Samsung launch the 970 PRO NVMe SSD, available in 512GB and 1TB capacities. Is the 1TB model worth the £150 premium over the EVO model?
Product on Review: Samsung 970 Pro SSD
Manufacturer: Samsung
Street Price: 512GB: £275.79 / $329.99 – 1TB: £526.79 / $629.99
Back in 2015, Samsung released the 950 PRO, their first V-NAND NVMe SSD. The following year saw the 960 PRO, furthering on performance to the point of becoming the market leader. Samsung saw it upon themselves to retain that crown. Welcome to the Samsung 970 PRO NVMe SSD.
The 970 PRO makes use of 2-bit MLC V-NAND, along with the new and refined Phoenix controller, claiming speeds up to 3500MB/s read and 2700MB/s write. 500,000 IOPS in random read and write is also quoted. These numbers, on paper at least, make the 970 PRO around 30% faster in sequential performance and over 50% faster in random access than the previous generation.
The new Phoenix controller features five individual cores, just like the 960 PRO. One of those is dedicated to improving communication between the system and the 970 PRO, whereas the other four are improved by increasing the core clock to maximise speeds.
512GB and 1TB are your only options for capacity. The lack of a 256GB model is likely due to performance issues at the small capacity, and 2TB has been omitted because of Samsung’s dedication to MLC V-NAND, instead of the more dense TLC flash used by other manufacturers. The 970 PRO measures 22mm wide and 80mm in length, so will fit into any motherboard supporting the 2280 M.2 form factor.
If speed is what you’re after, above all else, the 970 PRO certainly talks the talk, but does it walk the walk? Let’s put it through some tests.
Samsung on the 970 PRO:
Delivering unprecedented performance, the 970 PRO maximizes the potential of NVMe bandwidth. With greater performance than the previous generation, the new 970 PRO offers unparalleled sequential read/write speeds of up to 3,500/2,700 MB/s respectively and random performances of up to 500,000 IOPS for both of read/write operations. The 970 PRO is the best solution for processing massive amounts of data, 4K graphic works, 4K/DirectX 12 games and data analytics.
Technical Specifications
Packaging, Bundle & Closer Look
The Samsung 970 PRO arrives in an almost identical box to the previous 960 PRO, and the same with the EVO models. The main difference is the colour of the lettering in the PRO or EVO. The picture does look rather cool on the front though!
Due to the limited space on the rear, and multiple languages being used, you’re instead directed to the Samsung website for further information.
The front of the drive is covered almost entirely by a single sticker. There’s a small metallic element running through the sticker, helping to dissipate heat; it may only be slightly effective, but any extra heat dissipation will help prolong performance and SSD lifespan.
Flipping over the drive, the reverse side is completely flat save for a small sticker. The 970 PRO is single sided so the controller and all NAND chips are on the front – this helps to prevent thermal throttling by trapping hot components between the PCB of the SSD and the surface of the motherboard, with little-to-no airflow.
Samsung reckon this drive can deliver speeds up to 3500MB/s read and 2700MB/s write, along with 500K IOPS in both directions. We’ll see how it performs in the upcoming tests.
Test Setup & Methodology
Our test system is formatted and a fresh version of Windows is installed with just drives in place – no additional applications. Windows is then updated to the latest release and the drivers are installed.Included in the list of benchmarks are the following applications:
Benchmarks
Anvil Pro
AS SSD
ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.46
Futuremark PCMark 8
AIDA64
AS SSD
ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.46
Futuremark PCMark 8
AIDA64
Test system
CPU: Intel Core i7 7700K
Motherboard: MSI Z270 Gaming M7
Graphics: EVGA GTX 1070 SC
Memory: 16GB CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 3200MHz DDR4
Samsung SM961 256GB NVMe
Samsung 970 PRO 1TB NVMe
PSU: BeQuiet Straight Power 11 650W
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Monitor: ASUS ROG PG279Q
Motherboard: MSI Z270 Gaming M7
Graphics: EVGA GTX 1070 SC
Memory: 16GB CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 3200MHz DDR4
Samsung SM961 256GB NVMe
Samsung 970 PRO 1TB NVMe
PSU: BeQuiet Straight Power 11 650W
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Monitor: ASUS ROG PG279Q
Benchmarks: Anvil Pro
Anvil Pro from Anvil Storage utilities is one of the most popular storage benchmarking utilities today thanks to the large suit of tests available. You can test pretty much anything from Read/write Speed to IOPs with many variables to tweak allowing you to get either a single or host of results to compare with other likeminded enthusiasts. In our test we ran the standard suite 5 times, subtracting both the highest and lowest scores and determined the final result from the average of the remaining three results.
Benchmarks: AS SSD
AS SSD Benchmark is a straightforward tool for measuring the speed of your SSD drive.
Simply launch the program, choose your drive, click Start, and it’ll test your SSD’s read and write speed in a variety of ways, delivering a score for each when it’s done. And if that’s not enough, there are also additional file copy and compression-related benchmarks available from the Tools menu. (The author’s support page is German only, but if you need further English explanations then there’s a thread on the program at the OCZ Technology forum.).
Simply launch the program, choose your drive, click Start, and it’ll test your SSD’s read and write speed in a variety of ways, delivering a score for each when it’s done. And if that’s not enough, there are also additional file copy and compression-related benchmarks available from the Tools menu. (The author’s support page is German only, but if you need further English explanations then there’s a thread on the program at the OCZ Technology forum.).
Benchmarks: ATTO
The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Measure your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes. Several options are available to customize your performance measurement including queue depth, overlapped I/O and even a comparison mode with the option to run continuously. Use ATTO Disk Benchmark to test any manufacturers RAID controllers, storage controllers, host adapters, hard drives and SSD drives and notice that ATTO products will consistently provide the highest level of performance to your storage.
Benchmarks: AIDA64
With this module, we can measure the performance of the PC’s storage devices, including (S)ATA or SCSI hard disk drives, RAID arrays, optical drives, solid-state drives (SSD), USB drives and memory cards. It also allows us to perform write tests, which helps us detect fake products and errors on the devices. In order to attain reliable benchmark results we have to make sure to close all background applications.
Benchmarks: PCMark 8
We use the Futuremark PCMark 8 utility to measure storage via Photoshop performance under both light and heavy loading conditions. Accelerated (open CL) is used to perform this test. The test is measured in seconds to complete.
Conclusion
If there was such a thing as a perfect SSD recipe, it would appear Samsung are pretty darn close to a culinary masterpiece, so to speak. The Phoenix Controller married to 64-layer 2-bit MLC V-NAND provides blistering performance; even-more-so than the previous champion, the 960 PRO.Improvements have been made to throughput, which are often the numbers people pay most attention to, however, in most common scenarios, it’s random access speed, referred to as IOPS, which are most important. The increase from 440,000 and 360,000 to 500,000 in both directions will show the largest improvements in demanding applications.
The black PCB and “9xx PRO” nametag have become something of a symbol of performance which enthusiasts are keen to show off within their PC builds. We’re certain that despite the very noticeable £150 price premium over the EVO model, for a not-so-noticeable performance boost, the PRO will still fly off the shelves. However, we would have to recommend the EVO model if you don’t need the absolute bleeding edge of speed.
There we have it. The numbers don’t lie. The Samsung 970 PRO NVMe SSD is, by a good shout, the fastest single SSD solution we’ve tested so far, even beating a 960 PRO RAID0 setup in a few tests! You have to wonder how far the M.2 NVMe interface can be pushed before eventually reaching a bottleneck; seemingly there’s no ceiling right now.
We don’t feel that we can sum it up any better than Samsung: ”With the performance to reach beyond the unexpected. The capacity to illuminate a world of ideas. And the reliability to sustain it all. Unreal performance, realised.”
If you want the fastest NVMe M.2 drive available right now, the 970 PRO is your only real option, but you’re going to pay through the nose for the privilege.
Pros
+ Amazingly fast
+ Stylish design
+ M.2 Compact form factor
+ Phoenix controller
+ 2-bit 64-layer MLC V-NAND
+ Improvement over the 960 PRO
+ 5-year warranty
Cons
– Pricey
+ Amazingly fast
+ Stylish design
+ M.2 Compact form factor
+ Phoenix controller
+ 2-bit 64-layer MLC V-NAND
+ Improvement over the 960 PRO
+ 5-year warranty
Cons
– Pricey
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