Hello fine people of the framework interwebs!
I am fully aware this has been covered to various degrees in the past, but i just wanted to see more recently if anyone has any experience with the SK Hynix P41, Solidigm P44 Pro, or any Gen4 drives for that matter.
Context for reference: I have a Q3 AMD DIY Framework 13 pre order, and im looking for a low power SSD champ. After some research (on this forum and tom’s hardware reviews mainly). Ive basically shortlisted the SK Hynix P31, P41 and Solidigm P44 Pro as the current top dogs when it comes to low draw (under load and idle) NVME drives.
Firstly, do you agree or should i be considering any other models?
Secondly the the Gen3 P31 seems to draw less at idle, but the Gen4 P41 and P44 provide better efficiency (MBps per Watt) due to thier much faster Gen4 speeds. Which of these will have more impact on real world battery usage?
Is this all largely acedemic and I’ll just go with a Gen4 for the speed gains?
Or conversely have people found Gen4’s speed gains don’t make much real word difference? (Again for a little context my main usecases are CAD for work and music making/games for play)
Any insight is very much appreciated and will pass the time while i stare longingly out the window waiting waiting for my framework baby to arrive…
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Between Gen3 and Gen4 I doubt you will notice the speed difference. Once you go above 400MBps or so then real world usage/feel are much of a muchness IMO. Obviously I will be corrected by someone that can “feel the difference” between 3500MBps and 6000MBps when transfering a 300MB file… 
I really wouldnt sweat it. In a Framework get the best for battery life full stop. Remember flash storage is getting cheaper and cheaper so you can always swap it out a year from now for something else. I went with a WD SN850 but that was because the P31 and the WD RED 1TB were not available when I wanted to buy. Yes the WD RED NAS as that was good for endurance.
My priorities were battery, then endurance then speed. The 850 doesnt feel any faster to me than my 3500MBps drives in my workstation even though it benches at 7000MBps.
The law of diiminishing returns.
Many thanks for the insight @Jason_Dagless, good to know your experience with the SN850. i’ll be honest i still think the now 5 year old ADATA SX8200 Gen3 drives in my desktop pc are great, i just haven’t had hands on with gen4 yet.
Also @James_Bloom thanks for the reads too. Unless anyone can give a good reason to consider Gen4 i think ill pick up a P31 while they’re still available in the UK (@£110 for 2tb)
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I think for a laptop like the Framework that you may want to be on the go with, then go power efficiency. But at the end of the day any of the quality TLC DRAM equipped Gen3/4 NVMe drives will do you great.
I have a Intel Optane P1600X 118GB drive on the way that I was toying with putting in one of my laptops but the power draw on it is rather high as it was never designed to by used in laptops.