Teamgroup T-Force Vulcan Z SLC Cache 3D NAND TLC SATA III SSDs: 480GB $28, 240GB
$18
$25.99
+ Free Shipping
+34Deal Score
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Various Retailers have Teamgroup T-Force Vulcan Z SLC Cache 3D NAND TLC 2.5" SATA III Internal Solid State Drives on sale as listed below. Shipping is free unless otherwise noted.
Thanks to Community Members cheeknowe & bigsnyder for finding this deal.
QA note: These items are no longer available via Amazon, see FP for additional options
No DRAM, FYI. Not QLC, thankfully. Really cheap and not considered really, really reliable for important stuff. But if you want to upgrade your 10 year old Win10 laptop with an old HD, this SSD will allow you to surf the web & do schoolwork like gangbusters. SSD prices went up after the Christmas season, so I'm glad to see this came back down to $17.99.
Model: TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 240GB SLC Cache 3D NAND TLC 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal Solid State Drive SSD (R/W Speed up to 520/450 MB/s) T253TZ240G0C101
Deal History
Deal History includes data from multiple reputable stores, such as Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. The lowest price among stores for a given day is selected as the "Sale Price".
Sale Price does not include sale prices at Amazon unless a deal was posted by a community member.
TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 240GB SLC Cache 3D NAND TLC 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal Solid State Drive SSD (R/W Speed up to 520/450 MB/s) T253TZ240G0C101
Manufacturer:
TEAMGROUP
Model Number:
T253TZ240G0C101
Product SKU:
B09WMP88Z3
UPC:
765441060463
ASIN:
B09WMP88Z3
Brand:
TEAMGROUP
Item Dimensions LxWxH:
3.937 x 2.7559 x 0.27559 inches
Item Weight:
0.09920802 Pounds
Item model number:
T253TZ240G0C101
Manufacturer:
TEAMGROUP
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Like so many other cheap SSDs, you don't know what you're actually going to get until you receive the drive. It appears there's at least two significantly different variants of the Vulcan Z (without even getting into the QLC version). One is based on the SMI 2259XT controller and the other uses the Phison S11. Both are low end DRAM-less SATA controllers. I've had decent luck with Phison S11 based drives but will note they tend to have a very small static pSLC cache. Some of the SMI 2259XT based drives have a massive dynamic pSLC cache, which utilizes the entirety of the free space. They can also be "lazy" about flushing the pSLC to TLC/QLC, sometimes not even starting until it's roughly 4/5 full. This has its pros and cons.
Personally, I've observed several drives using SMI controllers suffer immense (>99%) performance degradation on data stored in native NAND (TLC/QLC). One of the drives I've seen affected was a 2TB Team Group Vulcan Z. I just thought I'd toss out this warning, since this controller is often (but not always) used in the Vulcan Z. For anyone wondering what they got, without having to disassemble the drive, you can potentially tell by the firmware version.
FW version W0... - Likely SMI 2259XT
FW version SBFM... - Likely Phison S11
Affected drives may not manifest the issue until they've ever been filled at least 25% full (for TLC) or 20% (for QLC) AND some time has passed. The issue often does not show up in benchmark programs but can be visible in Task Manager. It can also result in a blatantly obvious performance reduction.
The 480GB is only $10 more. Kid's computer running the 1TB model for a couple of years now. Works great.
Haha, no, I've used REAL no name brands and TeamGroup has many, many reviews of their various SSDs, SD cards, etc, so just because they aren't an old-school name brand, I would say that they are well established.
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Anecdotally, this only helps games that are installed directly to the drive itself versus ones that need to access the disc. So for PS3 the value is marginal since the speed is limited by how fast the BluRay can be read. Digital games, especially on PS4Pro are a different story and see much more benefit (DRAM not required).
Which SSD would you suggest for a PS4 Pro? Currently have a 1TB standard storage, looking to get a 2TB, just looking for a good deal.
Which SSD would you suggest for a PS4 Pro? Currently have a 1TB standard storage, looking to get a 2TB, just looking for a good deal.
I put a 1TB SK Hynix S31 in mine when I had it, but I'm not sure if they made a 2TB version.
Budget-wise, Team Group and Silicon Power are going to be your cheapest drives ($100 for 2TB), but their quality leaves a bit to be desired. In general, I'd look for a deal on just about any name brand (Sandisk, Crucial, Samsung, Kingston, etc.) and give preference to those with longer warranty (5yr) if they even exist anymore.
Alternatively, you could simply buy any other SSD (even an nVMe) and stick it in at least a USB 3 Gen 1 enclosure, plug it into the port on the back of the console, and you'll run as fast as the onboard drive anyway—the rear USB port on the PS4 Pro transfers at 5Gb/s which is actually slightly faster than the SATA port the internal drive connects to. You'll lose a little of that speed from overhead, but it wont be an issue for playing games from it.
What is the difference between the 480GB and the 512GB version besides capacity? 🤔
Aren't those effectively real storage the same? The difference, I believe, is that the 480GB version reserves space for usage later as it wears out so that's its real life can be longer than the 512 which would allow access to all its space with no reserve (ability to replace worn out storage).
I'm looking to upgrade my dad's HDD because it's on its last legs and the computer could use a performance boost. Would you guys recommend this over the Patriot P220? 512GB
I'm looking to upgrade my dad's HDD because it's on its last legs and the computer could use a performance boost. Would you guys recommend this over the Patriot P220? 512GB
I'm looking to upgrade my dad's HDD because it's on its last legs and the computer could use a performance boost. Would you guys recommend this over the Patriot P220? 512GB
Does your Dad have important files he doesn't want to lose? If he doesn't, then this Teamgroup one would work just fine. Or, if he has his files backed up regularly using some online backup system, then Teamgroup would work well in this situation, too.
Actually, even though I'm using a high-end SSD for my primary laptop with critical data, I still back things up often. So I suppose the moral of the story is: whatever you choose, get your stuff backed up regularly!
Payed the same price 1.5 years ago for the 240GB, on a" just regular" deal, has the price of SSD gone up proportionally ?
Not really. There was a glut of SSDs about the time you last purchased that 240GB, so prices were really low. The prices then went back up to "normal", then just recently came back down. I suspect these Teamgroup items are last year's production, and they need to get rid of the stock to prepare for the newer ones.
I put a 1TB SK Hynix S31 in mine when I had it, but I'm not sure if they made a 2TB version.
Budget-wise, Team Group and Silicon Power are going to be your cheapest drives ($100 for 2TB), but their quality leaves a bit to be desired. In general, I'd look for a deal on just about any name brand (Sandisk, Crucial, Samsung, Kingston, etc.) and give preference to those with longer warranty (5yr) if they even exist anymore.
Alternatively, you could simply buy any other SSD (even an nVMe) and stick it in at least a USB 3 Gen 1 enclosure, plug it into the port on the back of the console, and you'll run as fast as the onboard drive anyway—the rear USB port on the PS4 Pro transfers at 5Gb/s which is actually slightly faster than the SATA port the internal drive connects to. You'll lose a little of that speed from overhead, but it wont be an issue for playing games from it.
Appreciate the feedback. I want to take out the 1TB standard drive from my PS4 Pro and use it as a storage for my computer, so I will need an SSD instead of NVMe.
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Personally, I've observed several drives using SMI controllers suffer immense (>99%) performance degradation on data stored in native NAND (TLC/QLC). One of the drives I've seen affected was a 2TB Team Group Vulcan Z. I just thought I'd toss out this warning, since this controller is often (but not always) used in the Vulcan Z. For anyone wondering what they got, without having to disassemble the drive, you can potentially tell by the firmware version.
FW version W0... - Likely SMI 2259XT
FW version SBFM... - Likely Phison S11
Affected drives may not manifest the issue until they've ever been filled at least 25% full (for TLC) or 20% (for QLC) AND some time has passed. The issue often does not show up in benchmark programs but can be visible in Task Manager. It can also result in a blatantly obvious performance reduction.
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Data roulette
Personally I like SoloBymyself.
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I put a 1TB SK Hynix S31 in mine when I had it, but I'm not sure if they made a 2TB version.
Budget-wise, Team Group and Silicon Power are going to be your cheapest drives ($100 for 2TB), but their quality leaves a bit to be desired. In general, I'd look for a deal on just about any name brand (Sandisk, Crucial, Samsung, Kingston, etc.) and give preference to those with longer warranty (5yr) if they even exist anymore.
Alternatively, you could simply buy any other SSD (even an nVMe) and stick it in at least a USB 3 Gen 1 enclosure, plug it into the port on the back of the console, and you'll run as fast as the onboard drive anyway—the rear USB port on the PS4 Pro transfers at 5Gb/s which is actually slightly faster than the SATA port the internal drive connects to. You'll lose a little of that speed from overhead, but it wont be an issue for playing games from it.
Crucial MX500 is highly recommended.
Actually, even though I'm using a high-end SSD for my primary laptop with critical data, I still back things up often. So I suppose the moral of the story is: whatever you choose, get your stuff backed up regularly!
Or perhaps they're still producing them?
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Budget-wise, Team Group and Silicon Power are going to be your cheapest drives ($100 for 2TB), but their quality leaves a bit to be desired. In general, I'd look for a deal on just about any name brand (Sandisk, Crucial, Samsung, Kingston, etc.) and give preference to those with longer warranty (5yr) if they even exist anymore.
Alternatively, you could simply buy any other SSD (even an nVMe) and stick it in at least a USB 3 Gen 1 enclosure, plug it into the port on the back of the console, and you'll run as fast as the onboard drive anyway—the rear USB port on the PS4 Pro transfers at 5Gb/s which is actually slightly faster than the SATA port the internal drive connects to. You'll lose a little of that speed from overhead, but it wont be an issue for playing games from it.