Alexandra Ramirez
1. Samsung
Best Overall Solid State Drive
5/5 Product Rating
This Samsung 850 EVO can write, read and multi-task with incredible speed. This solid state drive or SSD as it is known, will not only speed up your OC it will transform it.
Other benefits this SSD provides your PC include enhanced boot up speeds, and lightening fast application loading and superior performance when doing multiple tasks.
This SSD includes 3D V-NAND technology so you can work and play faster than ever before with no performance issues or lagging. Your PC will have excellent performance, reliability and incredible energy efficiency.
Samsung provides users with unbelievable read/write speeds that are perfect for someone who works on their computer or is into gaming. The first class performance speeds are 540MB/s for reading and 520MB/s for writing which are truly class leading speeds. You will also realize optimized performance in all QD for better performance all around.
The Samsung 850 EVO comes with a spectacular 5 year warranty and will provide long term high performance for your PC. This Samsung SSD assures that users will get 30% longer performance than their previous 840 EVO. They just keep getting better and better and now you will get to enjoy the benefits of the increased performance, unbelievable speeds and less mechanical hard drive issues. Users who purchase the Samsung 850 SSD will receive the Samsung Smart Data Migration Software, Samsung SSD Magician software and Manual CD and the quick user manual so you can get started with lightening fast performance right away.
– Darius Spieth
2. Kingston
Best Overall Solid State Drive – Runner Up
4.8/5 Product Rating
Experience improved application loading and system boot up speeds that will dramatically improve the responsiveness of your existing PC.
The Kingston SSDNow has no moving parts which mean a large reduction in hard drive related breakdowns. They are much more reliable than the standard hard drives.
The design of the Kingston is much more economical to make switching to a SSD a lot more affordable. One of the popular features of the Kingston SSDNow is the LSI SandForce controller that is customized and optimized for the new generation of flash memory, this results in the delivery of reliability and quality that is second to none. It is shock proof and able to handle drops and bumps without malfunctions; perfect for avid gamers.
This SSD stays cool and runs silent so there is no disturbance despite the incredible increases in speed and performance. Upgrading to this SSD is much less complicated than switching your data to a new system and is a lot more cost efficient as well.
When you’re looking for a way to improve the performance and speed of your existing PC, this Kingston SSDNow is the way to go that will save you time, money and headaches. The differences in your system will be a huge change that you will wish you made sooner.
– Darius Spieth
3. SanDisk SSD PLUS
4.6/5 Product Rating
Features like the no wait boot, shut down and app response is why the SanDisk SSD is so popular.
It is an affordable way to upgrade your existing PC and experience significant and noticeable increases in speed, performance and reliability. Data transfer speeds will also be increased and the shock and vibration resistance means it is much more durable than the traditional hard drive.
With this upgrade you will get to experience what all the fuss is with the cool and quiet SanDisk SSD. Not only does it improve performance but it will also extend the life of your existing PC as well. You’ll feel like you bought a brand new, upgraded computer even though you only spent a fraction of the cost of a new PC.
The high sequential read speeds are 48p0 MB/s and sequential write speeds are 400MB/s. This means better performance in everything you do on your computer from business to gaming. Set up is a breeze, even if you don’t know a whole lot about computers. This SanDisk SSD comes with very easy to follow, step by steps directions and cloning software so you’ll be up and running in no time.
Another benefit to the SanDisk SSD is the longer battery life your laptop will have. Just one charge will last even longer than it used to with the old hard drive. This kind of efficiency is what those who are on their computers a lot for work or play are looking for.
– Darius Spieth
Solid State Drive Buying Guide
What is a Solid State Drive?
If you are not very experienced with computers, you may not know what a solid state drive, or SSD is. We’ll give you a little bit of background. A solid state driver is an upgraded and improved version of the traditional hard drive. It is a data storage device. It functions the same way a traditional hard disk does and lasts for years. The main difference that you will notice when using a computer with an SSD is the speed in which it does pretty much everything.
The speed and efficiency that a SSD has is one of the reasons it is becoming so popular. If you are looking for a way to really make your computer speed up, this is the way to achieve that at a drastically reduced cost than buying a whole new computer.
Benefits of a Solid State Drive
One of the biggest complaints that people make about their computer is that it is too slow. Upgrading from an HDD to a solid state drive (SSD) can bring about many significant changes to the way your computer system does everything from saving files to opening applications. There are many benefits that you will see when you upgrade your existing computer to a solid state drive. These include:
- Reduced boot up times
- Starting of applications will be almost instantaneous
- Saving and opening documents don’t lag
- File copying is improved and speeded up
- File duplication speeds are improved
- Overall system will be snappier and like new life has been breathed into your computer.
Choosing the Right Solid State Drive
It’s not really difficult to choose a solid state drive but when there are tons of available choices and brands it may feel overwhelming to try and sort through them all to decide which the best choice is. We’ll describe what you need to look for when searching for a solid state drive for your existing PC.
Even though upgrading to ANY kind of an SSD will be a huge improvement over your existing hard drive system, you want to get the best you can for the budget you have. There are several things that you want to look for when you start your SSD search.
- High Max Speeds – Maximum read speeds are typically around 400MB/s and Max write speeds of 300MB/s. The numbers are not written in stone and you may find some solid state drives have slightly higher numbers but those are the typical numbers that they have.
- Real World Speeds that are Good – Real world speeds are not typically provided by the manufacturer since they are always going to be slower than the maximums. If you want to look for real world speeds, check online reviews for speed checks. Don’t let this get to you if the real world speeds are usually significantly lower. Make sure that any test results provide speeds that are about 2/3 what the max speeds are.
- Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash memory – there are two kinds of memory that you will find when shopping for an SSD which are multi-level cell, or MLC and single-level cell or SLC. MLC stores more information on it than the SLC. There is a higher rate of error on the MLC than the SLC but SLC is not very cost effective. You can get SSD with error correcting code which can prevent the error problems the MLC experiences.
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SATA III Support – The majority of solid state drives use the serial ATA (SATA) interface. Not all of them will have the latest versions available and this will affect the performance the SSD provides. As a general rule:
- SATA I transfers data at 1.5 Gbps
- SATA II transfers data at 3.0 Gbps
- SATA III transfers data at 6 Gbps
You want to make sure that your SSD provides plenty of bandwidth so data is transferred as efficiently and quickly as possible. Making sure that your SSD is compatible with SATA III will accomplish this but your PC must be compatible with the SATA III too for it to work properly. If your computer doesn’t support the updated SATA specifications, it will still work; it just won’t be as incredible as it could be.
- ECC Memory – ECC stands for error correcting code. This gives the solid state drive the capability of detecting and correcting data corruption that is commonly found and that renders data unusable on you drive. Solid state drives that have ECC are much more reliable than those that do not have it.
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Reliability and Reputation – Sometimes it is hard to determine if something is reliable or not and this is where reviews and customer feedback is very important. Look for manufacturers that have a good reputation, preferably one that is well known and then read the reviews on the SSD that you are interested in. Because this is relatively technology,
you do not want to purchase your SSD from a brand new company that may just be jumping on the solid state drive band wagon. Look at ratings as well in the reviews and look for ratings that are at least a 3.5 or higher.
Conclusion
Our intention with this review and buyer’s guide was not to try and teach you everything there is to learn about solid state drives. That is not possible in this type of application. Our objective was to explain what they were, what the benefits are of upgrading your existing PC with one and what you can expect from them in the way of performance.
We’ve also explained what to look for and how to tell one SSD from another when you are searching. With the right information and knowledge you can sort through the numerous choices available and match the solid state drive with your needs.
The top rated solid state drives that we have reviewed here are some of the top in the market. Their read and write speeds are high and the companies they are manufactured by are well known and respected companies in the computer and technology industry.
Purchasing a solid state drive and upgrading your PC with it will open up a whole new world up faster speeds, downloads, boot ups and other improved computer processes. Armed with the right information you will not have to worry about making the wrong choice and being disappointed.
