SSD / NVMe Comparison

This page was originally published on July 28, 2023. Its main goal was to aid in selecting SSD, and NVMe drives during a Micro Center sale.

Storage Technologies

3D NAND

The most basic of modern SSD technologies. Great for throwing on cheap systems, home servers, anything non-critical really.
It is not recommended to host your Operating System on 3D NAND, or QLC.

Quad Level Cell (QLC)

QLC (Quad Level Cell) is cheaper to manufacture than TLC (Triple Level Cell).
QLC is much slower and less durable to constant writing than TLC.
It is not recommended to host your Operating System on 3D NAND, or QLC.

Triple Level Cell (TLC)

TLC is more reliable when compared to QLC.
MLC is a Triple Level Cell based Samsung technology.

Multi Level Cell (MLC)

MLC is a Triple Level Cell based Samsung technology.

Let’s break it down:

MLC V-NAND (Best)
V-NAND (TLC Equiv.)
TLC (V-NAND Equiv.)
QLC (Cheap, less reliable)
3D NAND (Basic)

How Are SSDs Scored

Storage

1 point per GB
- Less accurate the bigger the SSD
- 3 TB and higher drives scale exp/log instead of linearly.

Price

Based on price per $1. Selected $0.10 as the baseline after averaging some calculations.

1 point for every $0.01 / GB below $0.10

Technology Coefficient

3D NAND Coefficient = 0.5 (Big Penalty)
QLC Coefficient = 0.75 (Small Penalty)
TLC Coefficient = 1.0 (No Change)
MLC V-NAND coefficient = 1.25 (Small Advantage)

NVMe M.2 2280 M Key

Brand	Storage	Price	Notes
970 EVO Plus	500 GB	$35	MLC V-NAND
970 EVO Plus	2 TB	$100	MLC V-NAND
970 EVO Plus	1 TB	$50	V-NAND
980	1 TB	$50	MLC V-NAND
980 Pro	2 TB	$120	MLC V-NAND
980 Pro	1 TB	$70	V-NAND
990 PRO	1 TB	$80	MLC V-NAND
Crucial P3	1 TB	$40	3D NAND
Inland	500 GB	$23	QLC
Inland	1 TB	$40	QLC
Inland	2 TB	$70	QLC
Performance	1 TB	$55	TLC
Prime	500 GB	$30	TLC
Prime	1 TB	$50	TLC

SSD

Brand	Storage	Price	Notes
Inland	1 TB	$50	TLC
Inland	512 GB	$25	TLC
Platinum	2 TB	$80	TLC
Platinum	1 TB	$43	TLC
Professional	256 GB	$20	3D NAND
Professional	125 GB	$15	TLC
870 EVO	1 TB	$50	MLC V-NAND
870 EVO	4 TB	$220	MLC V-NAND
870 EVO	500 GB	$40	MLC V-NAND
870 QVO	1 TB	$70	QLC V-NAND

Final Scores

NVMe

NVMe	$ / GB	1pt per $0.01	1 per GB	Coefficient	Score
970 500 GB $35 MLC	0.070	3.00	500	1.25	629
970 2 TB $100 MLC	0.050	5.00	2000	1.25	2506
970 1 TB $100 MLC	0.103	0.00	1000	1.25	1250
980 1 TB $50 V	0.050	5.00	1000	1	1005
980P 2 TB $120 MLC	0.060	4.00	2000	1.25	2505
980P 1 TB $70 V	0.070	3.00	1000	1	1003
990P 1 TB $80 MLC	0.080	2.00	1000	1.25	1253
Crucial 1 TB $40 3D	0.040	6.00	1000	0.5	503
Inland 500 GB $23 QLC	0.046	5.40	500	0.75	379
Inland 1 TB $40 QLC	0.040	6.00	1000	0.75	755
Inland 2 TB $70 QLC	0.035	6.50	2000	0.75	1505
Performance 1 TB $55 TLC	0.055	4.50	1000	1	1005
Prime 500 GB $30 TLC	0.060	4.00	500	1	504
Prime 1 TB $50 TLC	0.050	5.00	1000	1	1005
Higher is better.

SSD

SSD	$ / GB	1 per cent	1 per GB	Coefficient	Score
Inland 1TB $50 TLC	0.050	5	1000	1	1005
Inland 512GB $25 TLC	0.049	5.1	512	1	517
Platinum 2TB $80 TLC	0.040	6	2000	1	2006
Platinum 1TB $43 TLC	0.043	5.7	1000	1	1006
Professional 256GB $20 3D	0.078	2.2	256	0.5	129
Professional 125GB $15 3D	0.120	0	125	0.5	63
870 EVO 1TB $50 MLC	0.050	5	1000	1.25	1256
870 EVO 4TB $220 MLC	0.055	4.5	4000	1.25	5006
870 EVO 500GB $40 MLC	0.020	8	500	1.25	635
870 QVO 1TB $70 QLC	0.070	3	1000	0.75	753
Higher is better.

Conclusions

Cheap system? Get any of these.
Secondary drive? Get any QLC or better.
OS Drive? Get any TLC or better.
Extra cash? Premium for reliability? Get any Samsung from the list.

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