Though there is no noticeable difference in speed between a 128GB SSD and a 256GB SSD, 256GB is slightly faster. The speed varies from brand to brand. However, storage difference does make a variation in speed owing to the extra room for the system.
128 SSD vs 256 SSD speed is based on NAND flash modules. They both operate at the same speed. But the 256GB will load the files faster which are needed for the program.
Comparison of ‘128 SSD vs 256 SSD Speed’
Speed does not depend on storage. But in this case, the 256GB SSD performs slightly better than the 128GB one. When comparing SSDs from the same product line, it is often the case that they are using the same NAND chips in the SSD. Moreover, larger SSDs have more NAND chips.
You know more NAND chips mean more storage along with more speed. As a result, a 128GB SSD will have less speed than a 256GB SSD of the same kind. Here you can see that a 120GB SSD has 45k of random read IOPS while a 240GB SSD has 84K of random read IOPS.
M.2 and NVME Speed
M.2 and NVME are two popular kinds of SSD besides the 2.5” form factor. In the case of speed, M.2 and NVME are faster and provide better performance. But if you are searching for the information of 128GB vs 256GB M.2 or NVME speed, the ratio of speed to amount of NAND chips will be the same.
Less NAND Chips in Low Storage SSDs
Now may ask – Why is there less number of NAND chips in the low storage SSDs instead of more NAND chips of low storage? Yes, they could have included more NAND chips of low capacity to make a low storage SSD faster. But producing a low-capacity SSD with more NAND chips is a bad value.
Though silicons are inexpensive, the labor is not. So to produce a 256GB SSD, the company has to produce eight 32GB chips, but producing a 128GB one, the amount recedes to four. To make the 128GB SSD faster, they have to make 8 chips of 16GB. In that case, 256GB will have 16 chips. That’s how the production cost increases.
128GB vs 256GB Longevity
People buy SSDs not only for their speed but also for the time it lasts. An SSD usually lasts about 10 years. But due to more NAND chips, a 256 SSD will last longer as the data shelves on the larger SSDs will not be written over as many times as a 128GB SSD.
Is 256GB enough for an SSD?
For a typical home PC, running modern programs will not need more than 128GB SSD. If you download videos, music, and games or do other stuff on a PC, 256GB will be enough. But if you are a professional user and use your PC daily, then 512GB is suggested. And if you are a heavy user, then you can buy a 1GB SSD, though it would be overkill.
There are a lot of options out there and here are a few of them that are useful and handy.
Conclusion
Buying a 256GB SSD will be a safe option if you are a typical home PC user. But, if you just focus on speed, getting a 128 one will be a better value for money. After buying an SSD, to get the best out of it you should keep 20% of your drive empty.
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