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MyDigitalSSD isn’t one of the big-name brands you may be used to, but don’t mistake a lack of brand awareness with their quality. MyDigitalSSD has been selling quality products for a while now and we have reviewed quite a few of them over the years. Many of which, have earned our Gold Seal, Editor’s Choice, and Top Value awards. They seem to know exactly what it takes to make a good SSD and aren’t letting up anytime soon, which, brings us to the topic of today’s review.
Today, we are going to be analyzing is the company’s first NVMe SSD and it doesn’t look like our review will stray from this on-going trend. The MyDigitalSSD Bullet Proof eXpress (BPX) offers speeds of up to 2.6GB/s read and 1.3GB/s write and has higher endurance than any of its competitors. Not only that, it has some of the cheapest prices per capacity in its performance category that we have seen yet! It looks to be one of the best values in the PCIe NVMe segment on paper and is poised to take the market by storm, but is it truly? Let’s get on with the review and find out.
SPECIFICATIONS, PRICING, AND AVAILABILITY
The MyDigitalSSD BPX is a PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD that comes in an M.2 2280 form factor. It is available in capacities of 120GB ($77.43), 240GB ($114.99) and 480GB ($199.99). Additionally, there should be a 960GB version out soon. Sequential speeds are rated for up to 2.6GB/s for reads and 1.6GB/s for writes. The BPX is also rated for up to 250K IOPS read and 210K IOPS write. It has an endurance rating of 350TBW, 700TBW, and up to 1,400TBW per respective capacity and it is covered by a 5-year warranty.
This SSD features End-to-end Data Path Protection which is an enterprise level CRC/ECC that corrects soft errors and detects and corrects any errors between the DRAM, controller, and the flash. SmartECC reconstructs faulty pages when regular ECC fails. SmartRefresh monitors block ECC health status and refreshes NAND blocks periodically to improve data retention. SmartFlush minimizes time data spends in the cache to ensure data retention in the event of power loss. Additionally, it features garbage collection, TRIM support, DevSleep support, as well as SMART support and static and dynamic wear leveling. Finally, unlike many other M.2 NVMe SSDs, the BPX supports AES 256-bit encryption.
PACKAGING AND COMPONENTS
The MyDigitalSSD BPX comes in blister packaging that pops out at you with its bright yellow and black product spec card. All the main features and specs are listed on the front and back. Inside is the SSD, which is visible on both the front and back sides, and unlike all other M.2 SSDs, there is a small screwdriver and M.2 socket screw.
This SSD is double sided, meaning there are components on both sides of the PCB. There are four NAND packages, a single DRAM package, and single Phison E7 controller. The design is the same as the other E7 powered M.2 SSDs we have been reviewing as of late.
The NAND is 15nm Toshiba toggle MLC NAND with two packages on each side of the PCB, each is 128GiB in capacity. Once formatted you will have 447GB to utilize. Finally, the DDR3L DRAM package is from NANYA and is 512MB in capacity for the 480GB model we are testing today.
Great to see a review of this by you.
Did you conduct any tests for throttling?
My main beef with M.2s in general is how they heat up and drop down to 2x speeds.
I’ve only used Samsung XP / 950Pro and Plextor.
Have seen this in Towers and 1U/4U chassis.
I buy them for smaller footprint builds, but even 2x speeds allow the higher random iops.
Hoping somebody makes one that doesn’t slow down from streaming.
Thanks
Team Group is announcing a gaming M.2 SSD called the T-FORCE CARDEA. It has a cooling module atop the drive that they claim reduces temps by at least 15% and mitigates throttling. TSSDR should be posting press release coverage of this in the next day or so.
Excellent to hear. The MSI X270s address this but that Dog won’t hunt…
Your 30 GB transfer test is a bit of a giveaway-looks like a Toshiba built-possibly
My Digital firmware.
If they’re willing to sell at lower margins than the other clones-They’re the one
to buy…………………………………….
So is it good compare to other ssds ? I like the sound of the enterprise support modules
Please read the report as many of the tests are direct comparison with other SSDs.
Hi, the ssd is faster when the data is compressable, because of the nature of the controller?
SSDs compress data when it is being stored which provides higher write speeds than data that is not easily compressed.
this ssd is much better value compare to 960 evo?
Largely due to this review, I chose the 240GB MyDigitalSSD BPX over a Corsair using the same controller that was on promo on Newegg. While I was about to pull the trigger on the latter, switched to Amazon & thankfully found this one.
Performance wise, on a ASRock Z97 Extreme6 MB, although using a Sintech PCIe adaptor with a small fan for extra cooling, and would had purchased the Lycon or Addonics one w/out the fan if the Sintech model weren’t available. Because in the native Ultra M.2 slot (just as mSATA), these SSD’s will get toasty then begin to throttle. Oddly for me, I first forgot to turn the knob for the fan controller on, and HWMonitor was reporting 73C, opened the case, the fan wasn’t spinning, once that was fixed, temps nosedived by 21C!
Speeds are close to what my 512GB Samsung 950 PRO on my main PC produces, although comed up a bit short on reads. Yet look at the price difference, that NVMe SSD was $309.99 plus express shipping, whereas this one (although half the capacity) has just over a third of the price tag, and had I been looking at the 480GB version, would had saved a third. The 5 year warranty & long TBW was also a sweet addition, however as technology evolves, this will be in a secondary build before either of these arrives, in reality, few consumers are going to reach 700 TBW on a 240GB SSD of any type, let alone 5 straight years as their ‘main’ SSD.
My only gripe, and it’s small, the popular UserBenchmark site knocks my score down for ‘insufficient samples’. Furthermore, one cannot find any MyDigitalSSD product on the site, hopefully consumers will cache onto this as word passes, and believe me, having been a member of the Tech community for 10 years as of this year, word will indeed spread. I simply wasn’t about to drop an extra $25 for a Samsung 960 EVO, when I had issues with two of the Samsung SSD’s of that line, they used a software patch (read restoration tool) to address a hardware issue. So purchasing another wasn’t in my plans, even had the price for the 250GB Samsung 960 EVO been the same or a bit less.
Packaging was also acceptable, there was no way that this NVMe SSD was going to be damaged by shipping, unless it was ran over. probably would had survived a pallet of packages falling w/out any damage. However, the way it had to be opened would make a return for a refund to Amazon or Newegg hard, although most all would swap if DOA & the only thing I’m docking the corporation (not the drive) over. Note that when rating, the complete package must be figured in, while this may not be a con for some (one won’t get an ‘open box’ that won’t be noticed as such), I’d prefer it to open just as any other SSD & know how to check for prior usage at first boot, a spec that a retailer can’t cover up.
My final verdict of the MyDigitalSSD BPX (price for quality the main factor), 4.8 on a scale of 5. Which by chance, is slightly higher than I rated the 512GB Samsung 950 PRO less than a year back.
Except for true diehard enthusiast, or one who insists on ‘prosumer’ NVMe SSD’s (am normally of the latter myself), I recommend this truly outstanding drive to the majority of the user market. Very few will second guess the purchase once up & running, and if moving from a HDD, I recommend to gather all of your license keys, drivers, software installers beforehand & perform a clean install. Just be sure to install the drive first, and boot while on the old one, so that the drive will be discovered in the UEFI (or BIOS), this will make the new install easier.
If installing Windows 7, be sure to have the update for it, plus any instructions on how to install, as I’ve only used NVMe SSD’s with Windows 8.1, 10 & Linux Mint 17/18 64 bit. Unfortunately, the update cannot be slipstreamed into the Windows 7 ISO, I guess that would be too easy.;-)
Have fun with the MyDigitalSSD BPX, as I am!
Cat
My first one was so good…..that I had to get another of the 240GB version, was priced the same. Wanted the larger, although pricing jumped by $25. In reality, don’t need that large of an OS drive, have many high performance HDD’s & various models of 120-128GB SATA-3 SSD’s awaiting action again.
Just felt that any extra unallocated space (minimum of 10% recommended for most) would had boosted performance & drive longevity by the controllers having lots of unused space to work with. Note that some SSD’s (not limited to NVMe) has inaccessible space for this purpose, so manual over provisioning may be unnecessary. Still, it’s good not to fill to more than 70% tops, this makes it hard for TRIM & GC to do it’s job, unless logged off & left running overnight, which I do once monthly anyway. This can also be accomplished by booting into the UEFI (or BIOS) & leaving on that screen for 8-12 hours, being sure to turn any external monitor off to avoid damage by a bright, still image.
While for now, have the new stored in my safe, no doubt will be placed into service at some point this year. Have an ASRock Z97 Extreme6 MB, need to RMA to repair the CPU socket (bent pins), from there, no more needs to be stated……..
A short follow-up review on my original MyDigitalSSD 240GB, it’s running great as ever with consistent benchmarks, otherwise surely wouldn’t had purchased a 2nd & then store for who knows when.
Cat
Muito bom …..