Advice on SSD storage

[Benjamin J 751]

Hey all,

Yes I'm back with another question! Possibly the last one before I finally have all the components for my new rig. This question pertains to the configuration of SSD storage for my rig. So far I'm set on buying at least one 860 Evo M.2-2280, because of it's blazing fast speeds as well as an okay pricetag. I think I have pretty much settled on the 500GB model. I was thinking to use this as my main drive for Windows and perhaps some games. However, I'd like to run Prepar3D of a separate drive. I could buy a second drive especially for that, or I could opt to reuse one of the external SSDs I already have. Preferably I'd like to have Prepare3D on a 500GB drive, just to make sure I have enough space for the sim itself as well as a swath of addons. In my experience, 500GB should be enough for a long time to come. 

As I see it, I have four options:

1. Reuse my external Transcend 256GB Thunderbolt/USB3.0 SSD. This one is fairly small but the Thunderbolt connection should offer data transfer speeds that are better than SATA. My motherboard does appear to have a Thunderbolt connector, but I'm not sure where to find the appropriate cables (I'm not looking for an expansion card as those are expensive!)
2. Reuse my external Samsung T3 500GB USB3.1 SSD. This one is a cute little drive with a pretty good capacity that I could easily connect to one of the USB 3.1 headers on the motherboard with a cheap expansion cable (5-10$), but it'd be a little slower than SATA, as I believe it uses USB 3.1 Gen 1. (Of course I can also use one of the ports on the front or back of the computer, but I'd like to use it as an internal drive with an internal connection).
3. Buy a second 860 Evo M.2-2280. My motherboard has two M.2-2280 slots, so this would work, but it'd be expensive (another 170$)...
4. Buy a second SATA-connected 860 Evo. This would be the cheaper option if I were to buy a new SSD, but the transfer speed would be limited over the M2-2280.

So there you have it... Anybody have any advice on what route would be the most worthwhile?

[Charlatan 68]

Option 5 - Buy 500gb SATA SSD.  I'm using Samsung SATA SSD for my P3D, and games etc, 850 Evo I think. 

[Benjamin J 751]

1 minute ago, Charlatan said:

Option 5 - Buy 500gb SATA SSD.  I'm using Samsung SATA SSD for my P3D, and games etc, 850 Evo I think. 

Thanks for sharing! Though read closely: that is option 4 

It seemed to me like that would be the most cost-effective option, indeed. More opinions would be greatly appreciated, of course!

[Charlatan 68]

Whoops! ;)

[martin-w 3,234]

Quote

So far I'm set on buying at least one 860 Evo M.2-2280,

 

That's a SATA M.2 drive. So no!

You want the 960 Evo NVMe. PCie!

There's only £30 difference. 

 

Which board was it?

[Benjamin J 751]

Once again you come to the rescue! Thanks for mentioning, no idea how I missed the big, bold SATA in the product name! Price difference is indeed tiny. The board is an ASRock Fatality K6.

[Benjamin J 751]

So, just to update here... I did get that 500GB 960 evo nvme in the end for a boot disk. I’m considering getting a 1TB 860 evo SATA, since it’s relatively cheap. This would be for Prepar3D as well as other games. Before I buy this, though, I’d like to know how the SATA connection versus the nvme will affect Prepar3D? I theorized that the nvme vs SATA would speed up texture loading and such, but I have no idea if that would really be the case...

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

I very much doubt that you would be able to tell the difference... SATA SSD is just fine for P3D 

[Benjamin J 751]

That's pretty much what I thought... Might just go ahead with the 860 EVO SATA then. Thanks Bert! Unless somebody has a wildly different opinion...?

[Mace 1,902]

Pretty much agree with Bert and the others.  I feel like I wasted money a bit, with my two M.2 Nvme's.

With the money you save, you can now purchase PTA  :)  (yes, I'm referring to your other thread)

[Benjamin J 751]

19 hours ago, Mace said:

Pretty much agree with Bert and the others.  I feel like I wasted money a bit, with my two M.2 Nvme's.

With the money you save, you can now purchase PTA  :)  (yes, I'm referring to your other thread)

Now that's a deal I like! Thanks for weighing in! Buying the SATA 860 Evo.

 

Thanks all!

[zmak 331]

No need to spend a fortune on massive SSD storage.

You only need enough to run your sim and the rest can be stored on a Hybrid SSD/HD via junction link for stuff like ORBX and photo scenery can be loaded directly. A 1TB hybrid is dirt cheap and has no problems loading scenery in quick order

[Benjamin J 751]

Thanks for weighing in, though by now I already purchased it. It's fine though - this SSD is going to hold a variety of software, from Prepar3D to games through Steam to professional applications that I need to use.