Reddit reviews Samsung 970 EVO SSD 2TB - M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND Technology (MZ-V7E2T0BW)

The best and biggest SSD you can get right now is the m.2 NVMe Samsung Pro 970 2TB. I personally have the Samsung EVO 970 2TB and it’s a great SSD (just a tiny bit slower than the Pro.)
Pro:
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-960-PRO-Internal-MZ-V6P2T0BW/dp/B01LY3Y9PH/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=samsung+pro+2tb+nvme&qid=1558028483&s=gateway&sprefix=samsung+pro+2tb&sr=8-6

EVO:
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-970-EVO-2TB-MZ-V7E2T0BW/dp/B07C8Y31G1/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=samsung+pro+2tb+nvme&qid=1558028483&s=gateway&sprefix=samsung+pro+2tb&sr=8-3

For Ram, you will want 2666 MHz 260-Pin SODIMMS. I recommend buying a matching set (so they are matched, and are paired so they run optimally for dual channel use.) I would recommend a matched set of 32gb (2x16gb) Hyper X impact (made by Kingston.)

https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Technology-HyperX-HX426S15IB2K2-16/dp/B01NAL3TYY/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=hyperx%2B2666mhz&qid=1558028418&s=gateway&sprefix=hyper%2Bx%2B2666mh&sr=8-4&th=1&psc=1

Just a correction: it's not NVMe, but M.2

M.2 is the physical form factor of the slot connector and the cards that plug into it. The WWAN slot in the T460 is a B-key M.2 slot for size 2242 (22mm wide x 42mm long) cards. Unfortunately, as mentioned below by /u/Westerdutch, it only accepts WWAN cards and not any form of SSDs. :(

NVMe is the specification for PCI Express-based SSDs. NVMe SSDs can be in the form of :

• PCI Express cards for desktop PCs, like this Intel 750 SSD;
  
  
• M.2 2242 like the RC100 and NM520
  
  
• M.2 2280 (22mm wide x 80mm long) like this particular Samsung 970 EVO
  
  
• and U.2 drives like the OCZ Z6300, which are the same size as 2.5 inch laptop HDDs and SSDs.

Hey just want to echo that you probably don't want to raid your NVMe drives. You won't get much performance out of that and it could even hurt performance in some cases. You can swap one out for a media storage drive like a 4TB or 6TB WD Black.

You would actually see more performance by swapping the Sebrant for a Samsung 970 Pro. Either way you'll have a very fast and reliable NMVe drive. If you're looking for performance, the Sebrant will win the sequential write game if you're copying big files, but the Samsung will win the every day random write game. Despite being PCIe 3.0, the 2 bit Samsung Pro is still going to win over the 3D 3-bit Sebrant in all but large file transfers. also, PCIe 5.0 is just around the corner so PCIe 4.0 might never get its day in the sun for good controllers and drives.

Also, you may want to consider a heatsink for your NMVe drive in any case, making sure it'll fit without blocking one of your PCIe slots.

The best value in that category is the new Samsung 970 EVO 2 TB that provides 500k IOPS @ 128 queue depth, and is currently $678 at Amazon USA.

The 970 EVO provides slightly lower performance, but at half the price of the previous 2 TB flagship, the 960 PRO. If you are looking for more details, Anandtech has an in-depth review of the 970 EVO:

The Mainstream Phoenix Rises: Samsung's 970 EVO (500GB & 1TB) SSDs Reviewed

4 TB NVMe drives are not widely marketed, and as far as I know none have been released in the M.2 form factor as of yet. In the 1 TB range there are many more options available to choose from however, including the new PC builders favorite, the WD Black. Toshiba has some high performance models as well, but is currently only selling to OEMs.

Hope this can help.

This is probably as overkill as it gets before starting to lose performance.

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel - Core i9-9940X 3.3 GHz 14-Core Processor | $1815.75 @ shopRBC
Motherboard | Asus - ROG RAMPAGE VI EXTREME OMEGA EATX LGA2066 Motherboard | $1027.44 @ Amazon Canada
Memory | Corsair - Vengeance RGB Pro 128 GB (8 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $1179.87 @ Amazon Canada
Storage | Samsung - 970 Evo 2 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $659.99 @ Amazon Canada
Storage | Samsung - 970 Evo 2 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $659.99 @ Amazon Canada
Video Card | Asus - GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB Dual OC Video Card (2-Way SLI) | $1569.99 @ Amazon Canada
Video Card | Asus - GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB Dual OC Video Card | $1569.99 @ Amazon Canada
Case | Corsair - 1000D ATX Full Tower Case | $412.33 @ Amazon Canada
Power Supply | EVGA - SuperNOVA T2 1600 W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $465.18 @ Amazon Canada
Case Fan | Noctua - NF-A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan | $37.90 @ Amazon Canada
Case Fan | Noctua - NF-A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan | $37.90 @ Amazon Canada
Case Fan | Noctua - NF-A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan | $37.90 @ Amazon Canada
Case Fan | Noctua - NF-A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan | $37.90 @ Amazon Canada
Monitor | Asus - PG279Q ROG Swift 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor | $799.99 @ Amazon Canada
Monitor | Asus - PG279Q ROG Swift 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor | $799.99 @ Amazon Canada
Main Monitor | Asus - ROG SWIFT PG27UQ 27.0" 3840x2160 144 Hz Monitor | $2398.99 @ Powertop
Keyboard | Corsair - K95 RGB PLATINUM Wired Gaming Keyboard | $269.99 @ Amazon Canada
Mouse | Logitech - G502 LIGHTSPEED Wireless Optical Mouse | $199.99 @ Amazon Canada
Headphones | Sennheiser - HD 650 Headphones | $492.29 @ Amazon Canada
Microphone | Rode NT-USB USB Condenser Microphone | $225.00 @ Amazon Canada
Headphone Amp | Audioengine D1 24-bit Digital-to-Analog Converter | $229.99 @ Amazon Canada
Custom Loop | EK Water Blocks EK-CoolStream SE 480 (Slim Quad) Radiator | $132.28 @ Amazon Canada
Custom Loop | EKWB EK-Cable Splitter 4-Fan PWM Extended, 2-pack | $32.99 @ Amazon Canada
Custom Loop | EKWB EK-ACF Compression Fitting for Soft Tubing, 10/16mm (3/8" ID, 5/8" OD), Black, 4-pack | $53.11 @ Amazon Canada
Custom Loop | EKWB EK-ACF Compression Fitting for Soft Tubing, 10/16mm (3/8" ID, 5/8" OD), Black, 4-pack | $53.11 @ Amazon Canada
Custom Loop | EKWB EK-ACF Compression Fitting for Soft Tubing, 10/16mm (3/8" ID, 5/8" OD), Black, 4-pack | $53.11 @ Amazon Canada
Custom Loop | EKWB EK-ACF Compression Fitting for Soft Tubing, 10/16mm (3/8" ID, 5/8" OD), Black, 4-pack | $53.11 @ Amazon Canada
Custom Loop | EKWB EK-Furious Vardar EVO 140 PWM 140mm Fan, 2500 RPM, 2-pack | $88.00 @ Amazon Canada
Custom Loop | EKWB EK-Furious Vardar EVO 140 PWM 140mm Fan, 2500 RPM, 2-pack | $88.00 @ Amazon Canada
Custom Loop | EKWB EK-Velocity CPU Waterblock, Intel CPU, Copper/Plexi | $138.42 @ Amazon Canada
Mousepad| Logitech Powerplay Wireless Charging Mat| $203.00
Custom Loop| EK-CoolStream CE 420 | $135.00
Custom Loop| EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 RGB PWM| $255.00
Custom Loop| EK Vector RTX RE Ti RGB| $230.00
Custom Loop| EK Vector RTX RE Ti RGB| $230.00
Custom Loop| EK-Vector RTX Backplate – Nickel| $72.00
Custom Loop| EK-Vector RTX Backplate – Nickel| $72.00
Custom Loop| EK-FC Terminal X2 3-slot – Plexi| $50.00
Custom Loop| EK-DuraClear 9,5/15,9mm 3M RETAIL| $27.00
Custom Loop| EK-CryoFuel Solid Cloud White (250mL) BUY 5| $20.00
| Total | $16914.49

This uses a custom cooling loop, it is not very hard to make since I used soft tubing, but if you don't want to use that, you can get 2 of THIS or THIS GPU and THIS CPU Cooler and just remove all the Custom Loop parts.

For the main monitor, I chose a 4K 144Hz monitor and 2 secondary 1440p 165Hz monitors which can also be used for gaming or can be used when you stream.

For the CPU I chose a 14 core i9 CPU, which has the best balance of cores and clock speed of the i9 CPUs, you could get more cores but the clock speed will drop a lot and so will your gaming performance.

This is the adapter I used.

I used a Samsung 970 2TB as my SSD. You can find them for cheaper though than Amazon, I got mine on eBay for $470.

Apple recently supported aftermarket NVMe SSDs in High Sierra (and later Mojave, which I am currently running).

There are limited SSDs that Apple supports (and it seems to be growing slowly). If you want the long forum read, this is where I started; there's some user in that forum who is rather diligently collecting the supported SSDs and you'll see him on varoius pages through the forum post. There's tonnes to read as it is 80+ pages long and I just went with a safe and supported SSD with the adapter someone else also said they worked. If you look on the Amazon reviews of the adapter some other person also lists the Macbook models that worked for them.

> not you can use APFS

I am not quite sure what you mean by this? I don't encrypt my Macbook so maybe it's a moot point?

Also just want to say thanks as you inspired me to just update my old machine instead of tossing it (on craigslist of course) and getting a new one. I was thinking about upgrading until I saw those 2TB upgrade prices ($$$$) and figured out that it's non-upgradable. Your videos helped me understand that my macbook is still well within my needs and I shouldn't upgrade. Keep up the good work.

Edit: Does this help?

I have Windows 10 Pro and I'm in the insider program, so I have 1903 (OS Build 18362.10005), and Storage Spaces is available to me.

The drives (3 of these, but only 2 in a software RAID1) also have Hyper-V images stored on both the C: (1 drive) and D: (2 drives RAID1).

I read about them and saw some guy's post about a major performance hit and "garbage" performance that originally scared me away from them.

After getting setup and running CrystalDiskMark, I expected the C: drive to outperform the D:, but it actually looks like I'm getting a performance improvement? Well not on all writes.

I also don't know anything about "channels" or any of that stuff, so I may have chosen a weird set to pair as I just plugged the m.2 drives into whichever slot. Disk0+2 = RAID1 (D:) and Disk1 = C:.

Granted, I have a the OS on C: and active Hyper-V machines on both C/D, but here are the results, tell me what you think:

https://imgur.com/Qsj6IIe

Literally more than what it costs new. GLWS

577 with 2 day free shipping with prime

it's an NVMe M.2. 2TB is the largest for consumers.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C8Y31G1/ref=twister_B07CY2RR4Z?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Sure, https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-970-EVO-2TB-MZ-V7E2T0BW/dp/B07C8Y31G1/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542939447&sr=8-3&keywords=2tb+nvme

That was just the first thing that popped up, I'm sure there are others.

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-970-EVO-2TB-MZ-V7E2T0BW/dp/B07C8Y31G1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539892108&sr=8-1&keywords=970+evo+2tb

Here's a brand new Samsung one on Amazon.

I would highly recommend buying used from /r/hardwareswap, though. SSD's are resilient and used SSD's are much better price-wise.

Or check on eBay as the prices are far better on there for brand new drives.

I have had one installed in my XPS 9550 for about four months. It is a 2TB Evo, works perfectly. Using it in AHCI mode, GPT partitioned. First one I ordered from Amazon had been opened. Someone stuck an old PCIe SATA drive in the box but put the EVO label on it. Ballsy.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C8Y31G1/ref=twister_B07CY2RR4Z

Agreed - a full spec R2 (W/out the 2 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 2TB - $1200) tips at high 4.8K - probably overkill but hey, I can cook an egg on it if I turn off throttlestop :) .... or any thin/light with i9HK for that matter.

oh, lol, there's nothing you can add to your system which will speed up select and mask. Once you exceed 10,000px on a side, any settings applied within that module will bring a system to its knees. And lens flare? Nooooooo! There are plugins out there (knoll) which will give you results way beyond what that piece of crap can do. That thing is ancient and i'm not surprised at all that it's crashing. Again, no new hardware will help you there.

For m.2 bandwidth, my drives are plugged in directly to the motherboard and have a theoretical bandwidth of 3.5GB/s, but real world usage is usually a bit lower, without any raid config. I have a 1TB for my C: and then a 2TB for working files with a 500GB scratch partition.

using these:
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SSD-970-EVO-2TB/dp/B07C8Y31G1

plugged into this MB:
https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-Z390-AORUS-PRO-Motherboard/dp/B07HRZKPXM

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SSD-970-EVO-2TB/dp/B07C8Y31G1/ref=sr_1_5?crid=310XD5982TRTW&keywords=2tb+nvme&qid=1564604902&s=electronics&sprefix=2+tb+n%2Celectronics%2C213&sr=1-5

or your NVME slot I would go with this 2TB Samsung 970

​

For the 2.5" slot if you want SSD: 4TB SSD

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Inch-SATA-Internal-Gray/dp/B07L3CLM2B/ref=sxin_3_ac_d_pm?ac_md=5-2-QWJvdmUgJDMwMA%3D%3D&crid=UHWKQ1789UWV&keywords=2.5+ssd&pd_rd_i=B07L3CLM2B&pd_rd_r=b9786423-1f6c-44cc-8dd6-dcb56c6efb3e&pd_rd_w=zdTcM&pd_rd_wg=BXqIZ&pf_rd_p=64aaff2e-3b89-4fee-a107-2469ecbc5733&pf_rd_r=P0K4P31H3CHVNMDHDK2Y&qid=1564604955&s=electronics&sprefix=2.5%2Celectronics%2C219

In total 6TB of SSD STorage :D for your amazing blade