SSD

The hidden chip in your storage Most shoppers filter for capacity and price, assuming all Solid State Drives perform identically. This oversight ignores the DRAM Cache, a dedicated memory chip that acts as a physical map for your data. Manufacturers often omit this component to save costs, leaving consumers with drives that struggle under heavy workloads or as they reach capacity. Why the Flash Translation Layer matters Inside every SSD, a controller manages the Flash Translation Layer (FTL). This lookup table tells the operating system exactly where data sits on the physical NAND. When an SSD has a DRAM Cache, it stores this map in ultra-fast memory. Without it, the drive must rely on Host Memory Buffer (HMB), which borrows system RAM, or worse, stores the map on the slower NAND flash itself. This leads to increased wear and sluggish responsiveness. Marketing games and bait-and-switch tactics Western Digital serves as a prime example of industry obfuscation. The WD Black SN750 featured DRAM, but its successor, the SN750 SE, stripped it away while moving to PCIe Gen 4 to mask the performance loss. Similarly, certain capacities of the WD Blue SA510 include the chip while others don't, creating a minefield for the average buyer. SanDisk and Crucial have also participated in this lack of disclosure. Voting with your wallet for transparency While DRAM-less drives suffice for secondary game storage, they are poor choices for a primary boot drive. System updates and background virus scans significantly degrade the user experience on cacheless hardware. Fortunately, Samsung, Kingston, and Acer Predator remain transparent on their spec sheets. Consumers should favor brands that disclose their hardware components rather than those that hide behind color-coded marketing and sticker-voided warranties.