Best 2.5″ SSD

Last updated on 06 Sep 2022 📧 Subscribe

Which SSD?

I am researching the purchase of an SSD for a Mac Mini (Late 2012) which I’m using as a standalone PLEX Media Server. Right now I have maxed out the memory (16GB) and it has a Barracuda SSHD as the drive. It is my hope that an SSD will not only speed up the boot process, but do a better job at transcoding for PLEX. It is my understanding (to a degree) that the constant accessing of the database and metadata for PLEX can wear SSDs down a bit quicker, so ideally I want something that is not only fast, but reliable as something that will be on nearly 24/7. I know NAS drives are designed for this, but can I use an Ironwolf NAS drive as a hard disk replacement in a normal computer? If not, between the Barracuda and the FireCuda SSD, what would be the better choice for this usage?

I’m fairly tech savvy, but you’re not kidding when you say this stuff can get complicated.

Yes, depending on a use case, SSD wears out at a different rate. In harsh environments like RAID, cache, and heavy access you need to look at endurance rating. Bigger means a longer lifespan and not a decreased performance even with a heaviest access.

Apart from that, you could look at MTBF which is life expectancy. This do not ensure good performance at its peak times, but it indicates life expectancy on a regular use case without pushing its capabilities.

And IOPS will mean how quickly this SSD can respond to a request. This is useful for web servers and similar use cases.

 

Here is a comparison with market leaders in SSD:

 

Price/TB Price Capacity MTBF read/write IOPS Watt Endurance url
£295.31 £567 1.92TB 1.5m hours MTBF 530/500 60-98K 3.2 1.3
Synology Enterprise SATA SSD SAT5200-1920G 2.5″ SATA SSD 1.92TB
£311.46 £299 960GB 1.5m hours MTBF 530/500 67-98K 3.2 1.3
Synology Enterprise SATA SSD SAT5200-960G 2.5″ SATA SSD 960GB
£364.58 £175 480GB 1.5m hours MTBF 530/500 55-95K 3.2 1.3
Synology Enterprise SATA SSD SAT5200-480G 2.5″ SATA SSD 480GB
Price/TB Price Capacity MTBF read/write IOPS Watt Endurance url
£130 £65 500GB 2M hours MTTF 560/530 85-95K <3.35 0.38
Western Digital WD Red SA500 SSD WDS500G1R0A 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 500GB SSD
£145.5 £291 2TB 2M hours MTTF 560/530 85-95K <3.80 0.36
Western Digital WD Red SA500 SSD WDS200T1R0A 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 2TB SSD
£147 £147 1TB 2M hours MTTF 560/530 85-95K <3.75 0.33
Western Digital WD Red SA500 SSD WDS100T1R0A 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 1TB SSD
£147.25 £589 4TB 2M hours MTTF 560/530 82-95K <3.80 0.34
Western Digital WD Red SA500 SSD WDS400T1R0A 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 4TB SSD
Price/TB Price Capacity MTBF read/write IOPS Watt Endurance url
£181.77 £349 1.92TB 2M hours MTBF 560/535 45-90K 3.4 1
Seagate Ironwolf 110 SSD ZA1920NM10011 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 1.92TB SSD
£189.84 £729 3.84TB 2M hours MTBF 560/535 45-85K 3.5 1
Seagate Ironwolf 110 SSD ZA3840NM10011 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 3.84TB SSD
£217.71 £209 960GB 2M hours MTBF 560/535 55-90K 3.2 1
Seagate Ironwolf 110 SSD ZA960NM10011 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 960GB SSD
£254.17 £122 480GB 2M hours MTBF 560/535 40-75K 2.7 1
Seagate Ironwolf 110 SSD ZA480NM10011 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 480GB SSD
£325 £78 240GB 2M hours MTBF 560/345 30-55K 2.3 1
Seagate Ironwolf 110 SSD ZA240NM10011 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 240GB SSD
Price/TB Price Capacity MTBF read/write IOPS Watt Endurance url
£125 £250 2TB 1.5m hours MTBF <550/<520 <90-98K 3 0.33
Samsung SSD 860 EVO MZ-76E2T0B/EU 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 2TB SSD
£125 £500 4TB 1.5m hours MTBF <550/<520 <90-98K 3 0.33
Samsung SSD 860 EVO MZ-76E4T0B/EU 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 4TB SSD
£130 £130 1TB 1.5m hours MTBF <550/<520 <90-98K 3 0.33
Samsung SSD 860 EVO MZ-76E1T0B/EU 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 1TB SSD
£136 £68 500GB 1.5m hours MTBF <550/<520 <90-98K 2.5 0.33
Samsung SSD 860 EVO MZ-76E500B/EU 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 500GB SSD
£220 £55 250GB 1.5m hours MTBF <550/<520 <90-98K 2.2 0.33
Samsung SSD 860 EVO MZ-76E250B/EU 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 250GB SSD
Price/TB Price Capacity MTBF read/write IOPS Watt Endurance url
£199.75 £799 4TB 1.5m hours MTBF <560/<530 <90-100K 4.5 0.66
Samsung SSD 860 Pro MZ-76P4T0B/EU 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 4TB SSD
£205.5 £411 2TB 1.5m hours MTBF <560/<530 <90-100K 4.5 0.66
Samsung SSD 860 Pro MZ-76P2T0B/EU 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 2TB SSD
£234 £234 1TB 1.5m hours MTBF <560/<530 <90-100K 4.5 0.66
Samsung SSD 860 Pro MZ-76P1T0B/EU 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 1TB SSD
£269.53 £138 512GB 1.5m hours MTBF <560/<530 <90-100K 4 0.64
Samsung SSD 860 Pro MZ-76P512B/EU 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 512GB SSD
£300.78 £77 256GB 1.5m hours MTBF <560/<530 <90-100K 3.3 0.64
Samsung SSD 860 Pro MZ-76P256B/EU 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s 256GB SSD


If you like this service, please consider supporting us.
We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you. Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which is used to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H. You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks! To find out more about how to support this advice service check HERE   If you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver   Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
     

locked content ko-fi subscribe

DISCUSS with others your opinion about this subject.
ASK questions to NAS community
SHARE more details what you have found on this subject
CONTRIBUTE with your own article or review. Click HERE
IMPROVE this niche ecosystem, let us know what to change/fix on this site
EARN KO-FI Share your knowledge with others and get paid for it! Click HERE

ASK YOUR QUESTIONS HERE!