Intel 750 PCIe vs. Kingston HyperX Predator PCIe/M.2 vs. Samsung SM951 M.2

[DrewZ]

Not sure how to setup a poll on this website, but I would just like to know everybody's opinions on these SSD's.

Which one would you pick and why?

I have been waiting forever for a consumer NVMe SSD and now that it is finally here the competition makes things a little blurry. I know that there will be more options soon, but I want 2000MB/s read/write speeds NOW!

 

[Woomack]

Intel will be something like Samsung SM951 while Kingston is more like Samsung XP941 so 30-50% slower.
I have no idea how Intel 750 will look in random transfers. Intel promised a lot but I haven't seen any "real-life" results yet. Synthetic benchmarks are showing about 100% higher random 4K bandwidth on Intel 750 than on Kingston Predator.

You can have 4GB/s+ now if you make RAID0 from couple of SSD. It doesn't change fact that sequential transfers mean nothing in daily usage unless you are copying a lot of large files. You can be happy from benchmark results but while work I doubt you will see it.

 

[DrewZ]

Intel will be something like Samsung SM951 while Kingston is more like Samsung XP941 so 30-50% slower.
I have no idea how Intel 750 will look in random transfers. Intel promised a lot but I haven't seen any "real-life" results yet.

Intel SSD 750 Specifications

Capacity 400GB 1.2TB
Form Factor 2.5" 15mm SFF-8639 or PCIe Add-In Card (HHHL)
Interface PCIe 3.0 x4 - NVMe
Controller Intel CH29AE41AB0
NAND Intel 20nm 128Gbit MLC
Sequential Read 2,200MB/s 2,400MB/s
Sequential Write 900MB/s 1,200MB/s
4KB Random Read 430K IOPS 440K IOPS
4KB Random Write 230K IOPS 290K IOPS
Idle Power Consumption 4W 4W
Read/Write Consumption 9W / 12W 10W / 22W
Encryption N/A
Endurance 70GB Writes per Day for Five Years
Warranty Five Years
MSRP $389 $1,029

 

[Woomack]

I saw specs but it means nothing in daily usage, especially when you look at random IOPS. In tests which I saw random bandwidth is 2x higher than on best SATA SSD or Kingston Predator. In theory it supposed to be up to 4x higher looking at specs.

In general even 2x faster is great as most SSD were +/- 10% 4k random read in last 3 years so in CDM/AS SSD it was about 30MB/s.

One really important thing is price. Intel will be for sure great option if 400GB will cost about $300. In EU probably 100% more

 

[DrewZ]

OK, sorry...wasn't sure if you had seen specs yet. I agree that real world performance is often different. Comparisons that I have seen are saying SM951...just wish Samsung would do a NVMe. I am not really super familiar with SSD benchmarking. I have only used ATTO in the past. Do you know what benchmark would be closest to real world performance?

 

[Woomack]

PCMark8 but even there results are weird.
I'm using mainly CrystalDiskMark, ATTO, Anvil's Storage Utilities, PCMark8 and sometimes AS SSD. There are also other benchmarks but these listed are most popular.

I'm testing HyperX Predator right now. Results are good but I was expecting more. One good thing is that you can remove M.2 card and use it in laptop or in PCIE M.2 slot on the motherboard. Intel 750 is just full PCIE card.

 

[DrewZ]

PCMark8 but even there results are weird.
I'm testing HyperX Predator right now. Results are good but I was expecting more. One good thing is that you can remove M.2 card and use it in laptop or in PCIE M.2 slot on the motherboard. Intel 750 is just full PCIE card.

Yeah, I have to agree with M.2 being more versatile. I like the fact that M.2 is tucked neatly away from SLI configuration also, not demanding a slot. Wish there was a consumer NVMe M.2 that blows everything else out of the water and doesn't cost a small fortune. Is an NVMe M.2 even possible? Seems like it should be.

 

[biocentrism]

I saw specs but it means nothing in daily usage, especially when you look at random IOPS.

This is most true.

I have a Samsung XP941 M.2 which was reputed to be blazing fast (which it is if you deal with large files). But in my real world application (small read/writes to database) it is 2-3x slower than my Crucial M550 SSD.

So I basically have a hella expensive boot drive and use the basic SSD as my workhorse.

So make sure you know specifically what you will be using the drive for. Even the 4K benchmarks do not necessarily reflect real world. There needs to be a 0.1K to 1K benchmark.

 

[DrewZ]

This is most true.

I have a Samsung XP941 M.2 which was reputed to be blazing fast (which it is if you deal with large files). But in my real world application (small read/writes to database) it is 2-3x slower than my Crucial M550 SSD.

So I basically have a hella expensive boot drive and use the basic SSD as my workhorse.

So make sure you know specifically what you will be using the drive for. Even the 4K benchmarks do not necessarily reflect real world. There needs to be a 0.1K to 1K benchmark.

Thank you for that info.

 

[Audioaficionado]

It's looking like you'd want an SSD that handles the little files well for your OS drive and the blazing fast spec drive for video storage.

 

[jmt2015]

It's looking like you'd want an SSD that handles the little files well for your OS drive and the blazing fast spec drive for video storage.

so basicly the intel 750.

But im curious if the 400gb 2.5 inch performs the same as the PCIE version, cant seem to find any specific data on this.

 

[DrewZ]

So for larger files am I better off with M.2 or PCIe?

 

[Woomack]

M.2 drives are PCIE and SATA , PCIE is only PCIE. Matter of internal connections. SATA ( regardless of connector ) is max ~560MB/s , PCIE is limited to drive's controller and PCIE bandwidth.
For large files better seem PCIE drives while for small files all seem almost the same.

I guess all depends what budget you have. If you can afford Intel 750 then simply get it as there are no faster drives around. If you can live with something slightly slower ( not looking at benchmark results ) but at higher capacity then I think that better are cheaper series M.2 or SATA.

 

[jmt2015]

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storag...ung-SM951-NVMe-vs-AHCI-XP941-SSD-750-and-More

well. here is the review of the nvme sm951