Intel SSDPEKNW020T8X1 SSD 660P Series 2.0TB M.2 80mm

To set the scene, my laptop has been frustrating me for a while because it was so slow to load up that I decided not to shut it down anymore. This caused more problems and I came across SSD upgrades and how they magically make everything better, sceptically I decided to check this out. My laptop does actually have an M2 slot inside too which I didn’t know initially. After some research I decided I wanted to replace my HDD with a SSD and see if the claims were true.For a while I scoured the internet looking for a good quality SSD at a competitive price and then I came across this one (Intel 660p). I was a bit anxious about buying it as it was much cheaper than the Samsung equivalent but was so glad that I did. It’s a brand I know and it works amazingly.I managed to ... MoreTo set the scene, my laptop has been frustrating me for a while because it was so slow to load up that I decided not to shut it down anymore. This caused more problems and I came across SSD upgrades and how they magically make everything better, sceptically I decided to check this out. My laptop does actually have an M2 slot inside too which I didn’t know initially. After some research I decided I wanted to replace my HDD with a SSD and see if the claims were true.For a while I scoured the internet looking for a good quality SSD at a competitive price and then I came across this one (Intel 660p). I was a bit anxious about buying it as it was much cheaper than the Samsung equivalent but was so glad that I did. It’s a brand I know and it works amazingly.I managed to clone my entire HDD to this SSD and now my laptop works much quicker. It loads from shut down in seconds compared to several minutes before. I’m not much of a gamer but I have some games which operate very well.If you’re looking to upgrade your laptop or PC then I would recommend intel 660p. The difference in performance is stark and the storage space is a bonus

A Week-In Review

Really, I can't find a flaw with this drive. However did find a flaw with the laptop upgrading it. If you have an Acer Predator Helios 500 AMD version, and want to populate the second slot with this drive, it will not boot. The original drive is a 256gb NVMe drive, 3200mb/s read and 3200mb/s writes (this info will be used later). I figured I could keep that faster drive in for boot and this for secondary fast gaming storage. BIOS didn't pick it up. Drive 0 was the 256gb one, drive 2 was my SATA one. So I swapped in this 2TB one in place of the 256gb one and moved it to the empty slot. It booted but didn't see the 256gb drive but did see the 2TB drive. So I just gave up trying and installed Windows fresh in this drive and will investigate the other slot later. The ... MoreReally, I can't find a flaw with this drive. However did find a flaw with the laptop upgrading it. If you have an Acer Predator Helios 500 AMD version, and want to populate the second slot with this drive, it will not boot. The original drive is a 256gb NVMe drive, 3200mb/s read and 3200mb/s writes (this info will be used later). I figured I could keep that faster drive in for boot and this for secondary fast gaming storage. BIOS didn't pick it up. Drive 0 was the 256gb one, drive 2 was my SATA one. So I swapped in this 2TB one in place of the 256gb one and moved it to the empty slot. It booted but didn't see the 256gb drive but did see the 2TB drive. So I just gave up trying and installed Windows fresh in this drive and will investigate the other slot later. The computer, feels just as responsive as the old drive with double the write and read speeds. I copied games from the SATA SSD to this drive, about 300gb worth to see if it throttled, and it didn't. My laptop has a big copper heat sink for this drive so I think that, and it'll easily keep up with the transfer speed of an older SATA SSD just fine. So if you got a PC or especially laptop that has multiple NVMe slots, check your compatibility if you plan to use this as a secondary drive. However its no slouch as a primary drive for a gaming PC. All in all, I'm happy with it!

Excellent product but be aware of the limitations of QLC

Intel 660p Series M.2 2280 512GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 3D2 QLC SSD: Buy this if you want a reliable QLC SSD. Do *not* buy this if your machine has insufficient RAM and uses virtual memory, for temporary files for video rendering, or for temporary files for gaming -- you will burn out the SSD and be mad at Intel when it is not their fault. This Intel product has a tendency to *not* be DOA (please read the other reviews). There were no problems installing Windows 10 version 1809 onto this SSD using default disk allocation settings. Windows 10 was installed from a USB flash drive (but not from the USB flash drive included in the Windows box because that USB flash drive has a reputation for being unreliable). It was necessary to download a device driver so that the Windows ... MoreIntel 660p Series M.2 2280 512GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 3D2 QLC SSD: Buy this if you want a reliable QLC SSD. Do *not* buy this if your machine has insufficient RAM and uses virtual memory, for temporary files for video rendering, or for temporary files for gaming -- you will burn out the SSD and be mad at Intel when it is not their fault. This Intel product has a tendency to *not* be DOA (please read the other reviews). There were no problems installing Windows 10 version 1809 onto this SSD using default disk allocation settings. Windows 10 was installed from a USB flash drive (but not from the USB flash drive included in the Windows box because that USB flash drive has a reputation for being unreliable). It was necessary to download a device driver so that the Windows installer could recognize the Intel SSD but everything went smoothly after that. Installed on an ASRock B450M PRO4 AM4 Micro ATX motherboard with a Ryzen 2700 processor and 16GB of RAM, this SSD has been trouble-free for 6 months (100% health after 2106 hours per CrystalDiskInfo). On this motherboard, the NVMe M.2 socket is next to the CPU cooler, and the AMD stock cooler blows air across the motherboard where the SSD is located (SSD temperature 35C per CrystalDiskInfo). According to conventional wisdom, QLC is a good choice for "mostly read" applications such as a boot SSD, but QLC is *not* a good choice for write-intensive applications. As of this writing, the manufacturer's web site showed that the endurance rating of this 500GB device is 100 TBW (100 terabytes written).

Fantastic boot drive

Installed two of these in a DELL dual NVME PCIE card. Set up in VROC RAID 1. Computer is a DELL 7820 Workcenter. using this as the boot drive with 4 2tb HDD for storage. These NVME drives are soo much faster than a SATA SSD. The difference is incredible. So far I have had no issues.

Had some installation problems

I installed and loaded an image of my previous Windows 10 program and copied data I had previously stored on an external SSD. All seemed to work well for a while. Then, when running System Mechanics, I got the dreaded BSOD. One of the routines it ran was defrag. Apparently, it's unnecessary to defrag a SSD, but I don't recall that being a problem with the original 1TB SSD I had in my Dell XPS-15 (9550). I also got the BSOD when loading System Mechanics version of Malware Killer. Since I installed the new 2TB drive after my Dell warranty had expired, I got support from a company called Reimage Technologies who found and correct the hidden files the defrag process. That cost about $150. I also contacted System Mechanics. SM updated my software (maybe all?) so that it ... MoreI installed and loaded an image of my previous Windows 10 program and copied data I had previously stored on an external SSD. All seemed to work well for a while. Then, when running System Mechanics, I got the dreaded BSOD. One of the routines it ran was defrag. Apparently, it's unnecessary to defrag a SSD, but I don't recall that being a problem with the original 1TB SSD I had in my Dell XPS-15 (9550). I also got the BSOD when loading System Mechanics version of Malware Killer. Since I installed the new 2TB drive after my Dell warranty had expired, I got support from a company called Reimage Technologies who found and correct the hidden files the defrag process. That cost about $150. I also contacted System Mechanics. SM updated my software (maybe all?) so that it will not attempt to defrag an SSD. I have not loaded the Malware Killer program either as System Mechanics (or Windows Defender) seems to catch malware without a problem.The 2TB SSD is now running pretty good now. I say pretty good because I did get the BSOD again (can't recall exactly how), but restarting the computer seemed to solve the problem. Otherwise, I like the new SSD. Having the extra space for lots of photos and videos is great.

Intel 660P for the average user

I consider my self the average joe six pack who just completed his 3rd machine. Therefore, upon completion of my limited research and watching all the hi tech gurus on y tube, the consensus of opinion was that the Itel 660p would be best for 80% of average users. Installation was super simple, just held at a 30 degree angle, matching the slots and a slight push, whamo! in it went. All I had to do next was push it down to the correct standoff and attach the screw. CAUTION! the hold down screw is super tiny, use a magnetic tip #1 phillips driver. As for performance, it is not a SAMSUNG EVO, but it is good enough for me. I uploaded some photos with results from crystal disc and windows own performance test, check em out.Boot up from start to desktop was 16.76 seconds, ... MoreI consider my self the average joe six pack who just completed his 3rd machine. Therefore, upon completion of my limited research and watching all the hi tech gurus on y tube, the consensus of opinion was that the Itel 660p would be best for 80% of average users. Installation was super simple, just held at a 30 degree angle, matching the slots and a slight push, whamo! in it went. All I had to do next was push it down to the correct standoff and attach the screw. CAUTION! the hold down screw is super tiny, use a magnetic tip #1 phillips driver. As for performance, it is not a SAMSUNG EVO, but it is good enough for me. I uploaded some photos with results from crystal disc and windows own performance test, check em out.Boot up from start to desktop was 16.76 seconds, shut down, 3.42 sec. I also did a 63 gb file transfer from the internal mechanical HD to the Intel ssd in 6 min. and 30 secs. I am not a gammer, but the gurus say I should be able to play a lite duty game or two.

Not super fast, but the price is right.

If you're heavily into benchmarks, this is far from the fastest drive you can buy. But any SSD is a lot faster than spinning rust. The upgrade from a hard drive to any SSD, even a slow one, is gigantic. The improvement in feel from a mediocre-speed SSD like this one to a really fast unit is far less noticeable. It's quite common for games to be CPU-bound instead of I/O-bound, so no matter how fast your drive is, it doesn't load any faster. Unless a game has been specially written for high speed SSDs, this unit is likely to keep all but the highest-end CPUs saturated. And if you had a super-high-end CPU, you probably wouldn't be reading this review. This drive is likely to be very comfortable for almost any usage. Unless you have some specific knowledge that you can ... MoreIf you're heavily into benchmarks, this is far from the fastest drive you can buy. But any SSD is a lot faster than spinning rust. The upgrade from a hard drive to any SSD, even a slow one, is gigantic. The improvement in feel from a mediocre-speed SSD like this one to a really fast unit is far less noticeable. It's quite common for games to be CPU-bound instead of I/O-bound, so no matter how fast your drive is, it doesn't load any faster. Unless a game has been specially written for high speed SSDs, this unit is likely to keep all but the highest-end CPUs saturated. And if you had a super-high-end CPU, you probably wouldn't be reading this review. This drive is likely to be very comfortable for almost any usage. Unless you have some specific knowledge that you can definitely use a drive with a higher I/O rating, this one should be just fine.

Simple-fast-roomy

I wanted this as the exclusive drive on this build. I needed to balance speed & space. I do believe I got that with this Intel 660 M2 drive.It's hard to wrap my head around having a boot drive or C, this small & solid state. The only thing mechanical or affected by gravity on this build, are the fans which cool everything. This little drive tucks in just over the discrete video card, & just under the chip radiator.I had no problem at all formatting this M2 SSD as the primary drive. It took the information very well, & booted things very quickly, with out any fast booting being enabled. It's even faster with those features added. Actually, Windows is the slow part.Bench testing this has really shown up how fast this drive is. This build is more for 3D art & ... MoreI wanted this as the exclusive drive on this build. I needed to balance speed & space. I do believe I got that with this Intel 660 M2 drive.It's hard to wrap my head around having a boot drive or C, this small & solid state. The only thing mechanical or affected by gravity on this build, are the fans which cool everything. This little drive tucks in just over the discrete video card, & just under the chip radiator.I had no problem at all formatting this M2 SSD as the primary drive. It took the information very well, & booted things very quickly, with out any fast booting being enabled. It's even faster with those features added. Actually, Windows is the slow part.Bench testing this has really shown up how fast this drive is. This build is more for 3D art & modelling software, than it is about games; but it does ultra great on games too. The only thing I see slowing it down are mega gig; spinning (roller coaster) images, & water moving games. Other than that, it serves up the save files very, very fast.Solid state doesn't need to spin up, & is already there. There are even faster options available to speed file transfer up, to & from this drive & I'll look into those later on. I imagine it'll be faster than fast. If I can update the info, I will.3D picture-illustration software that can bottleneck a system is tamed very well with this drive. Which is why I got it in the first place. You (may) know how huge those files are, & how bloated ultra fine art & games can be; this drive handles them very well I am happy to say.A bit of room to grow. Once you start enjoying your primary drive as being lightning fast, you want everything on it. You get spoiled by that speed, very quickly. So be sure to get this 2 TB (1.86) drive (or larger), so you have some space to put a couple things on there.Installing it was easy. If you're new to M2 drives, like I was; it goes in on an angle, sticks up, & is put into place by the screw. Just snug it down, don't moose it in. Depending on your work & air flow, you can add a heat spreader if you'd like.Numbers: 1300 mbs, yeah proly close. Bench testing is was around 13-1500. What that comes out to in the real world is wow, no actuall WOW!! I can have a gig psd file uploaded to the home cloud over 5ghz, in a couple seconds. The slow being the receiving drive writing, or the net.Now, I can't say how this drive works as an add on or secondary drive, that I would guess to be regulated by the SATA or PCIe device that your M2 drive is plugged in to. I figure that I'll pick up a few more of these, & replace my discs or mechanical drives & use the big ones as redundant back up storage; because I'm sure they are at least super fast configured that way.Bottom line. If you're looking at M2 drives, this one comes in budget friendlier than many others. First time I didn't build using the other guys. Speed, space & price is what put this in the cart. It's what will put other ones' in there as well.Remember: Don't defrag an SSD! I don't know if you have to reformat them every so many years to keep them fresh, like you had to with SD cards. I haven't had to refresh too many of my SD cards & thumb drives of late.

awesome ssd for the price

If you've watched reviews/videos on these SSD's you'll notice almost all reviewers use the 256GB versions. The reason why these SSD's are so cheap (comparatively) is they use QLC. which is great for density, bad for speed. They over come this by having a portion of static SLC (must faster) that then writes (dumps) to the QLC from time to time. The problem is if you are transferring large amounts of data all at once the fast SLC becomes full then everything is writing straight to the slow QLC. So why is this a big deal? The 256 GB versions, that most video reviewers use, have a small SLC portion (I don't remember the exact size). The 1TB and 2TB versions of these drives have much larger static SLC portions and there for can write much larger amounts of data while ... MoreIf you've watched reviews/videos on these SSD's you'll notice almost all reviewers use the 256GB versions. The reason why these SSD's are so cheap (comparatively) is they use QLC. which is great for density, bad for speed. They over come this by having a portion of static SLC (must faster) that then writes (dumps) to the QLC from time to time. The problem is if you are transferring large amounts of data all at once the fast SLC becomes full then everything is writing straight to the slow QLC. So why is this a big deal? The 256 GB versions, that most video reviewers use, have a small SLC portion (I don't remember the exact size). The 1TB and 2TB versions of these drives have much larger static SLC portions and there for can write much larger amounts of data while still being very fast. My setup was to buy 2 of the 1TB Intel 660P drives and put them in a raid 0 configuration. I did this for two reasons - First - I've effectively doubled my static fast SLC so I can write much larger amounts of data without worry of filling up the SLC before it has time to dump the data to the slower QLC. Second - the convenience of having a single drive (I have other sata SSD drives I use for backup). My results: I was able to fully install windows very quickly without any noticeable slowdowns. Then to test how it handled large amounts of data at once I moved two large games (Anthem and Battlefield V) which is just over 90GBs of data. It was able to move all 90GB's without ever slowing down staying steady at over 900MBs transfer rate. I couldn't be happier with these drives, just know what you are getting, what the shortcomings are and if you can either limit those shortcomings or live with them.

only for casual users

if your'e only using this drive for mostly read purpose, basically this is the perfect NVME SSD for your wife or your gf who just wants their computer to load up fast and applications to load fast. If you're using this drive as a gaming partition, know that the first time you migrate all your game files over, which i'd imagine would be couple hundred gigs large, will be painfully slow after the initial 50~60GB or so. but you're mostly just playing games off of this drive and don't do much writing to it, it's perfectly fast. and if you're downloading games to this drive through internet connection that's fine too. since most internet tops out at 15~20 MB/s for average user, even gigabit tops out less than 100 MB/s in the real-world. basically this is for casual ... Moreif your'e only using this drive for mostly read purpose, basically this is the perfect NVME SSD for your wife or your gf who just wants their computer to load up fast and applications to load fast. If you're using this drive as a gaming partition, know that the first time you migrate all your game files over, which i'd imagine would be couple hundred gigs large, will be painfully slow after the initial 50~60GB or so. but you're mostly just playing games off of this drive and don't do much writing to it, it's perfectly fast. and if you're downloading games to this drive through internet connection that's fine too. since most internet tops out at 15~20 MB/s for average user, even gigabit tops out less than 100 MB/s in the real-world. basically this is for casual usage. but now that i've gotten a glimpse into the potential and speed of NVME, i am hooked. there's no going back. i am most likely either going to return this drive, or give this to my wife's laptop. i have another Corsair MP510 ordered on the way, and will likely order another 2TB Corsair to use as secondary. NVME really is powerful. the only reason you would get the 660P intel drive is as mentioned above, if it's for your gf, or wife, who just want their laptop to load and boost up fast, and rarely EVER write anything large at once. OR if you order the 2TB version of 660P and TREAT IT LIKE IT"S A 1.5TB drive, or manually set the over-provisioning for 500GB. that way the internal SLC will never fall below 50 GB at 75% capacity filled, or 200 GB at 25% capacity filled. to me i very often write large ISO and trasnferring them across partitiions, so i am mostly working with 50~70GB files, this is just not cutting it for me. at those environments, the speeds fall below my tried and true cricual MX500. to give you an example, i copied the Ghost Recon folder, which is 63 GB large, it took 6:50 to complete the task, the initial 20 GB was being copied at 1 GB/s throughput, but falls to less than 100 MB after. with the Crucial MX500, it took 5:30 throughout the entire consistant 450 MB/s throughput. this is done with the 1TB 660P 65~70% filled up, which is typical for average users. If you get a 2TB version, and reserve 500GB out of that as over-provisioning, even at its 1.5 TB space filled, you would still have 5GB of SLC cache to work with, but that's worst case scenario. if you have a 1.5TB capacity drive, you likely won't be working with it 100% filled all the time, so your SLC cache is like to be 100~200 GB. keep all this in mind. and decide if it's for you or not. obviously the 1TB version is $200. so even if you get it, and only use it as 1.5TB drive, it might be a competitive option compare to a speedy 1TB NVME like the Corsair or Samsung Evo, or HP 920. all of those other drives will have a much much MUCH higher raw writing speed after their SLC cache run out. if you have to decide what's for you. personally i am going with a speedy 1TB NVME. i do have to give Intel the props for pushing the QLC tech 660P drive forward into the market. because if it weren't for drives like the 660P or the Crucial P1, i would've never have given NVME a try at the first place. So although QLC NVME still leaves a lot to be desired, it did its job in thrusting the technology forward with its price/performance offer. it reminds me of when i first got into espresso machines. my very first was a cheapo $40 one that didn't make any true espresso by got me into the game. the subsequent machines i purchased each got better and better.