PNY CS900 is one of the popular SSDs offered by PNY. PNY is a pretty popular company in the field of electronics but not that much in the storage domain. However, the CS900 is a great product if you are looking to buy a SATA-3 SSD. This one also has backward compatibility with SATA-2 motherboards.
We all know that there are various other amazing SSDs in the market in its competition but this one has some great things to offer. We are going to know about everything in this article below.
The PNY CS900 2.5″ SATA SSD is available in multiple storage variants. If you check the official page, you will see all the versions which are 120GB, 240GB, 250GB, 480GB, 500GB, 960GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB.
But, the PNY CS900 M.2 SATA has only three capacity versions which are 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB.
The M.2 versions are around 10% more costly than the SATA 2.5″ versions.
Note: The PNY CS900 M.2 SATA variant has slightly low read/write speeds as compared to its SATA 2.5″ version.
Theoretical Read/Write Speed
The company claims that it is making the most out of the SATA protocol by offering up to 560MB/s sequential read and up to 540MB/s sequential write speed.
However, the speed is compromised with its M.2 SATA version. The M.2 SATA version of CS900 can reach only up to the sequential read speed of 535MB/s and write speed of 5.5MB/s.
As per these numbers, we can say that this SSD is competing great with most of the popular SSDs in the market. This read/write speed is much more than the Crucial MX500 and SAMSUNG 850 EVO as well.
Note: These are the speeds told by the company. We will come to the actual benchmark scores later on.
NAND Flash Type and Cache Memory
The CS900 is equipped with the TLC 3D NAND which is known to be less durable than the MLC. This NAND is manufactured by Micron. There are a total of 64 layers of TLC NAND used in this SSD.
The company has offered a 3-Year Warranty which is enough if we look at the price.
If we talk about the cache, this is the thing that puts question marks on this product. The company hasn’t revealed where the SSD comes with a DRAM-Cache or not. But, it is basically a DRAM-Less SSD. The configurations are Single-core, 2-ch, 8-CE/ch.
But, it is now cleared that the CS900 one is a DRAM-Less SSD. But, it does use its 32GB of SRAM which is combined just with its Phison S11 controller chip. However, the speed and random 4K speed is great as compared to the other DRAM-Less SSDs.
Benchmark Scores
Being a DRAM-Less SSD, you can expect it to work a little bit poorly when it comes to huge data reading or writing when the storage capacity is full. And, that is what we have seen in our testing. The PNY CS900 does great when the storage is empty and the files we are transferring are of low size.
But, when it comes to the huge files, the read/write operations start to become slow. However, if you are a normal user who wants to improve the OS booting times and software opening times, this SSD is more than enough for you. Let’s see how well it performs when it comes to the real-time usage.
Note: I have mentioned the same benchmark scores in another article where I have discussed the difference between the CS900 and PNY CS1311.
| Model(Capacity) | Sequential Read | Sequential Write | Random 4K Read | Random 4K Write |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS900 120GB | 380.3MB/s | 250.5MB/s | 28.4MB/s | 65.2MB/s |
| CS900 240GB | 400.4MB/s | 290.6MB/s | 25.6MB/s | 60.3MB/s |
| CS900 480GB | 350.8MB/s | 260.9MB/s | 30.1MB/s | 74.5MB/s |
| CS900 960GB | 371.1MB/s | 280.1MB/s | 29.2MB/s | 70.9MB/s |
| CS900 2TB | 380.5MB/s | 290.0MB/s | 30.4MB/s | 71.7MB/s |
The average read/write speed of this PNY CS900 (240 GB) is around 292MB/s. However, the 1TB version is best in terms of performance with an average read/write speed of about 330MB/s.
The random read/write speeds are acceptable since it is a SATA SSD available at a very cheap price tag.
Price of PNY
The price is the thing which is attracting people towards this SSD. Let’s see the price of PNY CS900 and see how well they are priced by the company.
Note: The prices of this SSD keep changing and different platforms will offer you the product at different price tags. Your location will also have an impact on the price.
Final Verdict: Should you buy PNY CS900 or not?
I would say there is no problem buying a PNY CS900. In fact, the SSD comes with a 3-Years manufacturer warranty along with other good specifications. But, if you have work where huge data sizes of data reading and writing works are required, this one might not fulfill your needs because it’s a DRAM-Less SSD.
However, if you look at its prices, a normal user would definitely be able to get the most out of it without any worries. However, for gamers, video editors, and other hardcore computer users, this may not be the right fit.
Best Alternatives to the CS900 SSD (Similar Prices)
If you still think that CS900 is not the perfect SSD for you, here are some other suggestions for you. The prices are almost similar but these are DRAM SSDs and pretty popular in the market. Let’s see them.
1. Crucial MX500
Crucial MX500 is a very popular SATA 2.5″ SSD offered by Crucial in its performance SATA range. It comes with a DRAM cache and a power controller. It offers the read/write speeds up to 550 and 510 MB/s. In fact, it can be used for gaming, heavy data reading/writing, and other hardcore computation tasks.
2. WD Blue
WD Blue SSD also got a DRAM cache along with powerful Marvell 88SS1074, dual-core controller. Using the Sandisk’s TLC 3D NAND, it offers a massive read/write performance. Most of the variants of WD Blue are way cheaper than the CS900 and it can offer you better performance in all terms.
Thanks for reading!