Over the last few months, we’ve talked numerous times about the high prices of flash-based storage devices, specifically SSDs and DDR4 RAM. Newegg currently has a “Spotlight Special” sale on SSDs and Memory, and while the prices are not historically low, they are a slight break from the current overpriced market we find ourselves in. All products listed should be available at this price until Monday, July 24th.
Mushkin Enhanced Reactor 480GB SSD ($145) - The Mushkin Enhanced Reactor 480GB SSD has sequential read speeds of 550 MB/s, sequential writes of 435 MB/s, and uses MLC NAND and a Silicon Motion SM2246EN controller. The Mushkin Enhanced Reactor Series is a 2.5” form factor drive and uses the SATA III interface, and comes with a limited 3-year warranty.
ADATA Premier SP600 128GB ($60) - The ADATA Premier SP600 2.5” SSDs are not the fastest drives on the market, but serve as a good budget option and will still perform significantly faster than a standard HDD. The SP600 128GB uses MLC NAND and a JMicron controller, additionally read and write speeds are 540 MB/s and 140 MB/s, respectively. The ADATA Premier SP600 256GB ($90) is also on sale this week, it has the same read speed as the 128GB variant at 540 MB/s, write speeds are slightly faster at 290 MB/s. Both the SP600 128GB and 256GB versions have a limited 3-year warranty.
Intel Optane M.2 16GB ($45) - Intel Optane shipped back in April of 2017, we discussed it here, and serves as a drive caching solution. Intel basically marketed Optane as a cost effective and easy way to increase speeds on a hard disk; however, it is important to note that Optane drives only work with Intel’s Kaby Lake platform. The Optane modules are available in 16GB or 32GB ($80) variants, both have a 5-year warranty.
WD Blue 500GB SSD ($150) - WD, known for their HDDs, has pushed the SSD market harder as of late, and their WD Blue 500GB 2.5” SSD is on sale for $150. The WD Blue drive has sequential read speeds of 545 MB/s and sequential write speeds of 525 MB/s. Additionally, the drive uses TLC Nand and a Marvell 88SS1074 controller. WD backs this drive with a 3-year limited warranty.
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2x8GB) 3200 ($132) - Sadly, DDR4 prices are still outrageously high. This 16GB G.SKILL Ripjaws kit is a good deal in the current market. The kit comes out of the box at 3200 MHz, timed at 16-18-18-38, and CAS latency of 16. The kit on sale has G.SKILL’s gray heatspreader for a mostly monochromatic look, and a “Limited Lifetime” warranty.
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) 3000 ($127) - The Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB kit on sale is slightly slower than the G.SKILL kit, but costs less. The Corsair Vengeance kit runs at 3000 MHz, timed at 15-17-17-35, and CAS latency of 15. The kit has an all black heatspreader and comes with “Limited Lifetime” warranty as well.
Prices for flash-based storage devices is still high, these sales help to alleviate that even if only for a few dollars.
Editorial: Ryan Greenberg