However, for storing a huge library of files, traditional hard drives continue to offer the best value.
In shorter transfers, the drive saturates the PCIe 4.0 interface with speeds up to about 7,000 MB/s.
The drive supports theDirectStorageAPI, which may become valuable once PC games start taking advantage of it.
Modern SSDs are designed to use a portion of their free space as cache for writing at full speed.
After that, writing speed will be similar to that of the MP600 Pro.
Costing about twice per TB, it’s simply not worth it.
If you have a laptop, theCrucial T500is a great alternative.
It uses Micron’s newer 232-layer flash and a smaller 4-channel controller for unprecedented efficiency for aDRAM-equipped SSD.
Its main drawback is inconsistent performance in sustained writes.
The 2TB version can be had for$140, or$150with a heatsink.
It’s slightly more expensive, at$156for 2TB.
TheSamsung 990 Prooffers record-breaking random read performance for an M.2 drive.
Maximum write speeds have been raised to max out the PCIe interface from about 5GB/s in the older980 Pro.
Brands affected include Inland, Sabrent, and Corsair.
Corsair and Inland have issued a firmware update to address this issue.
This version is currently sold at Best Buyfor $220.
The Samsung T7 Shield is a great example.
But if you want a secondary drive with a ton of storage, Seagate IronWolfNASdrives remain unbeatable.
Inevitably, this also means paying a small premium over budget drives.
These CMR drives have beencompetitively pricedwith Seagate’s IronWolf across their entire range of 2/3/4/6/8/10/12/14TB models.
There are, however, minor spec differences between the two, including RPM speeds and cache size.
The Barracuda is also available in 1TB, 3TB, 6TB, and 8TB variants.
The 1TB model spins at the same speed, but only includes 64MB of cache.
A larger cache is useful for storing frequently used files without needing to keep them on the slower disk.
This approach prevents losing access to your data due to a broken external connector.
Models range between 4TB and 18TB.
There are a few additional, but minor quirks with the My Book.
It uses a Micro-B USB 3.0 connector (to USB-A) unlike USB-A/USB-C interfaces that have become more commonplace.
There’s also no support for an expansion unit to add more storage down the road.
Those are the only key weaknesses of the DS224+ given the price point it is targeting.
With more drives, Raid 5, 6 and 10 become available.
With WD Red Plus drives, it will be$20 less.
