Could someone please recommend to me a 4TB SATA SSD.
I have a Alienware/Dell Aurora R12 which has one M.2 slot and multiple SATA. The M.2 slot is used. PCIe slots do not support burfication, so don't want to use my my remaining PCIe slot on a single SSD. Hence I would like to go SATA. Looking at deals etc, it seems only a minority seem to ask for SATA SSDs these days. I realise the bus is slower, I don't expect the drive to be blazing fast, but don't want it to slow down to a crawl either.
Many Thanks.
4TB SATA SSD
noz on 17/06/2025 - 12:34
Comments
Much like other DRAM-less QLC drives, I'd avoid the BX series.
It's also not just about pure bandwidth but also latency. DRAM-less QLC drives will be horrible to write anything larger than 10-25GB to. Read only, they're fine but with most cheap drives squeeking out QLC nand on crappy controllers they're not very good at lasting a long time.
The MX would certainly be a better drive but the BX is perfectly fine as a secondary drive where you aren't writing 4TB of data multiple times every day. The whole QLC conversation is blown far out of proportion.
Off subject what would you be looking at in a NVMe 2280 4TB?
Anything, as long as it's not QLC and has HMB support. As to which brand/controller is used. That's up to you and your appetite for quality vs cost.
You can get a Samsung 870 EVO 4TB from Amazon US right now for $399
It isn't 'cheap' compared to deals in the past but it's around $60 cheaper than buying from local BM stores.
Are you using your wifi/BT M.2 card slot?
You can get adapters that run an M.2 NVMe SSD in x1 mode through a key E M.2 socket. Its just short of twice as fast as a SATA SSD, and has the advantage of meaning you're not trying to buy obsolete technology, a big SATA SSD, and spending money on something you'll never need again. The problem with doing it is that the wifi/BT slot is intended for a 2230 card, and often doesn't leave room for a 2280 SSD hanging out from the socket.
But, well, your video card is using your x16 PCIe slot, and apparently you are using one of your x4 PCIe slots. So the one you have left is also only x4. It can only take a single NVMe drive in x4 mode. Plug an PCIe to M.2 adapter into it. Plug an NVMe SSD into the adapter.
Are there even any (reputable) 2230 4TB drives available yet?
the only 3 SATA drive I'd get is WD Blue (not green), Samsung EVOs (not QVOs), and Crucial MX500 (not bx500), which ever you can get your hands on.
DO NOT get the 3 in brackets. They are bad. I've seen enough random slowdowns with subpar controller, bad NAND etc.
source: worked in a computer store before.
The QVO isn’t too bad in my experience. I think the dram cache stops it from being abysmally slow like BX500 and WD Green. Still QLC though so not as good as the the aforementioned.
Folks, thanks very much for the responses, appreciate you sharing your knowledge and time, super helpful. Will now look around and take it all on board in my purchase.
Crucial BX500 would be a happy medium. You won't notice a real world difference above 500 MB/s.