by 2 reviews.
Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 1TB PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 SSD Review: A Budget-Friendly Powerhouse
If you're in the market for a high-performance SSD that won't break the bank, the Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 1TB PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 SSD is a compelling option. Combining affordability with impressive speed and storage capacity, this SSD is designed to meet the needs of gamers, professionals, and everyday users alike. But is it the right choice for you? Let’s dive into the details based on real customer experiences.
Key Features at a Glance
- 1TB Storage Capacity
Perfect for storing your OS, games, and large files. - PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 Interface
Offers significantly faster speeds compared to traditional SATA SSDs. - QLC NAND Technology
Provides higher storage capacities at a lower cost. - M.2 2280 Form Factor
Compact and compatible with a wide range of devices. - Up to 1800 MB/s Sequential Read Speeds
Ensures rapid data access and smooth performance.
Pros and Cons: What Customers Are Saying
Performance: Speed Meets Affordability
One of the standout features of the Intel 660p SSD is its blazing-fast performance at an affordable price point. Many users have praised its ability to deliver sequential read speeds of up to 1800 MB/s, making it a significant upgrade over traditional SATA SSDs. Gamers, in particular, have noted faster load times and smoother gameplay. One reviewer shared, "GTAV loads in like 15 seconds—this little guy blew my freakin' mind with its price-to-performance ratio."
However, the drive’s performance isn’t without limitations. The QLC NAND technology used in this SSD has a smaller SLC cache (240GB), which can lead to slower write speeds once the cache is filled. This is particularly noticeable when transferring large files (e.g., 200GB+). As one user pointed out, "If you’re pushing very large video or audio files, you might run past the cache size and experience slower write speeds."
Usability: Easy Installation and Everyday Use
The Intel 660p SSD is easy to install, even for those who aren’t tech-savvy. One customer mentioned, "I just turned off the computer, put this drive in, booted up, and formatted it in Windows. It was a very easy and fast process." This makes it an excellent choice for users looking to upgrade their laptops or desktops without hassle.
For everyday tasks like booting up your system or running applications, the SSD performs exceptionally well. A user upgrading from an HDD shared, "The difference is insane—my PC boots in 5-10 seconds instead of 5-10 minutes." However, some users noted that the drive’s performance is CPU-dependent, so older systems might not fully utilize its potential.
Durability: Longevity Concerns with QLC NAND
One of the trade-offs of the Intel 660p SSD is its durability. QLC NAND has a shorter lifespan compared to other NAND technologies like SLC or TLC. The TBW (Terabytes Written) rating for this drive is 400TB, which is lower than what you’d find in higher-end SSDs. However, for most users, this isn’t a dealbreaker. As one reviewer explained, "Even at 400TBW, this will last an average user 3-5 years. Unless you’re doing heavy write workloads, the SSD will last a long time."
Interestingly, some users have reported minimal wear even after extended use. One customer updated their review after a year, stating, "With the drive a little over half full, I’ve used only 13.7 TBW out of 400. I do a ton of gaming, and I expected a much higher number."
Value for Money: A Budget-Friendly NVMe SSD
The Intel 660p SSD shines when it comes to value for money. It’s significantly cheaper than many SATA SSDs while offering 3-4 times the speed. For users looking to upgrade from an HDD or an older SSD, this drive is a no-brainer. One satisfied customer said, "It’s literally cheaper than most SATA SSDs of the same size, which is nuts considering how much faster it is."
However, power users with demanding workloads (e.g., video editing or database management) might find the drive’s limitations frustrating. As one reviewer noted, "If you’re doing heavy writes, like writing 200GB+ files regularly, you won’t be happy. But for gaming and everyday use, it’s outstanding."
Final Verdict: Who Should Buy the Intel 660p SSD?
The Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 1TB PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 SSD is an excellent choice for budget-conscious users who want to experience the benefits of NVMe speeds without breaking the bank. It’s particularly well-suited for:
- Gamers
Enjoy faster load times and smoother gameplay. - Everyday Users
Upgrade from an HDD or older SSD for a noticeable performance boost. - Content Creators with Moderate Needs
Handle large files and applications with ease, as long as you’re not pushing the drive to its limits.
However, if you’re a power user with heavy write workloads or need the absolute best performance, you might want to consider higher-end options like Samsung’s EVO PRO line.
In conclusion, the Intel 660p SSD offers exceptional value for its price, making it a solid choice for most users. While it has some limitations, its speed, affordability, and ease of use make it a standout option in the crowded SSD market.
Specification Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 1TB PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 3D2, QLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDPEKNW010T8X1:
Comments from Amazon:
I bought the 2TB model. The installation was simple; just make sure your board has the right M-Key M2 slot. I just turned off the computer, put this drive in, booted up, and went to the computer management portion in Windows to partition and format it. It was a very easy and fast process. It should be noted this drive uses QLC memory, which is the worst and cheapest. If you are doing a database workload or will utilize heavy writes, like writing 200GB+ files regularly, you won't be happy. If you plan to use this as a drive to store applications such as games, you'll be quite happy. This drive has a decently sized SLC cache, so as long as the file writes don't get large and frequent, it'll make the drive overall fast enough; by that I mean 2GB/s or very close to it. If the writes are large and frequent, this drive will be slow. If that is your workload...pay for it with an appropriate drive. My use case is a drive to store all of my games. With many being over 50GB now, you need a big drive if you have lots of games like I do. For this purpose, the drive is outstanding in terms of value. It delivers great performance in the use case of reading all those textures and feeding the RAM and CPU. If you want to use this as a boot drive, you can. It will work well in this case, but there are better options if you want outstanding performance. Still, this is a big upgrade if you're using a magnetic disk or old SSD. As to the durability of QLC, if your use case is application storage, this really shouldn't be anything to worry about. Unless you're doing very high write workloads, the SSD will last a long time. I have a 10 year old Intel SSD, and the Intel tool says it is only 10% through it's life, and I used that as an OS drive for many many years.
So I had this SSD for about 2 months now, and I can tell you this... Once you switch from an HDD to an SSD, there's no turning back. This SSD isn't the fastest or most reliable, but if you're looking for something to replace a laptop HDD or just want fast "cheap" storage, this is the best bang for the buck (unless you wait for the 2TB one to drop in price). This suited my needs of just replacing the HDD in my laptop and making it feel tons faster. The difference is insane, as I just wait 5-10 seconds for my PC to boot, rather than the 5-10 minutes it used to take to have Steam, Discord and the other applications ready to be used. For gaming, its great. Games are notably faster in load times, such as Final Fantasy taking less time to load worlds and such. I use to have issues where my HDD would be capped out in how fast it can work, now the SSD barely gets to 30% usage when installing games. However, I do have to say to not install this on any PC, because it depends on your CPU to make the most of it. Since I have a laptop i5, it's not the smartest choice as my CPU at times can't keep up with the speeds. Other than that, its a solid SSD.
2 TB till ett bra pris. Dessa Intel hårddiskar har aldrig krånglat för mig
Ottimo rapporto qualità prezzo (versione 2TB)
This little guy blew my freakin' mind with its price to performance - it's literally cheaper than most SATA SSD's of the same size, which is nuts considering it's 3-4 times faster than even the fastest SATA SSD. Getting around 1800 read/1000 write sequential on my 2TB which is about 50% full. Using it as a gaming drive, and GTAV loads in like 15 seconds. Will be buying a couple more soon to throw on a dual M.2 PCIe card for a nice 4TB size increase with tons o' speed.
Très bon produit d'une bonne marque.
NVMe SSD drives are finally coming down near SATA SSD prices and this unit is a beast for the cost and performance. While not as fast as offerings from Samsung, the 660p drive's QLC NAND flash makes up much of the difference by having an additional 240GB SLC cache in front. This cache is a revolving buffer that writes in background to the QLC. Once filled however, you may find files in the 10s or 100s of GBs may slow down at some point but, that's a lot of fast NAND to fill up for the average user. Power users pushing very large video or audio files for editing however may not be as satisfied as they can conceivably run past that cache size and begin writing directly to the QLC NAND. At that point, writes become slower than even the worst SATA SSD's on the market due to QLC's very poor write performance. Drive lifetime is another consideration. From longest to shortest TBW: SLC > MLC > TLC > QLC. QLC's total TBW (Terabytes Written) is about a quarter of MLC I believe, meaning you are sacrificing longevity for cost however even at 400TBW, this will last an average user 3-5 years and those who don't game much or edit media will see longer times. This number however is for the QLC memory only while the SLC will have a longer lifespan. Some percentage of users don't even fill up the 240GB of SLC giving them exceptional value with a drive of this design. In summary, for most users who want fast load times for video games or even just getting into Windows or Linux in seconds, this drive is fast enough that you won't notice the difference between this and a higher performance NVMe SSD. Power users needing the higher initial and sustained throughput of something like Samsung's EVO PRO line may not be as happy with the performance of these QLC drives and should probably stick with TLC/SLC drives. EDIT: Update 1 year later - With the drive a little over half full, I've used only 13.7 TBW out of 400. I do a ton of gaming on this machine and expected a much higher number. Also, I did finally fun into an issue with the front side SLC cache filling up during a large copy from my RAID but using Intel's SSD Toolbox I was able to clear the cache with a single click and bring performance right back up to full speed maxing out my RAID's read speed at about 420 MB/s. Pros: Price/MB Front-end SLC cache makes it a good performer Cons: Shorter lifespan than other NAND technologies (low TBW) Once exceeding SLC cache, drive can be VERY slow - NOTE: use the Intel SSD Toolbox to clear this periodically and you'll be fine.