Samsung 970 EVO M.2 500GB NVMe SSD review - Specifications & Features

Samsung SSD 970 EVO Specifications & Features

Samsung is to offer four versions of the new 970 EVO, the 250 GB, 500GB, 1TB and 2TB models. The 970 PRO series will come with 3D NAND flash memory from Samsung's latest revision V-NAND node (64-layers vertically stacked NAND). The EVO series will be fitted with V-NAND written as 3bit per cell.

So what is V-NAND? 

V-NAND is a physically vertical NAND cell stacking not to be confused with chip stacking in a multi-chip package. In V-NAND, NAND layers, not chips, are stacked in a single IC. The good news is continued cost reduction, smaller die sizes and more capacity per NAND chip. Also, installed NAND toolsets in the wafer fabs can, for the most part, be reused, thereby extending the useful life of fab equipment. Current V-NAND stacks have 64 cell layers vertically over one another, rather than decreasing cell dimensions to fit onto a fixed horizontal space, resulting in higher density and better performance with a smaller footprint. With the M.2 form factor SSDs, more consumers with desktops or ultra-thin PCs can benefit from best-in-class performance and reliability of the technology. We started at 32-layers, the 960 series was 48-layers, this year's 970 series has 64-layers. And sure, R&D on 96-layers already on its way. 

So is it TLC or MLC NAND?

Samsung refers to this as MLC VNAND for the EVO line which is confusing and shady, it really is TLC but .. Triple-level cells (TLC) and future quad-level cells (QLC) are versions of MLC memory, which can store 3 and 4 bits per cell, respectively. Note that due to the convention, the name "multi-level cell" is sometimes used specifically to refer to the "two-level cell", which is slightly confusing. Overall, the memories are named as follows:

1. SLC (1 bit per cell) - fastest, highest cost
2. MLC (2 bits per cell)
3. TLC (3 bits per cell)
4. QLC (4 bits per cell) - slowest, least cost

What is NVMe?

NVMe is also known as Non-Volatile Memory Express or the Non-Volatile Memory Host Controller Interface Specification. The idea behind NVMe is to improve the storage stack by optimizing the way an application accesses a Flash device. NVMe cuts corners by removing components within the I/O path like that good old-fashioned RAID controller. To be able to make use of the new NVMe based devices inside your PC you have to have a proper driver installed, this can be downloaded at the Samsung website. This enables NVMe devices to function within the existing operating system I/O stack protocol. On the next page, we'll talk a little more about NVMe. But let's have a quick peek at the key specifications of the new 970 series:

	970 Pro (1TB)	970 EVO (1TB)	960 Pro (1TB)	960 EVO (1TB)	950 Pro (1TB)	850 Pro (1TB)
Form Factor	M.2 2280	M.2 2280	M.2 2280	M.2 2280	M.2 2280	2.5" SATA
Controller	Samsung Phoenix	Samsung Phoenix	Samsung Polaris	Samsung Polaris	Samsung UBX	Samsung MEX
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x4	PCIe 3.0 x4	PCIe 3.0 x4	PCIe 3.0 x4	PCIe 3.0 x4	SATA III
Protocol	NVMe 1.3	NVMe 1.3	NVMe 1.2	NVMe 1.2	NVMe	AHCI
DRAM (up-to)	2GB LP DDR3	1GB LP DDR3	1GB LP DDR3	1GB LP DDR3	512MB	512MB
NAND	Samsung V-NAND 64-layer 2bit MLC	Samsung V-NAND 64-layer 3bit MLC	Samsung V-NAND 48-layer 128Gbit MLC	Samsung V-NAND 3bit MLC	Samsung V-NAND 32-layer 128Gbit MLC	Samsung V-NAND 32-layer 86Gbit MLC
Sequential Read	3,400MB/s	3,500MB/s	3,500MB/s	3,200MB/s	2,500MB/s	550MB/s
Sequential Write	2,700MB/s	2,500MB/s	2,100MB/s	1,900MB/s	1,500MB/s	520MB/s
4KB Random Read (QD32)	500K IOPS	500K IOPS	440K IOPS	380K IOPS	300K IOPS	100K IOPS
4KB Random Write (QD32)	500K IOPS	480K IOPS	360K IOPS	360K IOPS	110K IOPS	90K IOPS
Power	5.4W (burst) 4.2 W (average) 5mW  (idle)	7.3W (burst) 5.2W (average) 40mW  (idle)	7.3W (burst) 5.2W (average) 40mW  (idle)	7.3W (burst) 5.5W (average) 40mW  (idle)	7.0W (burst) 5.7W (average) 1.7W (idle)	3.3W (read) 3.0W (write) 0.4W (idle)
Encryption	AES-256, TCG Opal 2.0	AES-256, TCG Opal 2.0	AES-256, TCG Opal 2.0	AES-256, TCG Opal 2.0	AES-256, TCG Opal 2.0	AES-256, TCG Opal 2.0
Endurance	1200 TB	600 TB	600TB	400TB	400TB	300TB
Warranty	5 Year	5 Year	5 Year	3 Year	5 Year	10 Year
Launch Date	April 2018	April 2018	October 2016	November 2016	October 2015	Summer 2014

For the somewhat more affordable EVO series, these remain really impressive numbers. Please keep in kind that the specs listed above are for the 1TB model. Smaller models will have slightly lower reads and writes. Granted reads wise, it's not hugely faster over the 960 series though. Writes wise you'll see a nice improvement alright, especially sustained and 4K IOPS.

Samsung achieves the new write rates thanks to it's large and fast DRAM buffers, the SSD also makes use of an SLC written partition (TurboWrite), used as cache/buffer. Samsungs Intelligent TurboWrite buffer size varies based on the capacity of the SSD: 13GB for 250GB model, 22GB for 500GB model, 42GB for 1TB model and 78GB for 2TB model. This is why the file sizes differ between the EVO and Pro series. You'll notice a new glossy metal shielded controller, that's done to prevent the SSD from throttling, Samsung now applies a Nickel-coated controller. The nickel coating helps reduces overheating and thus throttling.