- May 19, 2011
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The reason why I'm thinking of doing this is while I know Samsung's selection pretty well, I get completely lost with other manufacturers!
Starting with the absolute basics:
SATA: 870 EVO, 870 QVO
NVMe M.2: 970 Evo Plus, 980, 980 PRO, 990 EVO, 990 PRO
I haven't had a need to investigate PCIE slot NVMe drives.
870 EVO: SATA, has DRAM cache, TLC drive, Samsung's highest-performing SATA drive, available in capacities 250GB-4TB
870 QVO: SATA, has DRAM cache, QLC drive, meant for capacity over performance, 1TB-8TB
970 Evo Plus: NVMe M.2, has DRAM cache, TLC drive, PCIe 3.0, middle-of-the-Samsung-road performance, 250GB-2TB
IIRC Samsung changed the controller on newer versions of this drive which resulted in a minor difference (in the 'giveth and taketh away' sense) in performance
980: NVMe M.2 drive, DRAM-less (aka. 'HMB'), TLC drive, PCIe 3.0, budget-class performance, 250GB-1TB
980 PRO: NVMe M.2 drive, has DRAM cache, TLC drive, PCIe 4.0, was Samsung's flagship drive but being replaced by 990 PRO, 250GB-2TB
990 EVO: NVMe M.2 drive, DRAM-less, TLC drive, PCIe 4.0, this review claims that it's an upgrade for the 970 Evo Plus but it being DRAM-less means it's a replacement for the 980, 1-2TB
990 PRO: NVMe M.2 drive, has DRAM cache, TLC drive, PCIe 4.0, is Samsung's current flagship drive, 1TB-4TB
Starting with the absolute basics:
SATA: 870 EVO, 870 QVO
NVMe M.2: 970 Evo Plus, 980, 980 PRO, 990 EVO, 990 PRO
I haven't had a need to investigate PCIE slot NVMe drives.
870 EVO: SATA, has DRAM cache, TLC drive, Samsung's highest-performing SATA drive, available in capacities 250GB-4TB
870 QVO: SATA, has DRAM cache, QLC drive, meant for capacity over performance, 1TB-8TB
The Samsung 870 QVO (1TB & 4TB) SSD Review: QLC Refreshed
www.anandtech.com
970 Evo Plus: NVMe M.2, has DRAM cache, TLC drive, PCIe 3.0, middle-of-the-Samsung-road performance, 250GB-2TB
IIRC Samsung changed the controller on newer versions of this drive which resulted in a minor difference (in the 'giveth and taketh away' sense) in performance
The Samsung 970 EVO Plus (250GB, 1TB) NVMe SSD Review: 92-Layer 3D NAND
www.anandtech.com
980: NVMe M.2 drive, DRAM-less (aka. 'HMB'), TLC drive, PCIe 3.0, budget-class performance, 250GB-1TB
The Samsung SSD 980 (500GB & 1TB) Review: Samsung's Entry NVMe
www.anandtech.com
980 PRO: NVMe M.2 drive, has DRAM cache, TLC drive, PCIe 4.0, was Samsung's flagship drive but being replaced by 990 PRO, 250GB-2TB
The Samsung 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 SSD Review: A Spirit of Hope
www.anandtech.com
990 EVO: NVMe M.2 drive, DRAM-less, TLC drive, PCIe 4.0, this review claims that it's an upgrade for the 970 Evo Plus but it being DRAM-less means it's a replacement for the 980, 1-2TB
Samsung 990 EVO SSD Review
Given the excessive pricing of the Samsung 990 EVO at launch and the dismal performance profile, we can't recommend this drive at all.
www.storagereview.com
990 PRO: NVMe M.2 drive, has DRAM cache, TLC drive, PCIe 4.0, is Samsung's current flagship drive, 1TB-4TB
Samsung 990 Pro SSD Review (2TB)
The Samsung 990 Pro is the company’s latest (and much anticipated) addition to its popular enthusiast NVMe SSD line.
www.storagereview.com