The engineering solutions of the most budget SSDs are based on outdated designs and leave much to be desired. The number of defects in cheap SSDs is also higher, which is due to assembly in cheaper factories and lower levels of production control.

And of course, the price depends on the brand; the more famous it is, the more expensive the SSD. Hence, there is an opinion that you should not overpay for a brand. But the fact is that often it is the brand name that determines the quality of an SSD drive. Most well-known manufacturers who value their reputation will not allow themselves to produce low-quality products. However, there are exceptions here, in the form of well-known and popular brands, which nevertheless should not be recommended for purchase.

We will briefly look at the main differences between SSDs that you need to focus on in this article, and you can easily choose the model that suits you.

3. VolumeSSDdisk

Volume is the most important parameter of an SSD disk.

If you only need an SSD drive to speed up the loading of Windows, office programs and increase system responsiveness, then, in principle, a capacity of 60-64 GB (gigabytes) is sufficient.

If you want to speed up the work of serious professional applications (video editing, design systems, etc.), then you will need an SSD drive with a capacity of 120-128 GB.

For a gaming computer, it is advisable to purchase an SSD with a capacity of at least 240-256 GB, since modern games take up a lot of space (30-60 GB each).

In the future, focus on your needs (how much space you need for your programs, games, etc.) and financial capabilities. It is not advisable to use an SSD for data storage; for this you need a more capacious and cheaper hard drive (HDD) with a capacity of 1-4 TB (1000-4000 GB).

4. SSD read/write speed

The main indicators of SSD disk speed are read speed, write speed and access time.

According to statistics, the number of read operations on ordinary user computers is 20 times greater than the number of write operations. Therefore, for us, reading speed is a much more important characteristic.

The read speed of most modern SSDs is in the range of 450-550 MB/s (megabytes per second). The higher this value, the better, but 450 MB/s is, in principle, quite enough, and taking an SSD with a lower read speed is not advisable, since the difference in price will be insignificant. But you shouldn’t blindly trust representatives of budget brands, since the speed of cheap SSDs can drop significantly as the disk space fills up. The speed of a particular SSD drive model in real conditions can be found out from tests on the Internet.

The write speed of most SSDs ranges from 350-550 MB/s. Again, the faster the better, this is understandable. But due to the fact that write operations are performed 20 times less frequently than read operations, this indicator is not so critical and the difference will not be very noticeable for most users. But the price of discs with higher write speeds will be noticeably higher. Therefore, you can take 350 MB/s as the minimum recording speed. Purchasing an SSD with an even lower write speed will not bring significant savings, so it is not advisable. Please note that some manufacturers indicate the write speed for the entire line of SSD drives, which have different capacities. For example, Transcend has drives ranging from 32 to 1024 GB in its SSD370S line. The recording speed for the entire line is 460 MB/s. But in fact, only models with a capacity of 512 and 1024 GB have such speed. The photo below shows a fragment of a Transcend SSD370S packaging with a capacity of 256 GB with a real write speed of 370 MB/s.

Access time determines how quickly the disk finds the required file after receiving a request from a program or operating system. For conventional hard drives, this indicator is in the range of 10-19 ms (milliseconds) and significantly affects the responsiveness of the system and the speed of copying small files. SSD drives, due to the absence of moving parts, have access speeds 100 times higher. Therefore, this parameter is usually not focused on; any SSD provides incredibly high access speeds. However, higher quality models can have an access time of about 0.1 ms, and the most budget 0.4 ms. The difference in access time by a factor of 4 is not in favor of budget SSDs. With this parameter, manufacturers of budget SSDs can also be disingenuous and indicate a theoretical value under ideal conditions.

The real speed characteristics of SSD drives can be found out from tests on the most authoritative technical portals. You can download a file with links to them at the end of the article in the “” section.

5. Memory types and SSD resource

Modern SSD drives use several types of memory - MLC, TLC and 3D NAND (V-NAND).

MLC is the most popular type of memory for SSD drives with an optimal price/speed/durability ratio and an estimated resource of 3000-5000 rewrite cycles.

TLC is a cheaper type of memory, found in budget SSDs, with a rewriting resource of about 1000 cycles.

3D NAND is a modern fast memory developed by Samsung with the longest rewriting resource. Installed in more expensive Samsung SSD models.

There is a myth that SSD drives wear out very quickly. Therefore, you need to choose models with the maximum possible resource and use all sorts of tricks in the operating system settings to extend the life of the SSD drive, otherwise it will quickly exhaust its resource and fail.

In fact, the resource of modern SSDs matters only when installing them in servers, where the disks work for wear and tear around the clock. In such conditions, due to the colossal number of rewrite cycles, SSDs actually last an order of magnitude less than their older brothers - mechanical hard drives. But you and I already know that in the computers of ordinary users, the number of write operations, which cause wear and tear, is 20 times lower than read operations. Therefore, even with a relatively heavy load, the resource of any modern SSD will allow it to last 10 years or more.

Despite the fact that data on rapid wear and tear are highly exaggerated, you should not purchase an SSD based on the cheapest TLC memory, since the savings will be insignificant. Today, the best option would be an SSD drive with MLC memory. And the actual service life of an SSD disk will depend more on the quality of production and. Pay more attention to the brand and warranty period.

6. Clipboard

A clipboard (cache) based on DDR3 memory speeds up the operation of an SSD drive, but makes it somewhat more expensive. For every 1 GB of SSD capacity there should be 1 MB of DDR3 cache. Thus, an SSD with a capacity of 120-128 GB should have 128 MB DDR3, 240-256 GB - 256 MB DDR3, 500-512 GB - 512 MB DDR3, 960-1024 GB - 1024 MB DDR3.

Some models have a cache based on older DDR2 memory, but this does not significantly affect performance.

7. Blackout protection

It is desirable that a disk with DDR3 cache memory have protection against sudden power outages (Power Protection), which is usually based on tantalum capacitors and allows you to save data from the buffer to the memory chips in the event of a power failure on the SSD. But if you have an uninterruptible power supply (UPS, UPS), then blackout protection can be neglected.

SSDs that do not have a cache based on DDR3 memory do not require additional protection against power loss.

8. SSD controllers

There are many controllers for SSD drives. The most popular brands include Intel, Samsung, Marvell, SandForce, Phison, JMicron, Silicon Motion, Indilinx (OCZ, Toshiba).

The best SSD drives are built on controllers from Intel, Samsung, and Marvell. In the middle class, the long-proven SandForce and younger Phison controllers are more popular. Inexpensive SSD models are often content with old budget JMicron controllers and younger Silicon Motion controllers. Indilinx produced fairly reliable controllers and was bought by OCZ and then Toshiba for use in their mid-range SSDs.

But each manufacturer has both cheaper and more expensive controllers. Therefore, you need to navigate by a specific controller model, a review of which can easily be found on the Internet.

Most controllers in entry-level and mid-range SSDs are 4-channel. Top SSD models are equipped with faster and more modern 8-channel controllers. But don’t bother too much with controller models, it’s not always easy to figure it out. Focus primarily on the brand, the stated characteristics of the SSD drive and real tests of a specific model, which often also consider the advantages and disadvantages of the installed controller and other electronic components of the SSD.

In addition to the read/write speed, the controller also depends on support for various technologies designed to improve the performance of the SSD drive.

9. Supported technologies and TRIM function

An SSD drive, depending on the model and the controller installed in it, can support various technologies designed to improve its performance. Many manufacturers develop their own proprietary technologies that provide more marketing benefits than actual benefits to users. I will not list them; this information is in the descriptions of specific models.

The most important feature that should be supported by any modern SSD is TRIM (garbage collection). Her job is as follows. An SSD drive can only write data to free memory cells. As long as there are enough free cells, the SSD disk writes data to them. As soon as there are few free cells, the SSD disk needs to clear cells from which data is no longer needed (the file has been deleted). An SSD without TRIM support clears these cells immediately before writing new data, which significantly increases the time of write operations. It turns out that as the disk fills up, the recording speed degrades. An SSD with TRIM support, having received a notification from the operating system about the deletion of data, also marks the cells in which they were as unused, but clears them not before writing new data, but in advance in free time (when the disk is not used very actively). This is called garbage collection. As a result, the recording speed is always maintained at the highest possible level.

10. Hidden SSD area

Each SSD drive has a fairly large amount of memory in a hidden (inaccessible to the user) area. These cells are used to replace those that fail, so that disk space is not lost over time and the safety of data that is previously transferred by the disk from “sick” cells to “healthy” ones is ensured.

In high-quality SSDs, this hidden volume can reach 30% of the declared disk volume. Some manufacturers, in order to save money and gain a competitive advantage, make the hidden disk space smaller (up to 10%), and the amount available to the user is larger. Thanks to this, the user gets more available volume for the same money.

But this trick of manufacturers also has another negative side. The fact is that the hidden area is used not only as an untouchable reserve, but also for the operation of the TRIM function. Too small a volume of the hidden area leads to a lack of memory required for background data transfer (garbage cleaning) and the speed of the SSD disk at high capacity (80-90%) degrades greatly, sometimes several times. This is the price of “free” additional space and this is why high-quality SSD drives have a large hidden area.

The TRIM function must be supported by the operating system. All versions starting from Windows 7 support the TRIM function.

11. SSD manufacturers

The best manufacturer of SSD drives is Intel, but their cost is very high and they are used mainly in the corporate sector for critical systems and servers.

The next leader in terms of technology is Samsung. Their SSDs cost on average higher than all others, but are distinguished by impeccable quality, reliability and speed.

SSD brands Crucial, Plextor (Samsung brand) and SanDisk are recognized as the best in terms of price/quality ratio.

Also, as a compromise option in terms of price/quality, you can consider SSDs from the reputable brands Corsair and A-DATA.

I do not recommend purchasing SSDs sold under the Kingston brand, since most of them do not meet the stated characteristics and their speed greatly degrades as they fill up. But this manufacturer also has SSDs from the top-end HyperX series, which are of higher quality and can be considered as an alternative to top-end expensive brands.

In general, budget and unpopular brands are like a lottery, maybe you’ll get lucky, maybe not. Therefore, I recommend that you avoid purchasing them if possible. But it’s still better to look for reviews on models from recommended brands, since “even an old woman can get screwed.” Let me remind you that links to reviews of SSD drives are in the file that can be downloaded in the “” section.

12. Form factor and SSD interface

The most popular today are SSDs of the 2.5″ form factor with a SATA3 (6 Gb/s) interface connector.

This SSD can be installed in a computer or laptop. The motherboard or laptop must have a SATA3 (6 Gb/s) or SATA2 (3 Gb/s) connector. Correct operation when connected to the first version of SATA connector (1.5 Gbit/s) is possible, but not guaranteed.

When connected to a SATA2 connector, the SSD read/write speed will be limited to around 280 MB/s. But you will still get a significant performance boost over a regular hard drive (HDD).

Plus, the access time will not go away, which is 100 times lower than that of an HDD, which will also significantly increase the responsiveness of the system and programs.

A more compact SSD form factor is mSATA, which is based on the SATA bus but has a different connector.

The use of such an SSD is justified in ultra-compact computers, laptops and mobile devices (tablets) with an mSATA connector, in which installing a conventional SSD is impossible or undesirable.

Another smaller SSD form factor is M.2. This connector replaces mSATA, but is based on the faster PCI-E bus.

The motherboard, laptop or mobile device (tablet) must also have the appropriate connector.

Well, another type of SSD is presented in the form of a PCI-E expansion card.

Such SSDs have very high speeds (3-10 times faster than SSDs with a SATA3 interface), but are significantly more expensive and are therefore used mainly in very demanding professional tasks.

13. Housing material

The SSD case is usually made of plastic or aluminum. It is believed that aluminum is better because it has higher thermal conductivity. But since the SSD does not heat up significantly at all, this does not matter much and may not be taken into account when choosing a model.

14. Equipment

If you are purchasing an SSD for a computer and the case does not have mounts for 2.5″ drives, then pay attention to the presence of a mounting frame in the kit.

Most SSDs do not come with a mounting frame or even screws. But the mount with screws included can be purchased separately.

The presence of a mount should not be a significant criterion when choosing an SSD, but sometimes a higher-quality SSD complete with a mount can be purchased for the same money as a budget SSD with a separate mount.

15. Setting up filters in the online store

1. Go to the “SSD drives” section on the seller’s website.
2. Choose recommended manufacturers (Crucial, Plextor, Samsung, SanDisk), you can also consider Corsair and A-DATA.
3. Select the desired volume (120-128, 240-256 GB).
4. Sort the selection by price.
5. Browse SSDs starting with the cheaper ones.
6. Choose several models suitable for price and speed (from 450/350 Mb/s).
7. Look for their reviews online and buy the best model.

Thus, you will receive an SSD disk that is optimal in size and speed, meeting high quality criteria, at the lowest possible cost.

16. Links

SSD Samsung MZ-76E250BW
SSD A-Data Ultimate SU650 240GB
SSD A-Data Ultimate SU650 120GB

If you are building a powerful computer or want to speed up an old one, then an SSD will come in handy. Finally, the cost of these drives has dropped so much that they can be considered as a reasonable alternative to hard drives (HDD).

The following SSD features will help you choose the best drive that is compatible with your computer and meets your needs.

1. Which form factor to choose: SSD 2.5″, SSD M.2 or another

SSD 2.5″

This form factor is the most common. An SSD looks like a small box that resembles an ordinary hard drive. 2.5″ SSDs are the cheapest, but their speed is sufficient for most users.

Compatibility of 2.5″ SSD with computers

An SSD of this form factor can be installed in any desktop computer or laptop that has a free bay for 2.5-inch drives. If your system only has room for an old 3.5" hard drive, you can fit a 2.5" SSD into it too. But in this case, look for an SSD model that comes with a special lock.

Like modern HDDs, a 2.5″ SSD is connected to the motherboard using the SATA3 interface. This connection provides a throughput of up to 600 MB/s. If you have an older motherboard with a SATA2 connector, you can still connect a 2.5″ SSD, but the drive's throughput will be limited by the old version of the interface.

SSD M.2

A more compact form factor, making it suitable even for particularly thin ones that do not have room for a 2.5″ SSD. It looks like an oblong stick and is installed not in a separate compartment of the case, but directly on the motherboard.

To connect to the board, each M.2 drive uses one of two interfaces: SATA3 or PCIe.

PCIe is several times faster than SATA3. If you choose the first one, then there are a few more things to consider: the interface version and the number of lines connected to the connector for data transfer.

• The newer the PCIe version, the higher the throughput (data transfer speed) of the interface. Two versions are common: PCIe 2.0 (up to 1.6 GB/s) and PCIe 3.0 (up to 3.2 GB/s).
• The more data lines connected to the SSD connector, the higher its throughput again. The maximum number of lines in an M.2 SSD is four; in this case, in the drive description its interface is designated as PCIe x4. If there are only two lines, then PCIe x2.

M.2 SSD compatibility with computers

Before purchasing an M.2 SSD, you should make sure that it will fit your motherboard. To do this, you need to first check the physical and then the software compatibility of the connector on the drive with the slot on the board. Then you need to find out the length of the drive and compare it with the allowable length of the slot allocated for M.2 in your system.

1. Physical compatibility of interfaces

Each connector on the motherboard intended for connecting M.2 format drives has a special cutout (key) of one of two types: B or M. At the same time, the connector on each M.2 drive has two cutouts B + M, less often only one of two keys: B or M.

The B-connector on the board can be connected with a B-connector. To the M-connector, respectively, a drive with an M-type connector. SSDs, the connectors of which have two M + B cutouts, are compatible with any M.2 slots, regardless of the keys in the latter.

M.2 SSD with B+M key (top) and M.2 SSD with M key (bottom) / www.wdc.com

Thus, first make sure that your motherboard has an M.2 SSD slot at all. Then find out the key for your connector and select a drive whose connector is compatible with this key. Key types are usually indicated on connectors and slots. In addition, you can find all the necessary information in the documents for the motherboard and drive.

2. Logical compatibility of interfaces

In order for an SSD to fit your motherboard, taking into account the physical compatibility of its connector with the connector is not enough. The fact is that the drive connector may not support the logical interface (protocol) that is used in the slot of your board.

Therefore, when you understand the keys, find out what protocol is implemented in the M.2 connector on your board. This could be SATA3, and/or PCIe x2, and/or PCIe x4. Then choose an M.2 SSD with the same interface. For information about supported protocols, see the device documentation.

3. Size compatibility

Another nuance on which the compatibility of the drive with the motherboard depends is its length.

In the characteristics of most boards you can find the numbers 2260, 2280 and 22110. The first two digits in each of them indicate the supported drive width. It is the same for all M.2 SSDs and is 22 mm. The next two digits are the length. Thus, most boards are compatible with drives with lengths of 60, 80 and 110 mm.

Three M.2 SSD drives of different lengths / www.forbes.com

Before purchasing M.2, be sure to find out the supported drive length, which is indicated in the documents for the motherboard. Then choose one that matches this length.

As you can see, the issue of M.2 compatibility is very confusing. Therefore, just in case, consult the sellers about this.

Less popular form factors

Your computer case may not have a bay for a 2.5” SSD, and your motherboard may not have an M.2 connector. The owner of a thin laptop may encounter such an atypical situation. Then for your system you need to choose a 1.8″ or mSATA SSD - check the documents for your computer. These are rare form factors that are more compact than 2.5” SSDs, but inferior in data exchange speed to M.2 drives.

In addition, thin laptops from Apple may also not support traditional form factors. In them, the manufacturer installs an SSD of a proprietary format, the characteristics of which are comparable to M.2. So, if you have a thin laptop with an apple on the lid, check the supported SSD type in the documentation for the computer.

External SSDs

In addition to internal ones, there are also external drives. They vary greatly in shape and size - choose the one that is most convenient for you.

As for the interface, they connect to computers via a USB port. To achieve full compatibility, make sure the port on your computer and the drive connector support the same USB standard. The highest data transfer speeds are provided by USB 3 and USB Type-C specifications.

2. Which memory is better: MLC or TLC

Based on the number of bits of information that can be stored in one flash memory cell, the latter is divided into three types: SLC (one bit), MLC (two bits) and TLC (three bits). The first type is relevant for servers, the other two are widely used in consumer drives, so you will have to choose from them.

MLC memory is faster and more durable, but more expensive. TLC is correspondingly slower and withstands fewer rewrite cycles, although the average user is unlikely to notice the difference.

TLC type memory is cheaper. Choose it if savings are more important to you than speed.

The drive description may also indicate the type of relative arrangement of memory cells: NAND or 3D V-NAND (or simply V-NAND). The first type implies that the cells are arranged in one layer, the second - in several layers, which allows you to create SSDs with increased capacity. According to the developers, the reliability and performance of 3D V-NAND flash memory is higher than that of NAND.

3. Which SSD is faster

In addition to the type of memory, the performance of an SSD is also affected by other characteristics, such as the model of the controller installed in the drive and its firmware. But these details are often not even indicated in the description. Instead, the final indicators of read and write speed appear, which are easier for the buyer to navigate. So, when choosing between two SSDs, with all other parameters being equal, take the drive whose declared speeds are higher.

Remember that the manufacturer indicates only theoretically possible speeds. In practice, they are always lower than stated.

4. What storage capacity is right for you

Of course, one of the most important characteristics when choosing a drive is its capacity. If you are buying an SSD to use as a fast operating system, a 64 GB device is sufficient. If you are going to install games on the SSD or store large files on it, then choose a capacity that suits your needs.

But do not forget that the storage capacity greatly affects its cost.

Buyer's checklist

• If you need a drive for office tasks or watching movies, choose a 2.5″ or M.2 SSD with a SATA3 interface and TLC memory. Even such a budget SSD will work much faster than a regular hard drive.
• If you are engaged in other tasks for which high drive performance is critical, choose an M.2 SSD with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface and MLC memory.
• Before purchasing, carefully check the compatibility of the drive with your computer. If in doubt, consult the sellers on this issue.

IntroductionSolid-state drives or SSDs (solid-state drives), that is, those based not on magnetic platters, but on flash memory, have become one of the most impressive computer technologies of the last decade. Compared to classic hard drives, they offer noticeably higher data transfer speeds and orders of magnitude lower response times, and therefore their use takes the responsiveness of the disk subsystem to a whole new level. As a result, a computer that uses a solid-state drive offers the user a truly responsive response to common actions such as booting the operating system, launching applications and games, or opening files. And this means that there is no reason to ignore progress and not use SSDs when building new or upgrading old personal computers.

The emergence of such a breakthrough technology was appreciated by many users. The demand for consumer-grade solid-state drives has grown exponentially, and more and more companies have begun to join the SSD production, trying to grab their share of the growing and promising market. On the one hand, this is good - high competition gives rise to favorable prices for consumers. But on the other hand, there is chaos and confusion in the market for client solid-state drives. Dozens of manufacturers offer hundreds of SSDs with different characteristics, and finding a suitable solution for each specific case in such a variety becomes very difficult, especially without a thorough knowledge of all the intricacies. In this article, we will try to highlight the main issues regarding the choice of solid-state drives, and we will give our recommendations that will allow you to make a more or less informed choice when purchasing an SSD and get at your disposal a product that will be a completely worthy option in terms of the combination of price and consumer qualities.

The selection algorithm we preach is not too difficult to understand. We suggest not getting hung up on the features of hardware platforms and controllers used in various SSD models. Moreover, their number has long gone beyond reasonable limits, and the difference in their consumer properties can often be traced only by specialists. Instead, it is preferable to base the choice on the basis of really important factors - the interface used, the type of flash memory installed in a particular drive, and which company produced the final product. It makes sense to talk about controllers only in certain cases, when this is really of decisive importance, and we will describe such cases separately.

Form factors and interfaces

The first and most noticeable difference between solid-state drives available on the market is that they can have different external designs and be connected to the system via different interfaces that use fundamentally different protocols for data transfer.

The most common SSDs with an interface SATA. This is exactly the same interface that is used in classic mechanical hard drives. That's why most SATA SSDs look similar to mobile HDDs: they are packaged in 2.5-inch cases with a height of 7 or 9 mm. Such an SSD can be installed in a laptop in place of an old 2.5-inch hard drive, or you can use it in a desktop computer instead of (or next to) a 3.5-inch HDD without any problems.

Solid state drives using the SATA interface have become a kind of successor to the HDD, and this determines their widespread use and wide compatibility with existing platforms. However, the modern version of the SATA interface is designed for a maximum data transfer speed of only 6 Gbps, which seems prohibitive for mechanical hard drives, but not for SSDs. Therefore, the performance of the most powerful SATA SSD models is determined not so much by their capabilities as by the interface bandwidth. This does not particularly prevent mass-produced solid-state drives from revealing their high speed, but the most productive SSD models for enthusiasts try to avoid the SATA interface. However, it is SATA SSD that is the most suitable option for a modern, commonly used system.

The SATA interface is also widely used in SSDs designed for compact mobile systems. They impose additional restrictions on the size of components, so drives for such applications can be produced in a specialized form factor mSATA. Solid state drives of this format are a small daughter card with soldered chips and are installed in special slots found in some laptops and nettops. The advantage of mSATA SSD lies solely in its miniature size; mSATA has no other advantages - these are exactly the same SATA SSDs as those produced in 2.5-inch cases, but in a more compact design. Therefore, you should purchase such drives only for upgrading systems that have mSATA connectors.

In cases where the bandwidth offered by the SATA interface seems insufficient, you can pay attention to solid-state drives with an interface PCI Express. Depending on what version of the protocol and how many lines are used by the drive to transfer data, the throughput of this interface can reach values ​​that are five times greater than those of SATA. Such drives usually use the most powerful hardware, and they are significantly faster in speed than more conventional SATA solutions. True, PCIe SSDs are significantly more expensive, so most often they end up in the most high-performance systems in the highest price category. And since PCIe SSDs usually come in the form of expansion cards installed in PCI Express slots, they are suitable exclusively for full-size desktop systems.

It is worth noting that recently drives with a PCI Express interface operating using the protocol have become popular. NVMe. This is a new software protocol for working with data storage devices, which further increases system performance when interacting with a high-speed disk subsystem. Due to the optimizations made in it, this protocol really has better efficiency, but today NVMe solutions need to be treated with caution: they are compatible only with the newest platforms and work only in new versions of operating systems.

While the bandwidth of the SATA interface is becoming insufficient for high-speed SSD models, and PCIe drives are bulky and require a separate full-size slot for installation, drives made in the form factor are gradually entering the scene M.2. It seems that M.2 SSDs have a chance to become the next generally accepted standard, and they will be no less popular than SATA SSDs. However, you need to keep in mind that M.2 is not another new interface, but only a specification of the standard size of cards and the layout of the connector required for them. M.2 SSDs operate via the quite familiar SATA or PCI Express interfaces: depending on the specific implementation of the drive, either one or the other option is allowed.

M.2 cards are small daughter boards with components soldered onto them. The M.2 slots required for them can now be found on most modern motherboards, as well as in many new laptops. Considering that M.2 SSDs can also operate via the PCI Express interface, it is precisely these M.2 drives that are most interesting from a practical point of view. However, at the moment the range of such models is not very large. However, if we are talking about assembling or upgrading a modern high-performance system, in particular, a gaming desktop or laptop, we advise you to pay attention first of all to M.2 SSD models with a PCI Express interface.

By the way, if your desktop system is not equipped with an M.2 connector, but you still want to install such a drive, this can always be done using an adapter card. Such solutions are produced both by motherboard manufacturers and by numerous small manufacturers of all sorts of peripherals.

Types of flash memory and drive reliability

The second important question, which in any case will have to be dealt with when choosing, concerns the types of flash memory that can be found in current models of solid-state drives. It is flash memory that determines the main consumer characteristics of SSDs: their performance, reliability and price.

Until recently, the difference between different types of flash memory was only how many bits of data were stored in each NAND cell, and this divided the memory into three varieties: SLC, MLC and TLC. However, now that manufacturers are introducing new approaches to cell packaging and improving cell reliability in their semiconductor technologies, the situation has become much more complex. However, we will list the main flash memory options that can be found in modern SSDs for ordinary users.

You should start with SLC NAND. This is the oldest and simplest type of memory. It involves storing one bit of data in each flash memory cell and, thanks to this, has high speed characteristics and an exorbitant rewriting resource. The only problem is that storing one bit of information in each cell actively consumes the transistor budget, and flash memory of this type turns out to be very expensive. Therefore, SSDs based on such memory have not been produced for a long time, and they simply do not exist on the market.

A reasonable alternative to SLC memory with higher data storage density in semiconductor NAND crystals and a lower price is MLC NAND. In such memory, each cell already stores two bits of information. The operating speed of the logical structure of MLC memory remains at a fairly good level, but endurance is reduced to approximately three thousand rewrite cycles. However, MLC NAND is used today in the vast majority of high-performance solid-state drives, and its level of reliability is quite sufficient for SSD manufacturers not only to give a five-year or even ten-year warranty on their products, but also to promise the ability to rewrite the entire capacity of the drive several hundred times .

For those applications where the intensity of write operations is very high, for example, for servers, SSD manufacturers assemble solutions based on a special eMLC NAND. From the point of view of operating principles, this is a complete analogue of MLC NAND, but with increased resistance to constant overwriting. Such memory is made from the best, selected semiconductor crystals and can easily carry approximately three times the load than ordinary MLC memory.

At the same time, the desire to reduce prices for their mass products is forcing manufacturers to switch to cheaper memory compared to MLC NAND. In budget drives of the latest generations it is often found TLC NAND– flash memory, each cell of which stores three bits of data. This memory is approximately one and a half times slower than MLC NAND, and its endurance is such that it is possible to rewrite information in it about a thousand times before degradation of the semiconductor structure.

However, even such flimsy TLC NAND can be found quite often in today's drives. The number of SSD models based on it has already exceeded a dozen. The secret to the viability of such solutions is that manufacturers add a small internal cache to them, based on high-speed and highly reliable SLC NAND. This is how both problems are solved at once - both with performance and with reliability. As a result, TLC NAND-based SSDs achieve speeds sufficient to saturate the SATA interface, and their endurance allows manufacturers to provide a three-year warranty on the final products.

In pursuit of lower production costs, manufacturers are striving to compress data inside flash memory cells. This is what caused the transition to MLC NAND and the now widespread distribution of TLC memory in drives. Following this trend, we could soon encounter an SSD based on QLC NAND, in which each cell stores four bits of data, but we can only guess what the reliability and speed of such a solution would be. Fortunately, the industry has found another way to increase data storage density in semiconductor crystals, namely, by converting them to a three-dimensional layout.

While in classic NAND memory the cells are arranged exclusively planar, that is, in the form of a flat array, in 3D NAND a third dimension has been introduced into the semiconductor structure, and the cells are located not only along the X and Y axes, but also in several tiers above each other. This approach allows us to solve the main problem - the density of information storage in such a structure can be increased not by increasing the load on existing cells or by miniaturizing them, but by simply adding additional layers. The issue of flash memory endurance is also successfully resolved in 3D NAND. The three-dimensional layout allows the use of production technologies with increased standards, which, on the one hand, provide a more stable semiconductor structure, and on the other hand, eliminate the mutual influence of cells on each other. As a result, the resource of three-dimensional memory can be improved by approximately an order of magnitude compared to planar memory.

In other words, the three-dimensional structure of 3D NAND is ready to make a real revolution. The only problem is that producing such memory is somewhat more difficult than regular memory, so the start of its production has been significantly extended in time. As a result, at the moment only Samsung can boast of an established mass production of 3D NAND. Other NAND manufacturers are still only preparing to launch mass production of 3D memory and will only be able to offer commercial solutions next year.

If we talk about Samsung’s three-dimensional memory, today it uses a 32-layer design and is promoted under its own marketing name V-NAND. According to the type of organization of cells in such memory, it is divided into MLC V-NAND And TLC V-NAND- both are three-dimensional 3D NAND, but in the first case, each individual cell stores two bits of data, and in the second - three. Although the principle of operation in both cases is similar to conventional MLC and TLC NAND, due to the use of mature technical processes its endurance is higher, which means that SSDs based on MLC V-NAND and TLC V-NAND are slightly better in reliability than SSDs with conventional MLC and TLC NAND.

However, when talking about the reliability of solid-state drives, it is necessary to keep in mind that it only indirectly depends on the resource of the flash memory used in them. As practice shows, modern consumer SSDs assembled on high-quality NAND memory of any type are actually capable of storing hundreds of terabytes of information. And this more than covers the needs of most personal computer users. The failure of a drive when it exhausts its memory resource is rather an out-of-the-ordinary event, which can only be associated with the fact that the SSD is used under too intense a load, for which it was not originally intended. In most cases, SSD failures occur for completely different reasons, for example, from power outages or errors in their firmware.

Therefore, along with the type of flash memory, it is very important to pay attention to which company manufactured a particular drive. The largest manufacturers have more powerful engineering resources at their disposal and take better care of their reputation than small firms that are forced to compete with the giants using primarily the price argument. As a result, SSDs from major manufacturers are generally more reliable: they use known high-quality components, and thorough debugging of the firmware is one of the most important priorities. This is confirmed by practice. The frequency of warranty claims (according to publicly available statistics from one of the European distributors) is lower for those SSDs that are manufactured by larger companies, which we will talk about in more detail in the next section.

SSD Manufacturers You Should Know About

The consumer SSD market is very young and has yet to experience consolidation. Therefore, the number of manufacturers of solid-state drives is very large - at least there are at least a hundred of them. But most of them are small companies that do not have their own engineering teams or semiconductor production, and in fact only assemble their solutions from off-the-shelf components and provide marketing support for them. Naturally, SSDs produced by such “assemblers” are inferior to the products of real manufacturers who invest huge amounts of money in development and production. That is why, with a rational approach to choosing solid-state drives, you should only pay attention to solutions produced by market leaders.

Among these “pillars” on which the entire solid-state drive market rests, only a few names can be named. And first of all this is - Samsung, which at this moment owns a very impressive 44 percent market share. In other words, almost every second SSD sold is made by Samsung. And such successes are not at all accidental. The company not only independently makes flash memory for its SSDs, but also does without any third-party participation in design and production. Its SSDs use hardware platforms that are designed from start to finish by in-house engineers and manufactured in-house. As a result, Samsung's advanced drives often differ from competing products in their technological advancement - they can contain such advanced solutions that appear in products from other companies much later. For example, drives based on 3D NAND are currently present exclusively in Samsung's product range. And that is why enthusiasts who are impressed by technical innovation and high performance should pay attention to this company’s SSD.

Second largest consumer SSD manufacturer – Kingston, holding approximately 10 percent market share. Unlike Samsung, this company does not independently produce flash memory and does not develop controllers, but relies on offers from third-party NAND memory manufacturers and solutions from independent engineering teams. However, this is precisely what allows Kingston to compete with giants like Samsung: by skillfully selecting partners on a case-by-case basis, Kingston offers a very diverse product line that well meets the needs of different user groups.

We would also advise you to pay attention to those solid-state drives that are produced by companies SanDisk and Micron, which uses the trademark Crucial. Both of these companies have their own flash memory production facilities, which allows them to offer high-quality and technologically advanced SSDs with an excellent combination of price, reliability and performance. It is also important that when creating their products, these manufacturers rely on cooperation with Marvell, one of the best and largest controller developers. This approach allows SanDisk and Micron to consistently achieve fairly high popularity of their products - their share of the SSD market reaches 9 and 5 percent, respectively.

To conclude the story about the main players in the solid-state drive market, mention should be made of Intel. But, unfortunately, not in the most positive way. Yes, it also produces flash memory independently and has at its disposal an excellent engineering team capable of designing very interesting SSDs. However, Intel is focused primarily on developing solid-state drives for servers, which are designed for intensive workloads, have a fairly high price and are therefore of little interest to ordinary users. Its client solutions are based on very old hardware platforms purchased externally, and are noticeably inferior in their consumer qualities to the offers of competitors, which we discussed above. In other words, we do not recommend using Intel solid-state drives in modern personal computers. An exception for them can be made only in one case - if we are talking about highly reliable drives with eMLC memory, which the microprocessor giant does very well.

Performance and prices

If you carefully read the first part of our material, then an intelligent choice of an SSD seems very simple. It is clear that you should choose from V-NAND or MLC NAND based SSD models offered by the best manufacturers - market leaders, that is, Crucial, Kingston, Samsung or SanDisk. However, even if you narrow your search to the offers of only these companies, it turns out that there are still a lot of them.

Therefore, additional parameters will have to be included in the search criteria - performance and price. In today's SSD market, there has been a clear segmentation: the products offered belong to the lower, middle or upper level, and their price, performance, as well as warranty service conditions directly depend on this. The most expensive solid-state drives are based on the most powerful hardware platforms and use the highest quality and fastest flash memory, while the cheaper ones are based on stripped-down platforms and simpler NAND memory. Mid-level drives are characterized by the fact that manufacturers try to maintain a balance between performance and price.

As a result, budget drives sold in stores offer a specific price of $0.3-0.35 per gigabyte. Mid-level models are more expensive - their cost is $0.4-0.5 for each gigabyte of volume. Specific prices for flagship SSDs may well reach $0.8-1.0 per gigabyte. What's the difference?

Solutions in the upper price category, which are primarily aimed at the enthusiast audience, are high-performance SSDs that use the PCI Express bus for inclusion in the system, which does not limit the maximum throughput for data transfer. Such drives can be made in the form of M.2 or PCIe cards and provide speeds that are several times faster than any SATA drives. At the same time, they are based on specialized Samsung, Intel or Marvell controllers and the highest quality and fastest memory types MLC NAND or MLC V-NAND.

In the middle price segment, SATA drives play a role, connected via a SATA interface, but capable of using (almost) all of its bandwidth. Such SSDs can use different controllers developed by Samsung or Marvell and various high-quality MLC or V-NAND memory. However, in general, their performance is approximately the same, since it depends more on the interface than on the power of the drive. Such SSDs stand out from cheaper solutions not only because of their performance, but also because of their extended warranty terms, which are set at five or even ten years.

Budget drives are the largest group, in which completely different solutions find their place. However, they also have common features. Thus, controllers that are used in inexpensive SSDs usually have a reduced level of parallelism. In addition, these are most often processors created by small Taiwanese engineering teams like Phison, Silicon Motion or JMicron, rather than by world-renowned development teams. In terms of performance, budget drives naturally do not match higher-class solutions, which is especially noticeable during random operations. In addition, flash memory included in drives in the lower price range is also not of the highest level, naturally. Usually you can find here either cheap MLC NAND, produced according to “thin” production standards, or TLC NAND in general. As a result, the warranty period for such SSDs has been reduced to three years, and the declared rewriting resource is also significantly lower. High performance SSDs

Samsung 950 PRO. It's only natural that you should look for the best consumer-grade SSDs from a company that has a dominant position in the market. So if you want to get a premium-class drive that is obviously faster than any other SSD, then you can safely purchase the latest Samsung 950 PRO. It is based on Samsung's own hardware platform, which uses advanced second-generation MLC V-NAND. It provides not only high performance, but also good reliability. But you should keep in mind that the Samsung 950 PRO is included in the system via the PCI Express 3.0 x4 bus and is designed as an M.2 form factor card. And there is one more subtlety. This drive operates using the NVMe protocol, which means it is compatible only with the latest platforms and operating systems.

Kingston HyperX Predator SSD. If you want to get the most trouble-free solution, which is certainly compatible not only with the newest, but also with mature systems, then you should choose the Kingston HyperX Predator SSD. This drive is a little slower than the Samsung 950 PRO and uses the PCI Express 2.0 x4 bus, but it can always be used as a boot drive in absolutely any system without any problems. At the same time, the speeds it provides are in any case several times higher than those provided by SATA SSDs. And another strong point of the Kingston HyperX Predator SSD is that it is available in two versions: as M.2 form factor cards, or as PCIe cards installed in a regular slot. True, the HyperX Predator also has regrettable disadvantages. Its consumer properties are affected by the fact that the manufacturer purchases basic components externally. The HyperX Predator SSD is based on a Marvell controller and Toshiba flash memory. As a result, without having full control over the hardware of its solution, Kingston is forced to give its premium SSD a warranty that has been reduced to three years.

Testing and review of Kingston HyperX Predator SSD.

Mid-Range SSDs

Samsung 850 EVO. Based on Samsung's proprietary hardware platform, which includes innovative TLC V-NAND flash memory, the Samsung 850 EVO offers an excellent combination of consumer performance features. At the same time, its reliability does not cause any complaints, and TurboWrite SLC caching technology allows you to fully utilize the bandwidth of the SATA interface. Particularly attractive to us are the Samsung 850 EVO variants with a capacity of 500 GB and higher, which have a larger SLC cache. By the way, in this line there is also a unique SSD with a capacity of 2 TB, the analogs of which do not exist at all. To all of the above, it should be added that the Samsung 850 EVO is covered by a five-year warranty, and owners of drives from this manufacturer can always contact any of the numerous service centers of this company scattered throughout the country.

SanDisk Extreme Pro. SanDisk itself produces flash memory for its drives, but purchases controllers externally. So, Extreme Pro is based on a controller developed by Marvell, but you can find a lot of know-how from SanDisk itself. The most interesting addition is the nCahce 2.0 SLC cache, which in Extreme Pro is implemented inside MLC NAND. As a result, the performance of the SATA drive is very impressive, and in addition, few will remain indifferent to the terms of the warranty, which is set at 10 years. In other words, SanDisk Extreme Pro is a very interesting and relevant option for mid-range systems.

Testing and review of SanDisk Extreme Pro.

Crucial MX200. There is a very good mid-level SATA SSD in the Micron range. The Crucial MX200 uses the company's MLC memory and, like the SanDisk Extreme Pro, is based on a Marvell controller. However, the MX200 is further enhanced by Dynamic Write Acceleration SLC caching technology, which pushes SSD performance above average. True, it is used only in models with a capacity of 128 and 256 GB, so they are primarily of interest. The Crucial MX200 also has slightly worse warranty conditions - its duration is set at only three years, but as compensation, Micron sells its SSDs a little cheaper than its competitors.

Budget models

Kingston HyperX Savage SSD. Kingston offers a budget SSD based on a full-fledged eight-channel controller, which is what captivates us. True, HyperX Savage uses Phison’s design, not Marvell, but the flash memory is normal MLC NAND, which Kingston purchases from Toshiba. As a result, the level of performance provided by the HyperX Savage is slightly below average, and it comes with a three-year warranty, but among budget offerings this drive looks quite confident. In addition, HyperX Savage looks impressive and will be nice to install in a case with a window.

Testing and review of Kingston HyperX Savage SSD.

Crucial BX100. This drive is simpler than the Kingston HyperX Savage, and it is based on a stripped-down Silicon Motion four-channel controller, but despite this, the performance of the Crucial BX100 is not bad at all. In addition, Micron uses its own MLC NAND in this SSD, which ultimately makes this model a very interesting budget proposal offered by a renowned manufacturer and does not raise user complaints about reliability.

Hello! I propose to raise the topic of SSD drives today. More precisely, consider differencesHDD AndSSD drives that will help you make the right choice. You've probably already heard something about solid-state drives and are interested in this topic. Now we need to study it in more detail. So, HDD or SSD?

If you have Windows 7 installed, then you couldn't help but check the system performance index. And, if you have it installed, then most likely it is the weakest point of your computer. This happens because the HDD’s mechanical operating technologies do not allow it to keep up with the modern performance race of other components, such as processors, RAM, and video cards. With each generation they become faster, and HDDs develop at a snail's pace. This type of media seems to have simply become obsolete.

If you have Windows 8 or 10, you will have to use third-party applications to check system performance. For example, Winaero WEI tool.

Hard disk (HDD, hard drive)

Magnetic hard drive is a kind of mechanical device consisting of several disks (vaguely reminiscent of a CD), heads that read and write information to the disks, as well as an electric drive. These discs rotate at enormous speeds - at least 5400 rpm, but most often 7200 rpm, and sometimes the speed even reaches above 10,000 rpm. And magnetic heads, sliding over the surface of the disks, process information. Can you imagine this design? Everything is mechanical, moving and noisy.

Solid State Drive (SSD Drive)

Solid StateSSD drive (SolidStateDrive) is a storage device that is based on microcircuits. There are no rotating or moving parts. SSD drives are much more compact and lighter than their competitors. The read/write speed is many times higher than the speed of a conventional HDD hard drive.

SSD on the left, HDD on the right. Visually distinguishing them will not be difficult.

HDD or SSD. Comparison of drives

In addition, I would like to note that the permissible operating temperature is higher for SSDs, although in fact they themselves practically do not heat up. Also, SSD drives are much more resistant to mechanical damage. Among the disadvantages of SSD drives, we can note the cost per 1GB and limited rewrite cycles. However, you don’t have to be afraid to install them, because even if you overwrite 20 GB of information per day, you will theoretically have enough service life of an SSD drive for at least 5 years.

An easy way to speed up your computer is to install an SSD drive on it. We already talked about it in one of the previous articles. These drives come in several types and I would like to devote today’s article to just that. The first is a SATA solid-state drive; it usually comes in a 2.5" form factor and is a universal solution with very good speed and a fairly reasonable price.

It is suitable for any computer, almost any laptop (there are exceptions, such as SONY models, which use a 1.8" form factor drive). Next on the list we have PCI, especially pay attention to SSD PCI 3.0 - they have just crazy speed and you might be surprised at the performance you get with these drives.

But, like all good things, they have one drawback - a fairly high price, which is often 2 or even 3 times higher than regular SSD SATA 2.5 drives. There are also mSATA (in the picture below), which is short for “mini SATA”, they are most often used in laptops, however, in terms of speed, such drives are no different from regular SATA 2, that is, it is the same, but in a smaller form -factor.

Look how much smaller the mSATA SSD drive (green PCB on top) is compared to a regular 2.5" hard drive

It is noteworthy that there are SSDs exclusively for Apple (even here they remain separate “personalities”), and they are even more expensive, although in terms of performance they are no different from the same PCI SSDs. The recording speed here can be 700 MB/s - which is an excellent indicator.

If you want to buy an SSD for yourself, then in any case you will have to choose between SATA and PCI versions, and there is a question of price. If you spend a lot of time on your computer, then be sure to try the PCI version of the drive. Because it itself comes in a RAID array (this is when 2 hard drives are connected into one, roughly speaking), in this case the information is read from two devices at once, which speeds up the system by exactly 2 times.

PCI SSD - installed inside the computer system unit

That is, for example, the same Windows is installed on 2 flash drives (2 different chips) at once and read from them simultaneously, which is a truly great solution for increasing computer performance, I definitely recommend purchasing it.

If you just want to somehow speed up your old computer, which you may soon be planning to replace with something more productive, or you just want to try a solid-state drive in operation for the first time, I definitely recommend taking the familiar and time-tested SATA 2 ,5 SSD.

Based on the design of a solid-state hard drive (it does not have rotating magnetic disks, like in an HDD, for example), it is clear that its operating speed and, in general, the very fact of its operation, directly depend on two parameters: controller models and types of NAND memory chips. Moreover, even two different drives can contain the same controller, but at the same time, their operating speed will differ (it all depends on the firmware). The controller conditionally divides the entire memory into cells into which information will then be written.

And this is where the fundamental differences between different types of SSD memory lie. That is, it doesn’t matter what memory model is used in the drive itself, the controller in any case must first divide it into so-called cells. But how many bits of information fit into one cell is determined by the type of NAND memory. Currently, only three varieties are used: SLC, MLC, TLC (as a type of MLC).

SLC

SLC (Single Level Cell) - allows you to store only 1 bit of information in one cell - zero or one. This is the most expensive type of NAND chips. The high cost is determined by the complexity in the production of such drives. In addition to the price, the disadvantages also include low capacity - about 60 GB, for example.

However, such a drive will be faster and more reliable than all others, due to the fact that the cell will be overwritten much less frequently, which, as is known, significantly extends the life of the device itself. According to manufacturers, one cell can be rewritten up to 100,000 times. In addition, SLC technology provides the highest speed of reading/writing information, and such drives are the fastest.

At the moment, the market for SLC solutions is extremely poorly formed. Until recently, one of the famous such drives was the Intel X25-E, which had a capacity of only 64 GB. It cost about 20,000 rubles - which is extremely expensive, because for the same money you can easily buy an SSD disk with a capacity of about 1 terabyte (1000 GB), albeit with MLC memory.

MLC

MLC (Multi-Level Cell) is a multi-level cell that allows you to record two bits of information at once, which theoretically reduces its resource by exactly half. However, in fact, the resource of an MLC SSD drive is even lower. Initially, the drives offered up to 10,000 write cycles, then this figure dropped to 5,000, and then became as indicated in the table.

However, today it is the most common type of memory in the market of solid-state drives. There are simply a huge number of models of this type; their capacity is already significantly higher than that of SLC models, and can reach up to 1 TB and even higher. In addition, the price of MLC drives of the same capacity will be significantly lower than in the case of SLC. As can be seen from the table, the performance of MLC is also slightly worse.

There is also a subtype of MLC - eMLC (enterprise MLC), which has the following advantages: increased service life of the chips due to a greater number of possible write/rewrite cycles. Few people know, but Samsung, for example, has a unique technology called “3D V-NAND”, which allows cells to be placed vertically, significantly expanding the memory capacity without increasing production costs.

TLC

TLC (Triple Level Cell) - guess how many bits of information such a TLC cell can store? That's right, three. That is, as you already understand, all these abbreviations tell us about the density of information storage in NAND chips. It turns out that the most “economical” memory will be TLC. Similar (TLC) chips are used in flash drives, where service life (number of rewrite cycles) is not such an important parameter. In addition, TLC technology is very cheap to produce.

I would recommend using TLC as a hard drive (not to be confused with an HDD drive) to install games on it, for example. Well, the reading speed from it will be many times higher than even the fastest HDD, and the cost of TLC solid-state drives is the lowest of all today (but still more expensive than HDD). And to install the OS, it is better to use a drive with MLC, since it is more reliable and durable than TLC.

ONFi and Toggle Mode

Drives (solid-state drives) with MLC are divided into two types according to the interface used. Both of these abbreviations denote not just different interfaces, but also associations (alliances) of different manufacturers of flash memory produced according to a certain standard. For example, Intel, Micron, Spectec, Hynix are classified as "ONFI". And Samsung, Toshiba, SanDisk - respectively to “Toggle Mode”.

Both interfaces come in different versions, the versions determining the bandwidth for each NAND channel. In addition, ONFI is divided into asynchronous and synchronous, the latter provides performance, but at the same time significantly increases the price of the device. Well, asynchronous, accordingly, is cheaper, but slower. All other things being equal, Toggle Mode memory “on paper” looks slightly faster than ONFi in “sequential write” and “random read” operations.

How to determine the type of SSD memory?

You can try to find it out programmatically, for example, using the “SSD-Z” program. Well, you can also look for this information in reviews of drives, or on special sites (most often in English) - collections of characteristics of SSD models.