The 960 Evo SSD is one of Samsung’s premier NVMe SSDs, along with their current flagship, the 960 Pro. The Evo variant is available in a variety of capacities including 250, 500 and 1000 GB, each with a commensurate price tag, whilst the 960 Pro is available in 512, 1024 and 2048 GB capacities. The 960 Evo has lower write endurance compared to the 960 Pro due to its TLC (3-bit) V-NAND flash memory (the 960 Pro consists of MLC (2-bit) V-NAND). As a result, Samsung only guarantee 200 terabytes written on the 512 GB 960 Evo, compared to double that on the 960 Pro, however, this volume of data is very unlikely to affect consumers. The 250 GB 960 Evo has a 13 GB SLC cache which boosts initial write speed to roughly match the 960 Pro but writes exceeding 13 GB drop in speed by over 50%. Overall, the 960 Pro offers more consistent write performance than the 960 Evo, however, this will only impact workloads that exceed the 13 GB. [Nov '17SSDrivePro]
The Evo is remarkable in that, like the Sandisk Extreme II, it features a second level cache. For the 250 GB Evo this consists of a 3 GB Turbowrite cache (TWC) which is a block of high speed Flash Memory. When the TWC is exhausted write speeds drop by approximately 50% but that won't often happen under typical consumer workloads. In terms of raw performance, even with its cache, the Evo still isn't the fastest drive. With a real world speed index reading of 439 MB/s the EVO is however, within reach of the two speed leaders (Vector and 850 Pro). At a price point of $130 the Evo is around 30% cheaper making it the best value for money SSDs I have seen in 2014. Comparing the Evo and the Sandisk Ultra Plus shows that the Evo is the winner but the Sandisk may be a viable alternative thanks to its cache-free, and therefore more consistent performance during extended writes. [Aug '14SSDrivePro]
Welcome to our 2.5" and M.2 SSD comparison. We calculate effective speed for both SATA and NVMe drives based on real world performance then adjust by current prices per GB to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top SSDs. [SSDrivePro]
Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.