To heatsink or to not heatsink, that is the question. Okay, that's a silly question, but it's a relevant one in this case. And that's because the Nextorage NEM-PA 2TB is pretty much all the SSD you could ever want. It has very high read and write speeds, and thanks to a large SLC cache and 2GB of onboard DRAM, it can sustain those figures for large data transfers.
So why would you choose the Solidigm P44 Pro 2TB, when its read/write speeds are a little slower and its SLC cache is roughly half the size of the Nextorage? The answer is all to do with where you want to install the SSD.
Gaming motherboards released over the past few years typically sport at least two M.2 slots for NVMe drives and include large metal heatsinks to help prevent the SSDs from hitting any thermal limits and slowing down. While you can use a heatsink-equipped SSD in those slots, you won't be able to use the motherboard's own cooling system.
At best, it'll just spoil the aesthetics of your gaming PC but, at worst, it could also affect the overall storage performance, if those default heatsinks are also used to keep the motherboard chipset cool.
This is where the Solidigm P44 Pro has an advantage over the Nextorage model—it doesn't come with a heatsink already attached to it, making it a piece of cake to add to any motherboard. And if the latter doesn't have its own heatsinks, then you can just go with the Nextorage.
In reality, the performance difference between the two isn't going to be noticeable in games and they both use quality components, so they'll last for years. Solidigm is a brand name of SK Hynix, which makes the NAND flash chips and controller for that SSD. Nextorage was set up by Sony and it uses Micron and Phison for the flash and controller, so again, great parts and a long lifespan.
They're also both certified to work in the PlayStation 5 so if your console is running short on space, slap either of these into the SSD expansion slot and you've immediately got a mountain of space to fill up with new games.
As they're both the same price, you really can't go wrong with choosing either one of them. SSD prices are quite volatile at the moment, so while they have been cheaper than this in the past, as things currently stand $140 for 2TB of blisteringly quick NVMe storage is a great deal.
We're starting to see more games appearing that use DirectStorage, such as Horizon Forbidden West, and this technology makes games load so fast that you'll barely notice any loading screens. Coupled with a fast SSD, you'll easily see what all the fuss is about with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X storage speeds.
