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One of the largest manufacturers in the world, SAMSUNG creates high-quality products that are broken down into hundreds of different categories, whether you’re talking about TVs, home appliances, mobile devices, computer components, or anything else. In truth, SAMSUNG produces the best items in the majority of the electronic product categories.

When it comes to Solid State Drives, SAMSUNG simply can’t be beaten, at least not anytime soon. They offer top-tier performance and unsurpassed dependability, which is why practically all hardware enthusiasts utilize their drives.

The flagship mainstream SAMSUNG 900-series SSDs, which employed the M.2 form factor and had significantly better read/write performance than the 800-series SSDs, were introduced. TLC V-NAND chips were used in the Evo models, whereas MLC V-NAND chips were utilized in the Pro variants. Since the MLC V-NAND originally only had two levels, a TLC V-NAND actually has three levels and is an MLC V-NAND. The access speeds are faster and the drive’s endurance levels are higher the lower the levels.Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 500GB, which we will examine today, is a newer version of the SAMSUNG 970 Evo with faster read/write rates and updated firmware.

Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 500GB Specs

The EVO Plus family of drives can theoretically operate at read and write rates of up to 3,500MB/s and 3,300MB/s, respectively. Remember that read/write speeds will be slower the smaller the storage size. For instance, the EVO Plus 250GB SSD can still achieve sequential read speeds of up to 3,500MB/s, while sequential write rates can only reach a maximum of 2,300MB/s. In contrast, the 250GB EVO SSD from the “regular” EVO range has sequential read and write rates of 1,500 MB/s and 3,400 MB/s, respectively. Although the 500GB version is only $89.99, you will have to pay more if you require extra storage space.

The 970 Pro, which only comes in 512GB and 1TB capacities and costs about $169.99 and $349.99, is another SSD to compare the 970 EVO Plus to. The Samsung 970 Pro’s Terabytes Written (TBW) warranty duration is its primary selling point, despite the Pro version’s inferior write capabilities (up to 2,700MB/s) and comparable read rates to the Plus (3,500MB/s read). Samsung offers a five-year or a terabyte written warranty on its 970 family of drives, whichever comes first. The “regular” and Plus 970 in the 500GB line of 970 drives cover 300TBW, while the Pro cover a staggering 600TBW.

Check out the Samsung 970 EVO Plus family of drives if you’re like me and desire both blazing performance and a strong guarantee (or, really, faith in the device). Nearly all of the features of the Pro range at an excellent price. The 970 family of NVMe M.2 SSD drives fits a M key-style interface and the 2280 form size (i.e., 22mm x 80mm). It’s critical to know whether interface—M key (or M key) or B key—your SSD supports. The Samsung 970 EVO card family only offers M key cards. The majority of more recent motherboards will contain one, if not two, M. 2 ports for plugging in drives.

Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 500GB Specs & Essential information

Product Type	NVMe SSD
Storage Type	Internal
Interface	PCIe Gen 3.0 x 4, NVMe 1.3
Read/Write Speeds	3,500/3,200 MB/s
Usage Application	Client PCs
Series	970 EVO Plus
Capacity	500GB
Sequential Read Speed	Up to 3,500 MB/s
Sequential Write Speed	Up to 3,200 MB/s
Random Read Speed	Random Read (4KB, QD32): Up to 480,000 IOPS; Random Read (4KB, QD1): Up to 19,000 IOPS
Random Write Speed	Random Write (4KB, QD32): Up to 550,000 IOPS; Random Write (4KB, QD1): Up to 60,000 IOPS
Cache Memory	Samsung 512MB Low Power DDR4 SDRAM
Trim Support	Supported
S.M.A.R.T. Support	Supported
Temperature proof	Yes
NVMe	Yes
Gaming SSDs	Yes
M.2 2280	Yes
Average Power Consumption	Average: 5.8 W * Maximum: 9 W (Burst mode)
Power consumption (Idle)	Max. 30 mW
Voltage	3.3 V ± 5 % Allowable voltage
Operating Temperature	0 – 70 ℃ Operating Temperature
Dimensions (W x H x D)	3.16″ x 0.87″ x 0.09″

Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 500GB Performance & Tests

We used a straightforward testing procedure to evaluate the Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 500GB. We installed the operating system, the majority of the daily-use programs, and after using the system for a set number of days, we ran the tests to imitate a real-world scenario. We performed the tests using the following software: SAMSUNG Magician, CrystalDiskMark, DiskBench, and ATTO Benchmark. You can examine the drive’s details in the screenshot from CrystalDiskInfo. Grand Theft Auto V was also played, and the game’s loading times were examined. We used CrystalDiskMark 64 GB tests with 9 iterations for the thermal analysis, and we recorded the temperatures while we ran the tests.

The official SAMSUNG Magician application that ships with their SSDs offers details on the disk and lets you apply its benchmark. Despite having more than 160 GB of data on it, the SAMSUNG 970 Evo Plus performed exceptionally well in the benchmark. The write speed of 3034 MB/s and the read speed of 3267 MB/s are also comparable to official rates. Although the official specs are either rated for 4KB, QD1 or 4KB, QD32, the Read IOPS of 275k and the Write IOPS of 224k look considerably different from the original requirements, indicating that the software may be utilizing a different setting for the benchmark.

A fantastic tool for testing your drives in the real world is DiskBench. Since this is the most typical scenario, we wanted to test the drive’s performance when creating data on the drive. There were 30 blocks in all, with a block size of 1000 MB. To be really honest, the average transfer rate was just 589 MB/s, which is neither the best nor the worst.

Grand Theft Auto V is one of the most popular video games ever, while some new releases this year have overtaken it. We used to measure the loading times of this game because it is currently around 84 GBs in size. After starting the game, we launched a new one from the menu. It took 31 seconds to get from the menu to the character screen. This may seem like a long time, but we think it was necessary to load numerous scripts and high-resolution textures. We played the game at 4K resolution with all settings at their maximum, with the exception of MSAA, which was set to 2x.

Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe PCIe M.2 500GB has unexpectedly greater thermal performance than previous drives, which could only withstand temperatures of up to 100 degrees Celsius. After doing the CrystalDiskMark 64 GB test nine times, we recorded the heat readings. The image that is included shows the outcomes as well. The drive’s maximum temperature was 54 degrees Celsius, which is very normal for an SSD. 38 degrees was the minimum temperature, but the drive was significantly cooler when it was entirely at rest.

Final thoughts

It was time for Samsung to reply in kind as NVMe SSDs just keep getting faster and less expensive, and it has done so with its finest drive yet. With affordable costs and the finest overall performance, the Samsung 970 Evo Plus has recaptured the title of best SSD.

We have a nagging sense that Samsung’s new 96-layer V-NAND technology has much more potential to offer than we currently realize. It’s entirely feasible that the business will create a 970 Pro Plus drive that is far faster and might even support the new PCIe 4.0 standard that Ryzen 3rd Generation processors will support.

Of course, this is simply conjecture. The Samsung 970 Evo Plus is currently the greatest SSD money can buy, and that is the most crucial fact you need to be aware of.