PC World - USA (2021-02)

FEBRUARY 2021 PCWorld 115

difference from the outside.
Such practices leave both SSD buyers and
we who review SSDs (go.pcworld.com/rvsd)
in the dark, with no idea of whether SSD
performance will be consistent throughout
the life cycle of a product. So PCWorld
reached out to the SSD vendors we cover to
get more information. What we learned was
mostly reassuring, but unfortunately the onus
remains upon the buyer to figure out what
you’re getting.

CHANGE IS GOOD, MOST
OF THE TIME
There are legitimate reasons for changing an
SSD, most either benign or positive: bug
fixes, firmware updates, faster components.
No harm, no foul, though we’d also like a new
revision number if changes are significant.
Supply issues may
also lead to component
changes, especially with
smaller vendors who are
picking parts off the shelf,
as it were. Again, no
harm, no foul.
However, one of the
three Adata XPG8200 Pro
NVMe SSDs Tom’s
Hardware looked at was
about 300MBps slower
than the others. Foul.
According to one
industry source who

asked not to be named, Adata is not alone:

Dataram, Kingspec, and Avant were also

mentioned as having changed to inferior

components at one point or another.

We’re not accusing any vendor of truly

malevolent behavior. Stuff happens. But let’s

just say the behavior is bad for users in the

short term, and bad for the company’s

reputation in the long run.

A WORD FROM THE

VENDORS

PCWorld contacted all the SSD vendors

mentioned in the Tom’s Hardware story, as

well as others mentioned by our source, and

any other major players, asking for more

information about component stability and

transparency in labeling.

Alas, there was no hard comment from

Samsung’s 970 EVO Plus is the right way to go about things. Significant

change, change the name. This came in handy when incompatibilities

with Macs ensued.