The Samsung 970 Pro is a third generation NVMe PCIe SSD which replaces the 960 Pro. It comes in a M.2. form factor and features Samsung’s latest Phoenix controller and 64 layer proprietary 3D MLC NAND. MLC NAND has better write consistency but is more expensive than the TLC NAND found in the 970 Evo. The 970 Pro demonstrates a 16% increase in peak sequential write speed over the 960 Pro. There are also improvements in random read and write speeds. Interestingly this iteration of Pro SSDs come with a price cut, with the 512GB retailing at just $250 and the 1TB at $500, whilst at the time of writing, the 512GB 960 Pro is $315. The 970 Pro targets professionals who may rely on Samsung’s 5 year or 600TBW warranty and who may need its extended write performance. But, for most users who rarely transfer more than 22 GB at a time (this is the size of the SLC cache the 500GB 970 Evo), the cheaper 970 Evo may represent better value for money. [May '18SSDrivePro]
The 860 Pro is Samsung’s latest consumer-grade SATA SSD flagship, superseding the popular, but now three years old, 850 Pro. Like the 850 Pro, the 860 Pro is based on Samsung’s proprietary and revolutionary (at the time), MLC V-NAND (3D). A 10% price premium over the 256 GB 850 Pro will purchase the 256 GB 860 Pro which has an impressive 16% faster effective speed. This is achieved via an updated controller (MJX) and 64 layers of V-NAND (versus 32 layers per the 850 Pro). The 860 Pro has sequential speeds of up to 540 MB/s which almost completely saturate its SATA 3.0 interface. These peak levels of performance are slightly higher, but still comparable to the peak performance of the 860 Evo before its SLC write cache (12 GB on the 250 GB Evo) is saturated, making the 860 Evo (at around 30% cheaper) a more economical choice for users who rarely write more than 12 GB at a time. There are also reliability improvements compared to the 850 generation with Samsung now offering a warranty of 300 TBW (terabytes written) for the 256 GB 860 Pro, compared to 150 TBW for the 256 GB 850 Pro. Thanks to higher density NAND, the 860 Pro is also available in a 4 TB variant, whereas previously 2 TB was the largest capacity for a Samsung SATA MLC SSD. [Feb '18SSDrivePro]
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.