Samsung 870 EVO SATA SSD Review: The Best Just Got Better

Source: Tom's Hardware added 21st Jan 2021

  • samsung-870-evo-sata-ssd-review:-the-best-just-got-better

Our Verdict

Samsung’s 870 EVO is one of the most responsive SATA SSDs we have tested. Fast, efficient, and well-backed by Samsung, the 870 EVO is our top choice for a solid SATA SSD.

For

  • Reliable and responsive architecture
  • Appealing aesthetics
  • AES 256-bit encryption
  • Capacities up to 4TB
  • 5-year warranty
  • Software suite

Features and Specifications

Samsung’s 870 EVO succeeds the hottest-selling SATA SSD on the market, the company’s own 860 EVO, so it has big shoes to fill. Normally, this would be a challenge, but for Samsung, it’s like clockwork: Samsung’s 870 EVO is now our top pick for those looking for the best consumer SATA SSD on the market.

Offering up high-ranking performance and efficiency, spacious capacities, and well regarded by many for high reliability, Samsung’s SSDs have earned quite the following and reputation over the years. The company hopes to build on its reputation with the addition of Samsung’s 870 EVO to its lineup that’s built on years of the company’s flash expertise. 

Samsung’s 870 EVO is the most refined version yet, courtesy of its latest 6th-gen 128-Layer V-NAND TLC flash and an updated MKX ‘Metis’ SATA 6Gbps controller. Still bottlenecked by the SATA interface, the new SSD doesn’t stand a chance against the latest NVMe SSDs. Still, Samsung says the 870 EVO offers up to 38% higher performance for everyday computing tasks over its predecessor, and the 250GB model sees an up to 30% improvement in sustained write performance.

Specifications 

Product 870 EVO 250GB 870 EVO 500GB 870 EVO 1TB 870 EVO 2TB 870 EVO 4TB
Pricing $39.99 $69.99 $129.99 $249.99 $479.99
Capacity (User / Raw) 250GB / 256GB 500GB / 512GB 1000GB / 1024GB 2000GB / 2048GB 4000GB / 4096GB
Form Factor 2.5″ 7mm 2.5″ 7mm 2.5″ 7mm 2.5″ 7mm 2.5″ 7mm
Interface / Protocol SATA 6 Gbps / AHCI SATA 6 Gbps / AHCI SATA 6 Gbps / AHCI SATA 6 Gbps / AHCI SATA 6 Gbps / AHCI
Controller Samsung MKX ‘Metis’ Samsung MKX ‘Metis’ Samsung MKX ‘Metis’ Samsung MKX ‘Metis’ Samsung MKX ‘Metis’
DRAM Samsung LPDDR4 Samsung LPDDR4 Samsung LPDDR4 Samsung LPDDR4 Samsung LPDDR4
Memory Samsung 128L TLC Samsung 128L TLC Samsung 128L TLC Samsung 128L TLC Samsung 128L TLC
Sequential Read 560 MBps 560 MBps 560 MBps 560 MBps 560 MBps
Sequential Write 530 MBps 530 MBps 530 MBps 530 MBps 530 MBps
Random Read 98,000 IOPS 98,000 IOPS 98,000 IOPS 98,000 IOPS 98,000 IOPS
Random Write 88,000 IOPS 88,000 IOPS 88,000 IOPS 88,000 IOPS 88,000 IOPS
Security AES 256-bit encryption  AES 256-bit encryption  AES 256-bit encryption  AES 256-bit encryption  AES 256-bit encryption 
Endurance (TBW) 150 TB 300 TB 600 TB 1,200 TB 2,400 TB
Part Number MZ-77E250 MZ-77E500 MZ-77E1T0 MZ-77E2T0 MZ-77E4T0
Warranty 5-Years 5-Years 5-Years 5-Years 5-Years

Samsung’s 870 EVO is available in almost every capacity you could need, ranging from sizes as small as 250GB up to 4TB for the data hoarders who need the extra space. Each capacity comes at premium MSRPs, with prices ranging from $0.12-$0.16 per gigabyte. 

Samsung rates the 870 EVO to deliver sequential speeds of up to 560/530 MBps and sustain up to 98,000/88,000 random read/write IOPS across the board. In regards to the Intelligent TurboWrite algorithm, Samsung did not disclose any changes. 

Intelligent TurboWrite
Capacity 250GB 500GB 1TB 2TB 4TB
SLC Write Cache 12 GB 22 GB 42 GB 78 GB 78 GB

Each capacity should measure similar to that of the 860 EVO – typically, it will have a 6GB-12GB of static SLC cache paired with a dynamic SLC cache that spans tens of gigabytes. Speed degradation was not apparent in our testing of the 1TB and 4TB model, but it may impact the smaller models.  

The 870 EVO is over-provisioned by 9%, with most of that space set aside for controller use and background block management. Samsung backs the 870 EVO with a five-year warranty, and the drives can absorb up to 150TB of write data per 250GB of capacity, meaning the 4TB model is rated to handle 2,400 TB of writes within its warranty period.

Not only is it rated to be endurant, but it’s also potentially very secure with the option to use TCG Opal 2.0-compliant AES 256-bit full disk encryption for those whose data needs the added protection from prying eyes. 

Software and Accessories 

Samsung supports customers with data migration software for easy cloning and the Samsung Magician SSD toolbox. Samsung Magician allows you to monitor your SSD’s health via reading its S.M.A.R.T. data report, upgrade the SSD’s firmware if applicable, secure erase, and even benchmark your drives.   

A Closer Look 

Image 1 of 6

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Image 2 of 6

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Image 3 of 6

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Image 4 of 6

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Image 5 of 6

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Image 6 of 6

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Samsung’s 870 EVO comes in a 2.5” 7mm form factor and has a sleek, black anodized aluminum casing, that gives it a quality feel over cheaper competitors. 

Opening up the 870 EVO reveals very tiny PCBs, not only for the 1TB model but also the 4TB model. 

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Samsung’s 870 EVO is powered by the company’s MKX ‘Metis’ SATA 6Gbps controller, the same one powering the 870 QVO. The company did not disclose details, like how many or what type of cores the controller has, their speeds, or what process node it was built on. We do know it’s based on an ARM architecture (possibly tri-core like the MJX ‘Maru’ controller before it) and leverages DRAM for FTL metadata caching. Samsung’s own LPDDR4 DRAM resides next to the controller, measuring 1GB on our 1TB sample and 4GB on our 4TB sample.  

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The controller also has eight NAND flash channels to maintain high levels of interleaving with Samsung’s 6th-gen 512Gb 128-Layer V-NAND TLC. This new flash offers very low latency, communicating with the controller at Toggle DDR4.0 speeds up to 1.4 GTps. Like the company’s previous flash, it is still dual-plane, but due to sub-planes, the die supports very fast performance on par with or exceeding that of most competitors.  

Current page:

Features and Specifications

Next Page 1TB Performance Results

Read the full article at Tom's Hardware

brands: Best  Built  Core  Dual  Gigabyte  It  New  One  Premium  Samsung  Sleek  Solid  Space  Tom  
media: Tom's Hardware  
keywords: NAND  Review  Samsung  Software  SSD  TLC  

Related posts


Notice: Undefined variable: all_related in /var/www/vhosts/rondea.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/rondea-2-0/single-article.php on line 88

Notice: Undefined variable: all_related in /var/www/vhosts/rondea.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/rondea-2-0/single-article.php on line 88

Related Products



Notice: Undefined variable: all_related in /var/www/vhosts/rondea.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/rondea-2-0/single-article.php on line 91

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/vhosts/rondea.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/rondea-2-0/single-article.php on line 91