I bought a new Lenovo M900 SFF and I would like to replace the installed WD Blue 3.5" 1 TB hard drive with an SSD. Because of the motherboard configuration, it is complicated to install an M2 SSD.

If I were to use a 2.5" SSD drive, it is true the NAND drives are the best way to go? The options appear to be WD Blue, Samsung, Sandisk, Intel, Crucial, Adata, and HP.

In the past I've used Samsung. Which brand of SSD drive do you prefer? I think I will use something 1 TB or 512 GB.

Thank you for your help.

I've always used Samsung and never had any issues.

Samsung primarily but I've also had good experiences with Crucial.

Samsung or Adata (i.e. Toshiba), usually based on price. But if at all possible, I'd stick a M.2 drive in it and save that HD bay for a 2.5" SSD upgrade later.

I would buy the cheapest name brand one I could find from Amazon or Newegg, preferably when it's on sale. No matter what, it will be faster then the regular hard drive.

I'm going to buck the trend here and recommend Samsung EVO. Never failed me yet.

H&K-Guy

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Samsung or Adata (i.e. Toshiba), usually based on price. But if at all possible, I'd stick a M.2 drive in it and save that HD bay for a 2.5" SSD upgrade later.

I wanted to do that, but it requires an adapter card. That in and of itself is not a big deal, but most people experienced issues getting the system to boot. I'm busy with more projects than I have time for at the moment, so I am looking for the simplest (albeit slower) solution.

I think most types of SSD will be an improvement over the WD Blue drive that came with it.

In theory, the system will support a second HD using an OEM drive 2.5" assembly I purchased from Lenovo.

Sandisk or Samsung for me. A possible consideration is the new WD ones, but they are still developing. I would not use theirs for anything I could not afford to lose.

Samsung - especially since the prices have really dropped as of late - was using the 850 series now 860's - I have replaced all our laptops and desktops with SSD's at all our offices now

We have some higher end workstations that I upgraded as soon as we bought - one of them I put in a Pro series and honestly a year in I have seen no issues nor difference in everyday performance in any of the workstations - running benchmarks would say otherwise but to those using it here - we haven't been able to see a marked difference

I also have some loaner systems in our spare pool and those I upgraded with cheaper at the time crucial and kingston and they are okay as well - but samsung is what i think of as my bread and butter drives for day in and day out systems

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Samsung or Adata (i.e. Toshiba), usually based on price. But if at all possible, I'd stick a M.2 drive in it and save that HD bay for a 2.5" SSD upgrade later.

I wanted to do that, but it requires an adapter card. That in and of itself is not a big deal, but most people experienced issues getting the system to boot. I'm busy with more projects than I have time for at the moment, so I am looking for the simplest (albeit slower) solution.

I think most types of SSD will be an improvement over the WD Blue drive that came with it.

In theory, the system will support a second HD using an OEM drive adapter I purchased from Lenovo.

Absolutely. Any SSD is going to be a huge improvement to a spinning HDD.

I have a couple year old Lenovo ThinkPad T450 that I put a M.2 drive in for my operating system and application software to run on, with all of my storage going to a 480GB (I think) Adata 2.5" SSD. Performance on that laptop is ridiculously fast even compared to more current systems.

I finally figured out why my 2017 Company iMac suck balls vs my 2014 MBP with SSD.

The company iMac has a SATA drive. I could have sworn it was a SSD but it isn't and had been driving me crazy.

It doesn't seem like much but man sitting them side by side, the difference is night and day between the two.

I've had good luck with Samsung PRO models. 10 year warranties and amazing performance: hard to beat. For my next PC I'll probably switch up to the M.2 variety and will either stick with Samsung Pro or possibly try out an Intel or WD stick.

My number one preference is the samsung evo line only get the evo pro if your doing a serious amount of video uploading and be sure to get the generation you can afford. If I'm looking for performance and stability for a custom or gaming pc I shell out the extra coin for them. I also use Intel enterprise for business systems. They have some of the highest reliability ratings of all SSD so they are a worry free solution.

I have used kingston, toshiba, OCZ and sandisk. They aren't spectacular with performance, but they are much cheaper and haven't died on me.

Obviously, every brand has different models, so just buying by brand isn't recommended. Research the speeds you want and pick a brand/model.

1. Intel
2. Intel
3. Intel
4. Intel
5. Samsung

You can always get different 'grades' of SSD's and all are not make alike.
Intel is by far the industry leader.
Just get the proper one for your purpose.
YMMV

I use Crucial.

Early on I used intel, but have had good luck with Sandisk, Samsung, and a couple others.

All SSD's use NAND of one type or another.

Edit: Never mind. I saw Lenovo and assumed laptop. Went back and saw SFF, so ignore the laptop SSD advice! :-)

Since you specified it's going into a laptop, buying the fastest is not necessary. The tiny performance differences are wasted in laptops that throttle the hell out of the system to conserve battery. What us more important is power usage of the SSD during idle and normal operations. For example, Samsungs do tend to be faster than other equivilent SSD's (and more expensive). That slight bit of extra speed also comes at a power efficiency cost. Samsungs are NOT the most power efficient. This makes a big difference in the life of your laptop battery, which tends to be more important that utmost speed (for LAPTOPS).

I'm not going to make a recommendation because I work for Micron SSD R&D and I would appear biased.

I sell more intel ssd’s, and crucial ssd’s, Than any other brand.

quote:

Originally posted by Xer0:

I'm not going to make a recommendation because I work for Micron SSD R&D and I would appear biased.

Tell me what you think. I'm ok if it is biased. I've used Micron memory for my computers and printers for more than 20 years.

I spent a few hours today going back and forth with Lenovo about what I can and cannot do to get a second drive in my system. The drive enclosure Lenovo recommended, and which I bought from them, might work if I can find a way to power it, but it seems both SATA power sockets are already being used.

Long story short, after getting things apart and seeing the way things are in reality inside the case, I have to use a PCIe to M.2 adapter card to have a second storage drive. It seems if I upgrade the system board bios and disconnect the 3.5" drive when installing Windows, I should be able to get it to book correctly.

I'm going with an M.2 SSD drive, (1 TB or 512GB) for system files, and an upgraded 3.5" mechanical drive for storage (2-4 TB).

The low profile Lenovo adapter card is ordered. I'll select the two storage drives when I see what goes on special in the next three weeks.