SSDs for host memory buffers
SSDs for host memory buffers
I haven't discussed HMB SSDs much yet, but I understand Linus usually advises against DRAMless options. He hasn't mentioned his views on DRAMless HMB drives either. Recently, I found Samsung's 980 SSD using HMB technology, which replaces DRAM with a CPU cache allocation. This setup is appealing for budget reasons, though I'm unsure about the performance and reliability of these newer HMB drives. The specifications mention speeds, TLC format, and 600TBW capacity. Your thoughts are appreciated.
Dramless ssds are often misunderstood. I've used them for boot drives and they perform well, significantly faster than hdds in most situations. I'm considering another brand, but the 980 model doesn't seem necessary. Non-Samsung drives won't be much slower either. For general use, any SSD will work just fine without a noticeable impact on boot times.
It's acceptable. Much like most SSDs, performance hinges on your specific needs. The DRAM provided through HMB is usually limited (around 64MB or less), enabling it to store only a small portion of the address space—about 64GB at once. This might not appear significant, but the important point is "at once." Even a big game such as Modern Warfare rarely requires more than 50GB of data simultaneously. Clearly, any task needing to access over 64GB at the same time will notice a major drop in speed. It runs slower compared to the actual storage speed, but other improvements can help mitigate the issue. I wouldn't worry too much. A model like the 970 Evo Plus remains a solid choice overall, while the 980 offers decent performance for entry-level setups as long as your workloads stay moderate.