Question SK hynix Platinum P41 2TB SSD Write speed dropped by half

Super Spartan · Feb 12, 2023

Only about 4TB written to the SSD so far, when I first got it, the performance was:

Now, the write has dropped by about half:

the only difference which I think was different is I was on Windows 11 21H1 when I benchmarked it the first time and now I am on the latest 22H2. The read speeds are the same. What gives?

PS: I even tried using the Samsung NVMe modded drive but that didn't change the write speeds.
Antivirus is disabled while taking the test

Laptop specs are in my signature

StoppedDeadInMyTracks · Jan 31, 2025

I received my refund a long time ago.

Interesting but the other 2TB P41 I have never exhibited the problem. I still have it in my system and I have moved many TBs of data between it and my WD black sn850x. I currently have 1.8TB of games and other files on the drive and it is still giving me full read and write speeds.

igor_kavinski · Jan 31, 2025

StoppedDeadInMyTracks said:
it is still giving me full read and write speeds.

Just avoid running CDM too much. With 4GB test size, it may write 40GB of data per run. That's about two days worth of writes and with the drive almost full, that's bad news for the limited write cycles of the drive.

Hail The Brain Slug · Mar 30, 2025

For any affected parties, there is finally a firmware update that appears to address this issue available on the SK Hynix website. You must install the Easy Drive Manager to install the update.

https://ssd.skhynix.com/download/driver_manager/DriveManager-C3.2.0-windows-installer-x64.exe

https://ssd.skhynix.com/download/firmware/Platinum_P41_firmware_update.ebin

Currently this is only available for the P41 Platinum. The P44 Pro variant does not yet have an update available.

fastandfurious6 · Mar 30, 2025

Hail The Brain Slug said:
For any affected parties, there is finally a firmware update that appears to address this issue available on the SK Hynix website. You must install the Easy Drive Manager to install the update.

https://ssd.skhynix.com/download/driver_manager/DriveManager-C3.2.0-windows-installer-x64.exe

https://ssd.skhynix.com/download/firmware/Platinum_P41_firmware_update.ebin

Currently this is only available for the P41 Platinum. The P44 Pro variant does not yet have an update available.

does it erase data/format?

Hail The Brain Slug · Mar 30, 2025

fastandfurious6 said:
does it erase data/format?

Several people have installed the update and reported no change to their drive setup/data.

GPz1100 · Mar 30, 2025

Hail The Brain Slug said:
Several people have installed the update and reported no change to their drive setup/data.

I was just going to comment on this. Need some more long term results.

Still, it's highly unlikely i'll ever buy another hynix ssd. It took them waaaaaaaaaaay too long to issue any kind of fix for this. Perhaps the driving force for this update was the cost of escalating refunds.

tcsenter · Mar 30, 2025

GPz1100 said:
Still, it's highly unlikely i'll ever buy another hynix ssd. It took them waaaaaaaaaaay too long to issue any kind of fix for this. Perhaps the driving force for this update was the cost of escalating refunds.

Solidigm pulls out of consumer SSD market with discontinuation of drives

Chasing the data center instead of consumers.

www.tomshardware.com

DreadBelch · Apr 10, 2025

Hail The Brain Slug said:
For any affected parties, there is finally a firmware update that appears to address this issue available on the SK Hynix website. You must install the Easy Drive Manager to install the update.

https://ssd.skhynix.com/download/driver_manager/DriveManager-C3.2.0-windows-installer-x64.exe

https://ssd.skhynix.com/download/firmware/Platinum_P41_firmware_update.ebin

Currently this is only available for the P41 Platinum. The P44 Pro variant does not yet have an update available.

I've tried downloading the installer four times now this month. It stops at around 80%. Just my luck

igor_kavinski · Apr 10, 2025

DreadBelch said:
I've tried downloading the installer four times now this month. It stops at around 80%. Just my luck

P41_firmware

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

There you go.

It was slow and got stuck at 99% but finally completed.

DreadBelch · Apr 10, 2025

Thank you, igor. That was really nice of you man.

b_wellington · Apr 12, 2025

Good day!
I just been made aware of this, right after i ordered 2 of the OEM Hynix PC801 drives - same as P41 Platinum.
Anyone can tell if those are affected too? And if it is possible to upgrade the firmware.

Super Spartan · Apr 12, 2025

b_wellington said:
Good day!
I just been made aware of this, right after i ordered 2 of the OEM Hynix PC801 drives - same as P41 Platinum.
Anyone can tell if those are affected too? And if it is possible to upgrade the firmware.

They're the same, cancel the order, there are so many good SSDs out there it makes no sense to take a chance with these crappy drives

b_wellington · Apr 12, 2025

Super Spartan said:
They're the same, cancel the order, there are so many good SSDs out there it makes no sense to take a chance with these crappy drives

Yea i figured.. I am in process canceling.
I wanted to get Lexar NM790, recieved NQ790 instead
I am cursed i guess. I am building new PC and already have 1tb 980 pro and 2tb ADATA XPG SX8200 pro (before they began to swap components)
I wanted to add some extra storage, preferably 4tb without paying Samsung 990 pro prices.
Maybe buying ADATA LEGEND 960 locally with 5 year warranty is not such a bad idea. This SSD wasnt noticed to use different components thus far.

Super Spartan · Apr 12, 2025

b_wellington said:
Yea i figured.. I am in process canceling.
I wanted to get Lexar NM790, recieved NQ790 instead
I am cursed i guess. I am building new PC and already have 1tb 980 pro and 2tb ADATA XPG SX8200 pro (before they began to swap components)
I wanted to add some extra storage, preferably 4tb without paying Samsung 990 pro prices.
Maybe buying ADATA LEGEND 960 locally with 5 year warranty is not such a bad idea. This SSD wasnt noticed to use different components thus far.

Don't get the Lexar, I work for a computer company that sells custom built laptops and we had so many Lexar SSD drive failures we stopped using them.

The speeds are great but it's not reliable, just stick to WD or Samsung and call it a day man, stop trying stuff with your precious data!

b_wellington · Apr 12, 2025

Super Spartan said:
Don't get the Lexar, I work for a computer company that sells custom built laptops and we had so many Lexar SSD drive failures we stopped using them.

The speeds are great but it's not reliable, just stick to WD or Samsung and call it a day man, stop trying stuff with your precious data!

View attachment 121914

I had to return Lexar anyway. And i wont be considering drives with similar hardware anymore.
Any thoughts on ADATA LEGEND 960 MAX?
SM controller, Micron memory.. the gen 3 ADATA i have works more than 5 years in my PC.
it's either ADATA locally or WD SN850X from China. There is also new WD 7100, but it's DRAM less design and no 4tb model again, looks like a downgrade from SN850X but at least it's cheaper.

Super Spartan · Apr 12, 2025

b_wellington said:
I had to return Lexar anyway. And i wont be considering drives with similar hardware anymore.
Any thoughts on ADATA LEGEND 960 MAX?
SM controller, Micron memory.. the gen 3 ADATA i have works more than 5 years in my PC.
it's either ADATA locally or WD SN850X from China. There is also new WD 7100, but it's DRAM less design and no 4tb model again, looks like a downgrade from SN850X but at least it's cheaper.

The ADATA Legend 960 MAX is not bad, mediocre performance.

I would get the WD_BLACK SN850X from China, those SSDs are built like a tank. The WD7100 is not bad but I don't understand why SanDisk/Western Digital would release such low capacity drives in 2025. I have owned the WD_Black SN850X in various capacities for a few years, very reliable, great sustained performance when new and after 10s of TBs of writes, doesn't overhead (and I use them in laptops with no heatsink)

igor_kavinski · Apr 13, 2025

Super Spartan said:
(and I use them in laptops with no heatsink)

Thanks for that! I personally wouldn't have tried it for fear of causing too much heat buildup but seems their throttling mechanism is well developed and the firmware is designed to maintain a good balance between temperature and performance with limited cooling.

b_wellington · Apr 13, 2025

Super Spartan said:
The ADATA Legend 960 MAX is not bad, mediocre performance.

I would get the WD_BLACK SN850X from China, those SSDs are built like a tank. The WD7100 is not bad but I don't understand why SanDisk/Western Digital would release such low capacity drives in 2025. I have owned the WD_Black SN850X in various capacities for a few years, very reliable, great sustained performance when new and after 10s of TBs of writes, doesn't overhead (and I use them in laptops with no heatsink)

View attachment 121926 View attachment 121927 View attachment 121928

Thankfully - both packages were intercepted before they left China, already have the money return pending for the first one. Another one is being sent back to seller as i type this.
WD850X it is then.

Super Spartan · Apr 13, 2025

b_wellington said:
Thankfully - both packages were intercepted before they left China, already have the money return pending for the first one. Another one is being sent back to seller as i type this.
WD850X it is then.

When you get them and install them, don't forget to install the SanDisk Dashboard, after you install it, go into settings, set it to launch automatically, then set it to launch in the background so it doesn't pop in your face every time you start Windows, then finally, enable the option to disable background tasks when minimized to reduce its CPU usage.

Download SanDisk Dashboard = https://sddashboarddownloads.sandisk.com/wdDashboard/DashboardSetup.exe

When you download any file, Windows places a BLOCKED marker on it. This is a big issue for developers when users complain that a program doesn't install or is installed but doesn't work properly. The same applies to drivers.

It is a nuisance because Windows does not distinguish between a safe file and a harmful file. It just blocks everything you download, which is why you sometimes get the warning that says, "Are you sure you want to open this file?"

Right-click on the file you just downloaded, go to Properties and check the unblock button at the bottom if it says it was blocked because it came from the internet. If you don't do this, the installer will not have the proper privileges, and this will lead to erroneous installation.

To prevent Windows from automatically blocking downloaded files, check this guide: Enable or Disable Block Files Downloaded from Internet in Windows

b_wellington · Apr 13, 2025

Super Spartan said:
When you get them and install them, don't forget to install the SanDisk Dashboard, after you install it, go into settings, set it to launch automatically, then set it to launch in the background so it doesn't pop in your face every time you start Windows, then finally, enable the option to disable background tasks when minimized to reduce its CPU usage.

Download SanDisk Dashboard = https://sddashboarddownloads.sandisk.com/wdDashboard/DashboardSetup.exe

When you download any file, Windows places a BLOCKED marker on it. This is a big issue for developers when users complain that a program doesn't install or is installed but doesn't work properly. The same applies to drivers.

It is a nuisance because Windows does not distinguish between a safe file and a harmful file. It just blocks everything you download, which is why you sometimes get the warning that says, "Are you sure you want to open this file?"

Right-click on the file you just downloaded, go to Properties and check the unblock button at the bottom if it says it was blocked because it came from the internet. If you don't do this, the installer will not have the proper privileges, and this will lead to erroneous installation.

To prevent Windows from automatically blocking downloaded files, check this guide: Enable or Disable Block Files Downloaded from Internet in Windows

So they they moved under Sandisk software entirely? I thought WD had their own software..

Hail The Brain Slug · Apr 13, 2025

b_wellington said:
So they they moved under Sandisk software entirely? I thought WD had their own software..

Sandisk and WD divorced and Sandisk took all of the SSDs.

igor_kavinski · Apr 13, 2025

Hail The Brain Slug said:
Sandisk and WD divorced and Sandisk took all of the SSDs.

What a messy divorce. The only good thing out of it was SN770, SN850X and maybe OptiNAND hard drives.

GPz1100 · Apr 13, 2025

@Super Spartan Why install the sandisk dashboard? I've always considered these softwares as bloat (same for samdung magician). Don't install unless absolutely necessary (like fw update).

Hail The Brain Slug · Apr 13, 2025

GPz1100 said:
@Super Spartan Why install the sandisk dashboard? I've always considered these softwares as bloat (same for samdung magician). Don't install unless absolutely necessary (like fw update).

These specific apps arent really much bloat. They don't install 6 different software packages and configure 12 windows services that all have to be running in order to operate like some of this type of garbage hardware managenent software. Install the app, disable it on startup, and it will never do anything unless you open it to check drive health, check for firmware update, or use it to change drive settings (game mode?).

Really some of the least intrusive software of this type.

Super Spartan · Apr 13, 2025

GPz1100 said:
@Super Spartan Why install the sandisk dashboard? I've always considered these softwares as bloat (same for samdung magician). Don't install unless absolutely necessary (like fw update).

Where's the bloat? It's a utility, you use it to check for firmware updates and check drive health (if needed). You also have the option to enable Game Mode which I haven't bothered with as I read from reviews that it doesn't do anything meaningful but it's definitely not bloatware. Heck, you don't even need to set it to auto start if you don't want to.

Question SK hynix Platinum P41 2TB SSD Write speed dropped by half

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