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:

1. MLC V-NAND (Best)
2. V-NAND (TLC Equiv.)
3. TLC (V-NAND Equiv.)
4. QLC (Cheap, less reliable)
5. 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.