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Dell Touchscreen Laptop (64GB RAM, 2TB SSD) Drops by 74% Off, Making It the Cheapest 5-Star Computer
Product Reviews

Dell Touchscreen Laptop (64GB RAM, 2TB SSD) Drops by 74% Off, Making It the Cheapest 5-Star Computer

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A lot of us have jobs, studies, and hobbies that require a lot of oomph when it comes to computing power. It means that a low-level laptop just isn’t going to cut it, and that also means that we end up staring coldly at some seriously expensive bits of tech. It doesn’t have to be that way though, not if you know where to look for really good deals.

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We’ve found one such deal today. Thanks to a massive discount on Amazon, you can currently get your hands on the Dell Inspiron 15 3530 touchscreen laptop with a preposterous 74% off. That means it’s down to $1,006 right now, instead of the listed price of $3,800.

Do It On The Go

Let’s go through all of the specs for this mighty laptop. We’ll kick off with the internals: an Intel 10 i7-1355U processor, an immense 64 GB RAM, and a 2TB SSD. That’s enough to make sure you can run more or less anything you could want to, and it’ll run like butter. Well, it’ll be as smooth as butter, butter isn’t actually very good at running, nor do we suggest you put butter on this or any other laptop. Seriously though, 64GB of RAM is a truly absurd amount, and it’ll make sure this laptop can handle multitasking with no drawbacks whatsoever. The 2TB SSD is both massive and fast as well, so there’ll be no problems storing videos, projects, or anything else on it.

The screen is no slouch either. The 15.6-inch screen is fully HD, with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, beautiful colors, and anti-glare, which is basically essential if you’re going to be using this while commuting. It’s just got everything you need to be working or creating on the go, or to help you work around your home if you don’t have a PC there. It even comes with Windows 11 Professional and lifetime access to Microsoft Office Pro as well, which means you don’t have to worry about your professional software in the slightest.

All-in-all, this is a lot of tech squished into one incredibly portable laptop body, and it’s got stats that other laptops dream of. That’s a lot of power and value for just $1,006 (-74% off). Just remember that this deal isn’t going to stick around forever, so if you do want to get your hands on it, you’d better be quick to avoid the disappointment of narrowly missing out on this excellent opportunity.

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Acer Predator GM9000 2TB SSD
Product Reviews

Acer Predator GM9000 2TB SSD Review: The Bargain High-End PCIe 5.0 SSD

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Why you can trust Tom’s Hardware


Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

The Acer Predator GM9000 is another SSD from a company that has brought winners in the past, but also one that has never really stood out from the crowd. It comes as no surprise that the GM9000, a successor of sorts to the good-but-not-great Predator GM7000, is a bit of a niche drive in what is becoming a more crowded market segment. That sounds weird to say for high-end Gen 5 drives, but the launch of the Sandisk WD Black SN8100 and Samsung 9100 Pro – in addition to existing drives like the Crucial T705, promising hardware like the Micron 4600, and upcoming drives built on the Phison E28 SSD controller – means there may be more drives than demand. This counterintuitively gives the GM9000 a potential opening.

The Predator GM9000 doesn’t have to beat the new drives; it just has to match or beat the old ones at a lower price point. It also has the added advantage of being more power-efficient, which is a significant bonus for anyone who has held off on getting a Gen 5 drive due to thermal throttling concerns. It achieves this by using a new controller with tried-and-tested flash technology. If there is a “bargain” high-end PCIe 5.0 SSD, this is it. The design is likely to be copied by the usual suspects – Fikwot and Fanxiang are two that come to mind, but Acer has the advantage of brand awareness. Bigger rivals would be the Biwin Black Opal X570 Pro – Biwin is an OEM provider for Acer – and the Lexar NM1090 Pro.

Acer Predator GM9000 Specifications

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Product

1TB

2TB

4TB

Pricing

$170

$229

$445

Form Factor

M.2 2280 (SS)

M.2 2280 (SS)

M.2 2280 (SS)

Interface / Protocol

PCIe 5.0 x4NVMe 2.0

PCIe 5.0 x4NVMe 2.0

PCIe 5.0 x4NVMe 2.0

Controller

Silicon Motion SM2508

Silicon Motion SM2508

Silicon Motion SM2508

DRAM

LPDDR4

LPDDR4

LPDDR4

Flash Memory

Micron 232-Layer TLC

Micron 232-Layer TLC

Micron 232-Layer TLC

Sequential Read

14,000 MB/s

14,000 MB/s

14,000 MB/s

Sequential Write

10,500 MB/s

13,000 MB/s

13,000 MB/s

Random Read

1,600K

2,000K

2,000K

Random Write

1,600K

1,600K

1,600K

Security

N/A

N/A

N/A

Endurance (TBW)

800TB

1,600TB

3,200TB

Part Number

BL.9BWWR.129

BL.9BWWR.130

BL.9BWWR.131

Warranty

5-Year

5-Year

5-Year

The Acer Predator GM9000 is available at 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB. Sorry, no larger or smaller SKUs here. A drive at this performance level really needs 1TB to make it worthwhile, and 8TB remains a challenging capacity to reach. While the drive is not currently available in the States, the translated prices from Asia are around $170, $229, and $445. Prices are lower when translated from the UK and should be lower in the States when the drive arrives. This drive, or ones like it, will likely be available on Amazon and other resellers in due time. The prices should end up below the equivalent E26-based drive like the Corsair MP700 Pro SE.


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The drive can reach up to 14,000 / 13,000 MB/s for sequential reads and writes and up to 2,000K / 1,600K random read and write IOPS. These numbers are lower than the competition, including the Micron 4600 which has somewhat similar hardware. This is due to the GM9000 using last-generation flash. That’s not a huge deal as that’s the same flash used on all Phison E26-based drives and the GM9000’s controller is superior to the E26. So it’s just a matter of pricing the drive correctly.

Acer backs the drive with a 5-year, 800TB of writes per TB capacity warranty. The write endurance is about 33% more than the usual 600TB. It’s unlikely that you would surpass the baseline 600TB, but if TBW is something you look at, then the GM9000 does have a significant edge there at all capacities.

Acer Predator GM9000 Software and Accessories

Acer does not offer an SSD toolbox of any sort but it does have an OEM version of Acronis True Image for imaging, cloning, and backup. If looking for an alternative that’s still free, we recommend Clonezilla or MultiDrive. For general drive information, including health via S.M.A.R.T., we recommend CrystalDiskInfo.

Acer Predator GM9000: A Closer Look

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The Acer Predator GM9000 is a single-sided drive at all capacities, reaching a height of 2.50mm with its heat spreading label. This makes it suitable for use in laptops which gives it an edge over other drives in its class like the Crucial T705.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Removing the label, we can see it uses copper to help spread heat between the main components. The pressure points indicate it did have contact with the SSD controller, the DRAM memory, and the NAND flash packages. Equalizing heat in this manner works better than expected because the controller tends to be the hottest component and the one that will trigger thermal throttling. Spreading its heat to the DRAM and especially the NAND flash packages is an easy way to gain more thermal headroom. This is especially useful for laptops, which tend to lack sufficient clearance for traditional heatsinks.

Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The GM9000 uses the SMI SM2508 SSD controller with LPDDR4 DRAM memory and 232-Layer TLC flash from Micron. For more information on the controller, see our preview. In brief, this controller is exceptionally power-efficient compared to previous high-end Gen 5 SSD options. As for the DRAM, using LPDDR4 could reduce power consumption to a small degree. The flash is an interesting choice as it’s older than what’s used on the Micron 4600, so it should be less performant. However, this drive is still very powerful, and if it can match or beat E26 and IG5666 drives in price, then it’s an excellent alternative. Being actually usable on a laptop is also a nice bonus over those two options, too.

MORE: Best SSDs

MORE: Best External SSDs

MORE: Best SSD for the Steam Deck



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Intel CPU
Product Reviews

This Intel Core i5-14600K is a whopping 39% off, and comes with a free 1TB SSD for good measure, for a limited time

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Currently, at Newegg, the Intel Core i5-14600K CPU is listed at one of its best prices to date. For $189 (USD), you not only get the Intel Core i5-14600K CPU but also a free TeamGroup brand 1TB internal SSD. The SSD is a TeamGroup CX2 2.5-inch SATA III 1TB drive, valued at $64.99.

To redeem this offer, you must use promo code SSETA633 before checking out; otherwise, the Core i5-14600K is $199. We’ve reviewed the Intel Core i5-14600 K, and we also have an extensive list of CPU recommendations in our CPU hierarchy that give you an excellent idea of this chip’s competitive positioning.

The Intel Core i5-14600K has fourteen cores and a total of twenty threads. Out of those cores, six of them are dedicated performance cores while the other eight are designated as efficiency cores. The base speed of the efficiency cores is 2.6GHz, topping out at 4GHz when boosted. The performance cores, however, have a 3.5GHz base speed and boost up to 5.3GHz.

This processor supports up to 192GB of DDR5-5600 RAM via two memory channels. It also supports both PCIe 5.0 and PCIe 4.0 devices. You don’t need a graphics card to get off the ground with this processor, as it comes with Intel UHD Graphics 770 integrated by default.

This deal is part of a limited offer, and we’re not sure when (or if) it will be made available again at this price. Check out the Intel Core i5-14600K processor page at Newegg for more details and purchase options. Be sure to use promo code SSETA633 to get the final $10 discount.

Follow Tom’s Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.



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Phison E28 2TB SSD
Product Reviews

Phison E28 2TB SSD Review: A return for vengeance

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Why you can trust Tom’s Hardware


Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

The Sandisk WD Black SN8100 recently sent shockwaves through the enthusiast SSD space with its exceptional performance and power efficiency, cementing SMI’s platform as a serious competitor for the coveted Best SSD crown. Phison is not one to rest on its prior laurels, though, and has worked diligently to one-up the competition with a class-defining storage solution of its own. Today we see the results with the E26’s proper successor, the E28 SSD reference design.

If there is one thing that’s held back adoption of high-end PCIe 5.0 SSDs, it has been lackluster power efficiency. The first wave of these SSDs required a heatsink for proper operation and had a power draw that made things tricky on any platform, considering idle power consumption was also high. The SMI SM2508 and Phison E31T brought the first signs last year that this would eventually be solved, but it was the Micron 4600 and, finally, the WD Black SN8100, that really took this message home. Now you could have your cake and eat it, too.

The E28 takes lessons learned from the E26 and improves on that controller in almost every way. Better performance and higher power efficiency combine to make a fantastic drive that will help lead the way for the next generation of SSDs. Faster and denser flash is needed for less-expensive, more-capacious drives, but the E28 delivers the best solution on the market for the technology available today. Even the flash – which is also found on the WD Black SN8100 – brings improvements for random 4K performance, making for an all-around stellar package. This is an exciting product that brings welcome competition to an evolving market segment.


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Phison E28 specifications

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Product

1TB

2TB

4TB

8TB

Pricing

N/A

N/A

N/A

Row 0 – Cell 4

Form Factor

M.2 2280

M.2 2280

M.2 2280

N/A

Interface / Protocol

NVMe 2.0

NVMe 2.0

NVMe 2.0

M.2 2280

Controller

Phison E28

Phison E28

Phison E28

NVMe 2.0

DRAM

LPDDR4X

LPDDR4X

LPDDR4X

Phison E28

Flash Memory

Kioxia/Sandisk 218-Layer TLC (BiCS8)

Kioxia/Sandisk 218-Layer TLC (BiCS8)

Kioxia/Sandisk 218-Layer TLC (BiCS8)

LPDDR4X

Sequential Read

Up to 14.9 GB/s

Up to 14.9 GB/s

Up to 14.9 GB/s

Kioxia/Sandisk 218-Layer TLC (BiCS8)

Sequential Write

Up to 14.0 GB/s

Up to 14.0 GB/s

Up to 14.0 GB/s

Up to 14.9 GB/s

Random Read

Up to 2.6M

Up to 2.6M

Up to 2.6M

Up to 14.0 GB/s

Random Write

Up to 3.0M

Up to 3.0M

Up to 3.0M

Up to 2.6M

Security

TCG Opal 2.01 (opt)

TCG Opal 2.01 (opt)

TCG Opal 2.01 (opt)

Up to 3.0M

Endurance (TBW)

N/A

N/A

N/A

TCG Opal 2.01 (opt)

Part Number

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Warranty

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

The Phison E28 is destined to come to the market for all capacities between 1TB and 8TB. Smaller capacities – even 1TB – don’t make sense at this level of performance, given how dense NAND flash is getting. 2TB probably remains the sweet spot with some creep into 4TB. 8TB remains elusive and tough to hit, but for many enthusiasts, that is the bare minimum expected for a flagship SSD platform. We’ll have to wait and see on that one. The sample we tested has no pricing, but we would expect something comparable to the Sandisk WD Black SN8100 MSRPs.

The Phison E28 can hit up to 14.9 GB/s or more for sequential reads and up to 14.0 GB/s for sequential writes. For random reads and writes, up to 2,600K / 3,000K IOPS are attainable. Actual performance will depend on your platform. Out of the box, the controller supports TCG Pyrite, which is software encryption, but TCG Opal support with hardware encryption should be an available feature.

Phison E28: a closer look

Image 1 of 3

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Aside from the presence of two debugging connectors, the first thing that should catch your attention is the fact that this is a single-sided drive. That’s nothing new for 2TB, but this configuration should hold for 4TB as well. 8TB will have to be double-sided due to the amount of 1Tb dies that are needed. Otherwise, this looks like a pretty normal drive with an SSD controller, a package of DRAM for metadata caching, and two NAND flash packages.

The controller is the most interesting part, as we’ve seen this flash before. The Phison E28 is the successor to the Phison E26 – which at the time of its release (in early 2024) was the first real PCIe 5.0 SSD platform available, and one that would be the first to really push the interface in terms of bandwidth. The E28 follows in the footsteps of Phison’s E31T, a more budget-oriented controller that brought very good power efficiency due to its 7nm design. However, Phison was soon upstaged by Silicon Motion with its SM2508, a 6nm design that has had great results first with the Micron 4600 and later with the WD Black SN8100. The latter is paired with the same flash as our E28 engineering sample today, and it achieved fantastic power efficiency – but perhaps Phison can do better with its own 6nm platform.

Usually, we go into some depth about the controller technology, but we might leave some of that for retail reviews. We will say that the Phison E28 is very similar to the E26, but has a lot more headroom thanks to the process node shrink from 12nm to 6nm. This allows for potentially more performance with significantly better power efficiency. This is aided by the use of BiCS8 flash, and there are differences between Micron’s 276-Layer TLC in the 4600 and BiCS8 in the SN8100. Generally, the SN8100 has lower latency and better power efficiency. We’ll see how that works out for Phison, noting that variations of this platform will also be used for enterprise and AI, which would require careful balancing.

Image 1 of 3

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The E28 is using LPDDR4X for metadata caching, a good choice to reduce power consumption a little bit. We noted that the WD Black SN8100 was using DDR4, instead, in its review. This isn’t a huge difference, but is still noteworthy. As for the flash, we’ve already mentioned this is using 218-Layer BiCS8 TLC. This flash is made by both Kioxia (once known as Toshiba) and Sandisk, which was recently spun off from its parent, Western Digital. We only mention this because this is an engineering sample and the E28’s performance characteristics should be improved by the time of retail launch, through firmware optimization for the flash if nothing else.

MORE: Best SSDs

MORE: Best External SSDs

MORE: Best SSD for the Steam Deck



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With 12,000 Five-Star Reviews, the Samsung 990 Pro Internal SSD Reaches a Two-Year Price Low on Amazon
Gaming Gear

With 12,000 Five-Star Reviews, the Samsung 990 Pro Internal SSD Reaches a Two-Year Price Low on Amazon

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When the Samsung 990 Pro SSD first came out a few years back, its starting point was around $300 for the 2TB model, an enormous cost for everyone except the most dedicated users. Fast forward to today, and this top-end drive has seen its cost decline continually but never quite to the level it is at now. Amazon is currently offering the 2TB version for just $149, which makes a two-year low even beating out previous Black Friday and Prime Day deals.

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Ultra Fast SSD

This SSD is built into speed and performance, and the 990 Pro features PCIe Gen4 technology that unlocks read speeds to 7,450 MB/s and write speeds to 6,900 MB/s. These figures put the 990 Pro at the top of the consumer SSD performance class and make it ideal for extreme gaming, video editing, data analysis and any other task where one wants fast access to large files. With respect to the predecessor 980 Pro, the 990 Pro provides more than a 55% boost in random performance.

The most surprising aspect of 990 Pro is its power specification efficiency: Samsung has been able to improve performance per watt by up to 50% over the previous generation so your system runs faster and more efficiently. This efficiency extends battery life in mobile devices and reduces heat generated which translates to stable performance even under extended use. The drive is available in capacities ranging from 1TB to 4TB (all of them are on sale at Amazon) so you can choose the perfect capacity for your needs.

The drive is built with high-quality parts and has sophisticated heat dissipation technology that maintains temperatures in check even with extended usage. It guarantees even performance and increases the lifespan of the SSD. Samsung backs the 990 Pro with a comprehensive 5-year warranty which gives customers confidence and peace of mind in their buying decision. The drive is compatible with a wide range of systems, from PCs to Macs, and even present-day gaming consoles like the PS5, if you happen to own an appropriate M.2 slot.

At its current $149 price on Amazon—the lowest in two years—it’s a bargain that no one can pass up.

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It's Not Free Yet, but This 15" HP Laptop (Core i3, 2TB SSD, 64GB RAM) Is $2,300 Off on Amazon
Product Reviews

It’s Not Free Yet, but This 15″ HP Laptop (Core i3, 2TB SSD, 64GB RAM) Is $2,300 Off on Amazon

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When it comes to laptops, there’s a model for every type of user – students, professionals and everyone in between. At the moment, Amazon is putting on an amazing sale on a model that meets all requirements: HP 15.6-inch touchscreen laptop (Intel Core i3, 2TB SSD, 64GB RAM) which is currently available at an all-time low price: This powerhouse of a machine (suited for any type of user) which normally costs $2,769, is now available for just $769 which is a 72% discount. This is one of our favorite laptop deals since the beginning of the year, and it matches previous deals seen during Black Friday.

See at Amazon

For less than $800, you get a machine running on Windows 11 Pro that would otherwise retail for several thousand and that is without considering the lifetime subscription for Microsoft Office Pro that is thrown in. You’ll also get a free 7-in-1 USB-A adapter, a mouse, a mobile phone magnetic holder and a 128GB USB stick. Basically, you get $299 of accessories for free.

Great Specs For a Laptop

The HP 15.6 touchscreen notebook runs on a Intel i3-1315U processor that can run at speeds of up to 4.5 GHz, and is complemented by a massive 64GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD. These are some of the most robust specs of any Windows notebooks on the market and it’s particularly suited for content creators, coders and anyone who requires multitasking.

The 15.6-inch FHD touchscreen provides accurate and multi-finger gestures and smooth navigation for intuitive control and interaction with your work or entertainment in a natural manner (you don’t have to use it if you’re not a huge fan of touchscreens). The screen has a high-brightness backlight and high-contrast technology to provide true-to-life colors and clear visuals in any environment. This renders the laptop an ideal tool for mobile office use, creative work, or merely viewing high-definition media.

You will also appreciate the audio part: The two speakers with specially tuned sound provide excellent stereo sound while Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 provide ultra-stable and speedy wireless connectivity with less delay. These are especially useful for streaming, video calling, and online collaboration. For extra peace of mind, the laptop has a physical camera shutter and microphone mute button as well as an LED light to give users security reassurance.

Make sure you grab yours before it runs out of stock.

See at Amazon



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Crucial X10 Portable SSD
Product Reviews

Crucial X10 Portable SSD (4TB) review: 20 Gbps, up to 8TB

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Why you can trust Tom’s Hardware


Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Back in mid-2023, Crucial launched the X10 Pro, a tiny, slim USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gbps) portable SSD with a black metal lid and enough performance and value to earn a spot on our best external SSDs page. Now Crucial is back with the X10, a drive that drops the Pro epithet and swaps the metal lid for a blue plastic shell that still manages to feel very solid.

The X10 also stands out for its plethora of capacities: 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8TB. Crucial sent us the 4TB model for testing, but the 6TB option is an unusual capacity that could fill a particular niche. Strangely though, the 6TB drive was selling for more than the 8TB model on Amazon when we wrote this.

As we’ll see in testing, the Crucial X10 bests its older sibling and most other 20 Gbps drives on performance and value. But here in mid-2025, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 drives feel more niche than ever now that USB4 ports have become more popular. USB4 drives like Corsair’s EX400U can deliver as much as twice the speed and don’t cost much more at some capacities.

Crucial X10 (4TB) Specifications

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Product

1 TB

2 TB

4 TB

6TB

8TB

Pricing

$99

$162

$246

$558

$439

Interface / Protocol

USB 3.1 Gen2 2×2

USB 3.1 Gen2 2×2

USB 3.1 Gen2 2×2

USB 3.1 Gen2 2×2

USB 3.1 Gen2 2×2

Included

9-inch UBC-C cable

9-inch UBC-C cable

9-inch UBC-C cable

9-inch UBC-C cable

9-inch UBC-C cable

Sequential Read

Up to 2,100 MB/s

Up to 2,100 MB/s

Up to 2,100 MB/s

Up to 2,100 MB/s

Up to 2,100 MB/s

Sequential Write

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Dimensions

2.53 x 1.93 x 0.37 inches

2.53 x 1.93 x 0.37 inches

2.53 x 1.93 x 0.37 inches

2.53 x 1.93 x 0.37 inches

2.53 x 1.93 x 0.37 inches

Weight

37.9 grams

37.9 grams

37.9 grams

37.9 grams

37.9 grams

Warranty

3 years

3 years

3 years

3 years

3 years

Today’s best Crucial X10 Portable SSD deals

Design and accessories

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

At roughly 2.5 x 2 inches and just over a third of an inch thick, Crucial’s X10 maintains the dimensions of the previous-gen X9 and X10 Pro, but it ditches a few grams (not that you’d notice) by switching from a metal top and sides to a plastic blue shell that leans more toward gray when not under photography lights. The design remains one of the smallest and most pocket-friendly options around, which is all the more impressive now that the company offers the X10 in up to 8TB capacities.

The included cable is a little over 9 inches long, but feels a bit short to me because the actual flexible parts of the cable are only about 6.5 inches long. The USB-C plugs and stiff housing make up the rest of the length. Personally, I prefer cables that are about a foot long – especially since most of the fast ports, at least on desktops, are found around the back of the PC.

  • Crucial X10 Portable SSD (1TB Blue) at Amazon for $99.99

Comparison products

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

In terms of performance in the 20 Gbps category, Lexar’s Professional SL600 is arguably the X10’s closest competitor in our charts below. The real problem for the X10, though, is that Crucial’s 40 Gbps EX400U doesn’t cost much more (at least at the lower capacities) while being a much faster drive in most respects (provided you have a USB4 port). Both the Lexar and Corsair are considerably larger, though. So if you need something speedy and tiny, Crucial’s X10 still looks good.


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Storage testbed update

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Earlier in 2025, we updated our external storage testbed to an AMD Ryzen 7600X-based PC with an Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Hero motherboard, installed in Lian Li’s Lancool 217 case. This was done in part because we needed a system with native USB4 support for upcoming drives.

All the drives in the charts below have been re-tested on the new X870E system, with the exception of the final Iometer sustained sequential test, which is less about top speed and more about how long a drive can write before depleting any fast cache. We also updated to CrystalDiskMark 8, rather than the older (and non-comparable) version 7 we used on the previous testbed.

Trace Testing – PCMark 10 Storage Benchmark

PCMark 10 is a trace-based benchmark that uses a wide-ranging set of real-world traces from popular applications and everyday tasks to measure the performance of storage devices.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

In this first test, the Corsair X10 was the fastest USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 drive we’ve tested, edging past the previous-gen X10 Pro and Lexar’s SL600 drive. The early USB4 drive from ADATA (the SE920) also wasn’t much faster here. But of course, the recent USB4 Corsair drive and the Thunderbolt 5 drive from LaCie land on top, where they will stay for most of these tests.

Transfer Rates – DiskBench

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

In this real-world file transfer, the Corsair and LaCie are again the fastest, followed by the 20 Gbps Lexar and Team Group drives. While the Crucial X10 lands close to the middle on this test, its read and write speeds are again better than the older Crucial drives, and well balanced, unlike the Adata, which was extremely slow on writes.

Synthetic Testing CrystalDiskMark

CrystalDiskMark (CDM) is a free and easy-to-run storage benchmarking tool that SSD companies commonly use to assign product performance specifications. It gives us insight into how each device handles different file sizes. We run this test at its default settings.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

In this best-case synthetic sequential scenario on our recently overhauled testbed, the Crucial X10 loses out slightly to the Team Group PD20 on read speeds, but easily beats it and the Lexar drive on writes, getting very close to 2 GBps.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Small file performance was the one area where the older X10 Pro didn’t excel, and while the new X10 does better on reads, it falls behind the lower-end X9 in our testing, and is in the lower half of our comparison chart on both reads and writes. Still, its performance is generally in the range of its 20 Gbps competition.

Sustained Write Performance

A drive’s rated write specifications are only a piece of the performance picture. Most external SSDs (just like their internal counterparts) implement a write cache, or a fast area of flash, programmed to perform like faster SLC, that absorbs incoming data.

Sustained write speeds often suffer tremendously when the workload saturates the cache and slips into the “native” TLC or QLC flash. We use Iometer to hammer the SSD with sequential writes for 15 minutes to measure the size of the write cache and performance after the cache is saturated.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The Crucial X10 starts well ahead of other 20 Gbps drives here, hovering just under 2000 MBps, and it stays in that range for about six minutes and 40 seconds. That’s enough time to move about 800GB of data at the top end of the 3.2 Gen 2×2 bus, but then the drive crashes into the 200-300 MBps range, where it stays for the rest of our testing run.

Based on this, we wouldn’t qualify the X10 as a professional drive for those who need to fill up the entire drive quickly (and to be fair, neither does Crucial). But it’s still plenty fast for several minutes of constant writes, and faster than LaCie’s Thunderbolt 5 drive and Corsair’s USB4 SSD for a good chunk of this chart. For writing data sets smaller than about 1TB, the X10’s performance is solid.

Bottom line

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

With very good 20 Gbps performance, lots of capacity options, and a tiny, rugged-feeling IP65-rated shell, Crucial’s X10 is one of the best USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 drives you can buy, and should be especially appealing to those looking for a 6TB or 8TB option.

That said, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 ports were never particularly popular, and faster USB4 and Thunderbolt 4 ports seem to already be much more common. If your system has one of those newer, speedier ports, or you just want a drive that’s more forward-looking, Corsair’s EX400U is much faster in most of our tests and is currently $5 cheaper at 1TB and $27 more expensive at 2TB. Step up to 4TB, though, and the Corsair USB4 drive is a tougher sell, as it costs $73 more than Crucial’s tiny X10.

MORE: Best SSDs

MORE: Best External SSDs

MORE: Best SSD for the Steam Deck

Crucial X10 Portable SSD: Price Comparison



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Samsung SSD
Gaming Gear

The super fast Samsung 9100 Pro 4TB SSD is now just $449 at Amazon

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If you’ve been holding out for a top-of-the-line SSD, you might want to check out this offer on the Samsung 9100 Pro 4TB SSD. This ultra-fast SSD debuted at $549 and has hovered chiefly in that ballpark. Today, however, you can find it at Amazon for just $449—its lowest price.

We reviewed the Samsung 9100 Pro earlier this year and enjoyed our experience overall. The SSD has great performance from many angles, earning a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. Check out our list of best SSDs to see how it compares to some of our favorite and most recommended SSDs.

The Samsung 9100 Pro is definitely a performance-driven SSD. It’s offered in various capacities, but this deal is just for the 4TB drive. All of the SSDs in this line have an M.2 2280 form factor and are compatible with PCIe 5.0 x4 and NVMe 2.0 interfaces.

(Image credit: Future)

The Samsung 9100 Pro 4TB SSD can reach some of the highest read/write speeds we’ve ever seen, as high as 14,800/13,400 MB/s. Amazon’s 30-day return policy and Samsung’s five-year manufacturer’s warranty support the purchase. The Samsung warranty will only be void if the drive reaches 2,400 TBW before the 5-year period has passed.

If you want to check out this deal, you can find the Samsung 9100 Pro 4TB SSD on Amazon. Click on the image for purchase options and additional details.

Follow Tom’s Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.



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TeamGroup's SSD
Product Reviews

TeamGroup’s curious PCIe 5.0 SSD strategy: Adopt controllers from all makers

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TeamGroup is a company that tends to adopt multiple SSD platforms to ensure it has relevant drives at competitive price points. Back in the day, the company would not even disclose the controller or memory producer for its SSDs to remain flexible. However, nowadays, the company has grown large enough to support multiple high-end PCIe 5.0 x4 SSD lineups based on four different controllers.

Indeed, TeamGroup demonstrated six different SSD families offering different levels of performance based on controllers from Innogrit (IG5666), Maxio Technology (MAP1806), Phison (PS5028-E28), and Silicon Motion (SM2508) at Computex 2025. All of these drives use 3D TLC NAND memory from various makers to hit different price points, and all of them are definitely contenders to get into our best SSDs list.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Model

Controller

Memory

Sequential Read

Sequential Write

Max Capacity

T-Force Z5 Z54E

Phison PS5028-E28

Kioxia 3D TLC BICS 8T

14 GB/s

14 GB/s

4TB

T-Force ME Pro

Silicon Motion SM2508

3D TLC

14 GB/s

12 GB/s

4TB

T-Force Z5 Z55A4

Maxiotek MAP1806

YMTC 3D TLC (?)

14 GB/s

12 GB/s

4TB

T-Force GE Pro

Innogrit IG5666

3D TLC

14 GB/s

12 GB/s

8TB

T-Force GC Pro

Innogrit IG5666

YMTC 3D TLC 232L X3-9070

12.5 GB/s

8.5 GB/s

4TB

T-Force GA Pro

Innogrit IG5666

3D TLC

10 GB/s

8.5 GB/s

2TB

TeamGroup is gearing up to launch its flagship T-Force Z5 Z54E based on the Phison PS5028-E28 controller for gamers, as well as the T-Force ME Pro based on the Silicon Motion SM2508 for a more professional segment. The key selling point of the T-Force Z54E will be unbeatable sequential read and write performance. On the other hand, the key selling point of the T-Force ME Pro will be its relatively low heat dissipation and power consumption, something that creative professionals with laptops or compact desktops will appreciate.


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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The company also displayed a rather interesting T-Force Z5 Z55A4 drive, based on the Maxiotek MAP1806 controller, the company’s first PCIe Gen5 SSD without a DRAM cache and one of its first offerings based on a controller from Maxio. The storage solution promises a maximum sequential read speed of 14 GB/s as well as a maximum sequential write speed of 12 GB/s. Interestingly, the Z55A4 SSD prototype demonstrated at the show did not carry either 3D NAND or DRAM memory.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Additionally, TeamGroup offers three different ‘Pro’ badged drives based on the Innogrit IG5666 controller. There’s the higher-end T-Force Ge Pro that peaks at 14 GB/s and 11.8 GB/s sequential read and write speeds as well as GC Pro and GA Pro drives that are considerably slower and cheaper.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

It is common for SSD manufacturers to use controllers from multiple suppliers for different drives. Also, makers of cheap SSDs sometimes change controllers and memory on the same drive model to maintain or lower their costs. However, TeamGroup uses different controllers for different high-end drives that overlap with each other in terms of performance.

Such tactics enable the company to address all market segments with a preferable platform while using internal competition as leverage in negotiations with controller makers over price. Additionally, assuming it can secure a lower price, particularly with companies competing for market share, it can pass the savings on to the end user and gain a higher market share in the high-end SSD market from competitors that rely on only one SSD platform. However, this strategy requires the company to allocate more resources to R&D, which increases its costs.

Follow Tom’s Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.



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Biwin X570 SSD
Gaming Gear

Biwin unveils PCIe Gen5 SSD with 14,500 MB/s read speeds

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Earlier this year, Biwin started to sell its range-topping X570 Pro SSD with a PCIe 5.0 x4 based on SMI’s SM2508 controller, putting itself on the map of the highest-end drives. Now, the company is seeking to address a demanding, yet more price-critical market segment with the vanilla X570 SSD that the company launched at Computex 2025. Despite the name, this is not a simplified version of the X570 Pro, but a drive based on a completely different PCIe Gen5 platform that can still deliver up to 14,500 MB/s sequential read speed.

Biwin’s Black Opal X570 is one of the first high-end SSDs based on Maxio’s MAP1806 controller that has eight NAND channels and supports 3D TLC NAND memory with an up to 3600 MT/s interface. Biwin’s X570 is said to offer an up to 14,500 sequential read speed (the maximum read performance supported by a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface) and an up to 11,000 MB/s sequential write speed, which is 2,000 MB/s or 3,000 MB/s below today’s best SSDs. As for random performance, we are talking about up to 2 million read IOPS and up to 1.5 million write IOPS.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

When Biwin first showcased its X570 SSD last year, the company said that these drives would offer considerably higher sequential read and write speeds (up to 14,500 MB/s reads and up to 14,000 MB/s writes, respectively). However, as the company now has an SMI SM2508-based X570 Pro drive, it looks like it decided not to push the vanilla X570 to the limits, perhaps to avoid cannibalization of the higher-end model by the X570.


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Biwin’s Black Opal X570 SSDs will be available in the M.2-2280 form factor with 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB configurations, featuring endurance ratings of 600 TBW, 1200 TBW, and 2400 TBW, respectively. All models include a five-year warranty.

Since Biwin’s Black Opal X570 drives were just launched at Computex, the company has yet to discuss their pricing. Yet, we have all the reasons to believe that they will cost less than X570 Pro SSDs of the same capacity. In Europe, a 1TB X570 Pro costs around €167 ($138, excluding VAT), which is a very competitive price compared to Samsung’s 9100 Pro SSD ($180) or other high-end PCIe Gen5 drives that cost around $160 – $170.

One of the interesting aspects about Biwin’s X570 is which memory the drive is set to use. When the company first introduced its X570 drive at Computex 2024, it said that it would be based on Maxiotek’s MAP1806 controller as well as YMTC’s 3D TLC NAND memory. By now, the situation on the market has changed because of uncertainties associated with U.S. tariffs. For now, the U.S. does not impose tariffs on chips, including Maxiotek and YMTC chips produced in China, and SSD modules assembled in China, but that may change over time. If this happens, the best course of action for Biwin for its X570 would be to switch to 3D TLC NAND memory from a non-Chinese maker and outsource production to a company located outside of China. That said, we cannot state for sure which flash memory X570 drives are set to use at launch and over time.

Follow Tom’s Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.



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