PNY 480GB CS900 SATA III 2.5" Internal SSD

I'd give this zero stars if I could. This product is garbage with appalling read/write performance. Forget the advertised 550MB/s - that lasts for the time it takes for the SLC cache to become full, after which you'll be lucky to get over 50MB/s. This drive almost certainly employs an SLC cache to buffer writes to the slower NAND package. It works in quick bursts for small amounts of data but as soon as you throw anything substantial at it the SLC cache becomes full and you're left with the 'actual' read/write speed of ~50MB/s. Try copying 250GB of data to it and see for yourselves. Completely unacceptable for a product that advertises itself as a high-speed SSD. Worthless - if you buy this you'll be buying a replacement for it in no time.

Bad don't buy require account to activate!!

1 star The drive is just overall a bad product. not only do they advertise the ease of use of the product for both being a upgrade kit and transfer drive. but this is nothing but a solid farce, and a solid lie. using the convent usb-sata cable allowed my computer to see the drive but not interact. after using several attempts to get the device to talk with the computer nothing happened. Then after reading the box and trying the software to see if that would help, brings me the shock of the lovely website link telling me to do the Exact Same Thing as the box. after scrolling down to the bottom of the page past the information and a rather large blank space between. is the Download link to the software. So upon using the software i am greeted with the strange site of ... More1 star The drive is just overall a bad product. not only do they advertise the ease of use of the product for both being a upgrade kit and transfer drive. but this is nothing but a solid farce, and a solid lie. using the convent usb-sata cable allowed my computer to see the drive but not interact. after using several attempts to get the device to talk with the computer nothing happened. Then after reading the box and trying the software to see if that would help, brings me the shock of the lovely website link telling me to do the Exact Same Thing as the box. after scrolling down to the bottom of the page past the information and a rather large blank space between. is the Download link to the software. So upon using the software i am greeted with the strange site of using a serial number to activate the software. Using BOTH serial numbers the program happily tells me to make an account and that the serial numbers are invalid. Even the serial number on the product it's self is invalid. Now i will let you know to not use your real email. for the strange site that they have and some of the bazar things that they put into the terms of service are Suspect at best.SO inconclusion Do not buy if you are wanting to use this as an archive drive or a transfer drive. the product requires a strange software.But if you just need a 1tb drive the standard sata and power ports do work over all. but you can get better options

Excellent storage SSD.

It's not a fancy SSD.No 3D NAND, no DRAM Cache, but it does have 64 layers of TLC. However, it lacks more advanced functionalities you'd find on the Crucial or Samsung counterparts on the market. So if you want a very GOOD 2.5" SSD, you're gonna have to go for one of those two.But if you need something cheap to store your steam games, ultra high-def videos, or something just to slap in a cheap laptop, this will do it just fine.The read speeds are pretty consistent, getting over the 500MB/s mark pretty consistently for both short and long transfers. Write speeds are, however, where this drive constantly fell short. But that's expected with a DRAM cache, and it was still faster than most spinning drives at around 150MB/s.This drive is being used in a laptop ... MoreIt's not a fancy SSD.No 3D NAND, no DRAM Cache, but it does have 64 layers of TLC. However, it lacks more advanced functionalities you'd find on the Crucial or Samsung counterparts on the market. So if you want a very GOOD 2.5" SSD, you're gonna have to go for one of those two.But if you need something cheap to store your steam games, ultra high-def videos, or something just to slap in a cheap laptop, this will do it just fine.The read speeds are pretty consistent, getting over the 500MB/s mark pretty consistently for both short and long transfers. Write speeds are, however, where this drive constantly fell short. But that's expected with a DRAM cache, and it was still faster than most spinning drives at around 150MB/s.This drive is being used in a laptop with an M.2 Gen3 NVME boot drive, and this was added as secondary storage. Games that normally would have issues reading on a hard drive such as GTA 5, Gmod, etc seem to load exceptionally quick in this configuration.

Good SSD, until the onboard cache fills up.

I am not a computer expert by any means so take what I am saying with a grain of salt. I got this to replace the original 1 TB SATA "spin drive" on my 2017 gaming laptop, and this fits the job perfectly. Installation was super easy, and it is nice knowing I have NO moving storage onboard! The only reason why I gave it 4 stars is because once the onboard cache fills up, the speed drops dramatically. Do note, it is still faster than what the spin drive could do on a good day. My only gripe is PNY does not list how large of a cache the SSD has, so take that into consideration depending on what your application is.I have mine partitioned into 3 separate areas for storing actively used video files, a render cache for editing, and one for general long-term storage. ... MoreI am not a computer expert by any means so take what I am saying with a grain of salt. I got this to replace the original 1 TB SATA "spin drive" on my 2017 gaming laptop, and this fits the job perfectly. Installation was super easy, and it is nice knowing I have NO moving storage onboard! The only reason why I gave it 4 stars is because once the onboard cache fills up, the speed drops dramatically. Do note, it is still faster than what the spin drive could do on a good day. My only gripe is PNY does not list how large of a cache the SSD has, so take that into consideration depending on what your application is.I have mine partitioned into 3 separate areas for storing actively used video files, a render cache for editing, and one for general long-term storage. Overall, I think it was well worth the investment and I did notice my video export speeds have increased by ~10 FPS on average, which is nice. Plus, there is very minimal lag time vs a spin drive when it comes to accessing data when you got multiple operations running.

Great drive for a quick upgrade

Got this to revive an old Toshiba laptop we bought years ago. Hardware was fine years ago when we bought it, but it was unbelievably slow. Recently realized that while the spinning drive was alright and functioning properly, the entire system was always waiting on the drive to do anything. Decided that a SSD would be worthwhile to get the laptop running again.This drive has worked great, fit the 2.5 inch bay perfectly in place of the old spinning drive. Read/write are great and has save an old laptop that couldn't do much from becoming e-waste. Now the once unusable system can handle more than just small tasks and processing.Would definitely get this drive again should the need arise.

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I'm putting down 1 star to offset all the "incentivized reviews" that put such high rating on this device. PNY is a so-so brand name, but the real danger is mistaking SSD reliability for HDD reliability. SSDs are definitely faster, buy HDDs are definitely more reliable. I do data recover, and 99.9% of the time can rescue HDD drive, but a good portion (?%) of time SSDs that are corrupted are irretrievable entirely. It all has to do with how data is written onto HDDs versus how it is written onto SSDs. SSDs rely too much on electronics in series and dies with a spark of electricity. HDDs might die with a drop or electric shock, but data on drive can still be recovered with special techniques.This device compares reasonably with all the other SSDs out there -- it ... MoreI'm putting down 1 star to offset all the "incentivized reviews" that put such high rating on this device. PNY is a so-so brand name, but the real danger is mistaking SSD reliability for HDD reliability. SSDs are definitely faster, buy HDDs are definitely more reliable. I do data recover, and 99.9% of the time can rescue HDD drive, but a good portion (?%) of time SSDs that are corrupted are irretrievable entirely. It all has to do with how data is written onto HDDs versus how it is written onto SSDs. SSDs rely too much on electronics in series and dies with a spark of electricity. HDDs might die with a drop or electric shock, but data on drive can still be recovered with special techniques.This device compares reasonably with all the other SSDs out there -- it should not get a high rating simply because it is an SSD and not an HDD. ALL SSDs are faster than HDDs. Compare apples with apples, not race cars with toyotas.It is nice it has a USB cable included. The software download however implies your computer is still running well with the old drive and that you have Internet to download it. It is NOT in the box, nor on the drive. If you do a clone, it will clone your entire old drive provided your drive size matches the original -- be sure to buy the correct size drive. If you are trying to use the drive for data or fresh installation, you'll have to partition and format it manually or let the installation media do it for you. This is not something most people do everyday and may find much technical difficulty if done incorrectly.Realistically, comparing this SSD kit with other SSDs found elsewhere, I'd say it is about a 3 star overall in terms of quality, ease of use, weight. And again this has NOTHING to do with comparing it to HDDs - not a fair comparison.

Small Harddrive - Other Issues

I took my Windows 10 desktop computer to Geek Squad in Rivergate - was seeing the blue screen of death. Chris, at GS, without even starting the computer, said most likely my harddrive had gone bad. The original harddrive was 2 Terabyte. He suggest and sold me a 500 GB Sata Harddrive. It seems to work okay, but I'm still thinking the harddrive is too small. Also, when I went back to pick up my computer, Chris was not there - "in Kentucky." Without further work or discussion, I was told I could take the computer home - work completed. However, my computer is now a "hot mess!" When I start it, I get a black screen that states "Invalid configuration information - please run setup program"Time of Day not set - please run setup programContinue to press F1 keyChange ... MoreI took my Windows 10 desktop computer to Geek Squad in Rivergate - was seeing the blue screen of death. Chris, at GS, without even starting the computer, said most likely my harddrive had gone bad. The original harddrive was 2 Terabyte. He suggest and sold me a 500 GB Sata Harddrive. It seems to work okay, but I'm still thinking the harddrive is too small. Also, when I went back to pick up my computer, Chris was not there - "in Kentucky." Without further work or discussion, I was told I could take the computer home - work completed. However, my computer is now a "hot mess!" When I start it, I get a black screen that states "Invalid configuration information - please run setup program"Time of Day not set - please run setup programContinue to press F1 keyChange setup option press F2 KeyRun on board dignostic press F5I finally manage to get it rebooted each time.Also, somewhere along the way I no longer have WebRoot Secure Anywhere.

Very Cheap and Unreliable Brand for SSD

I tried this brand first time. Bought it in September 2023 for my Lovonvo laptop to upgrade space. In March 2024, lots of pics got corrupted and I cant access them. I tried to format and delete the drive but was unable to format or delete the data on the drive. I delete /format the drive, but once I restart the laptop everything came back. Watched couple to videos and it says that the drive is dead and is unreliable to be used in the future. My advise: stick to a good brand like Samsung/Seagate. They never disappoint.

but you need to know before buying this SSD

I have been working on computers for over 20 years and over 10 years is my own business and I love to use these solid state drives to make my clients computers brand new againthese solid state drives are just as dependable as Samsung and in all my years I've installed over a hundred of these and not once had a single one of these come backfrom my experience from one of my peers they also have an easier warranty process to work with than Samsung who has now started making their website even more difficult to navigate versus crucial where you can still get a hold of a human being who speaks English in America by phone number to process a warrantyAlso on performance tests while sometimes Samsung or even crucial solstate drives might outperform just PNY those ... MoreI have been working on computers for over 20 years and over 10 years is my own business and I love to use these solid state drives to make my clients computers brand new againthese solid state drives are just as dependable as Samsung and in all my years I've installed over a hundred of these and not once had a single one of these come backfrom my experience from one of my peers they also have an easier warranty process to work with than Samsung who has now started making their website even more difficult to navigate versus crucial where you can still get a hold of a human being who speaks English in America by phone number to process a warrantyAlso on performance tests while sometimes Samsung or even crucial solstate drives might outperform just PNY those performance levels are very minimalI clone a lot of client hard drives and desktops and laptops by SATA to these salt state drives The only problem is getting these fast enough to keep up with my inventory when I need them and I've noticed that they're getting harder and harder to find at the Best buy stores here in AustinAlso I have a direct vendor account with Best buy and I buy lots of salt state drives restock in addition to suppliers especially when I have short notice computer repair search and appointments in cloning drives I tend to reach out to Samsung and not get anything whereas I can get with Best buy going to a shop find a representative have them take me to the case where they need the keys unlock get me to solid state drives I need and get me out within a reasonable timeagain from a performance standpoint I have had nothing but great experiences with these solid state drives exceeding my client's expectations and what they need and the price point on these is far more affordable than some of their competitors again only challenges finding them when I need them

very good for the price.

Unbeatable for the price, but sometimes has me wishing I would have sprung for a Samsung, OWC, etc.I bought this to install in my mothers 2017 iMac that Apple inexplicably installed a slow mechanical hard drive in and sold with only 8GB of RAM. The limited RAM meant the OS would be swapping the HD quite often and dragged the system to a crawl - even during most simple tasks like opening email or text documents.I ordered more RAM from another vendor, an install kit and picked up this PNY SSD to bring her iMac closer to modern standards.The difference is night and day, but the PNY begins to show its weaknesses (compared to SSDs from some other brands) during prolonged read and write procedures. Still - it's more than enough for my mother.