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REVIEWS<br />
& RATINGS<br />
Samsung 850 EVO M.2 SATA<br />
This drive is faster than the Intel 530 and a whole lot cheaper, but<br />
performance drops with large data transfers. Not catastrophically, as<br />
with OCZ’s Trion 2.5-inch SATA drive, just down to about the 300MBps<br />
level. Still, it’s a very good SSD for SATA-only M.2 sockets.<br />
Plextor M6e <strong>PC</strong>Ie $220<br />
This AHCI <strong>PC</strong>Ie drive impressed us when it<br />
first came out, but a year or two on, it’s<br />
certainly not worth the premium prices we<br />
found online. SSDs in general have<br />
dropped significantly in price, and likepriced<br />
<strong>PC</strong>Ie drives now out-perform the<br />
M6e by a factor of 3. However, if you find it<br />
at a saner price than I did, it provides a nice 100MBps to 200MBps<br />
boost over the Samsung 850 EVO and Intel 530.<br />
You want one<br />
I can’t emphasize enough how much better your computer will run<br />
with a <strong>PC</strong>Ie SSD on board. Grab a small-capacity model, run your<br />
operating system off it, and flesh out your storage needs with midrange<br />
SATA SSDs or hard drives. You’ll be glad you did.<br />
Currently, the SM951 is top dog, with the Kingston HyperX Predator<br />
<strong>PC</strong>Ie delivering just about the same real-world, large-file transfer<br />
performance. If you spot a bargain on the XP941, it will deliver a very<br />
happy experience as well. If you’re looking to leverage an existing SATAonly<br />
M.2 slot, then Samsung’s 850 EVO is currently your best bet.<br />
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