Optane SSD vs Pcie 4

[beginner99]

So with the new insane numbers of the pcie4 ssds, I wonder if the numbers are actually useful or merely marketing. As with any NAND based-ssd the real-figures at real client-workloads at QD1 will be a lot lower. And that is exactly were optane shines, at least on paper. Not in heavy usage but light usage.

So I'm wondering, has anyone here plaxed around with fast (not necessarily pcie4) ssd and compared it to an optane drive? i'm not interested in benchmarks but the actual experience. Is there any noticeable difference?

 

[Edrick]

I have the Optane 900P drive (and love it), but I am curious too if PCIe 4.0 will help NVMe close the gap.

Also, any word on a 900P replacement? I thought Gen 2 Optane drives were due out in 2019.

 

[Viper GTS]

I have Optane 900P, 970 Pro, and 970 EVO+ drives spread across various systems. They're indistinguishable in daily use.

Viper GTS

 

[thor23]

PCIe 4.0 wont improve 4k 1T1Q workloads so I doubt it could compete with optane for a desktop workload. Optane is much closer to running from a ramdisk than an SSD for smaller workloads.

 

[ubern00b]

Unless you copy a lot of large files there is little benefit from a pcie 3.0 nvme drive compared to a pcie 4.0 one:

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/pci-express-4-0-nvme-ssd-test-amd-x570-ryzen-3000/3.html

 

[IntelUser2000]

I have Optane 900P, 970 Pro, and 970 EVO+ drives spread across various systems. They're indistinguishable in daily use.

Yes, even Optane with all the advantages doesn't show the gain in real world testing.

Technically, you can notice the advantage, but in a very limited scenario. Like if you delete very large amount of files, Optane won't stutter while others will. But how often are you deleting very large files? Also performance is consistent regardless of drive fill or data being dirty, but for most consumers might offer diminishing returns.

PCIe 4.0 is more of what it has already(which didn't do anything) so it offers negligible benefits.

Optane is much closer to running from a ramdisk than an SSD for smaller workloads.

Ramdisks have a big advantage in sequentials, which will help in a limited way for some things. The big negative is of course you need to load your data into it.