Samsung 870 EVO - Beware, certain batches prone to failure!

[solarmystic]

So some of you mentioned MX500 reduced Dram capacity, can you guys please mention the Dram capacity of all current storage options of the MX500.

is the 500gb version ships with 512mb dram or less?

Iinm, every capacity from 500 GB to 4TB of the latest revision of the Crucial MX500 (Micron B47R) comes with only 512 MB DRAM cache now. Even the 4TB ones.

 

[GabrielLP14]

So some of you mentioned MX500 reduced Dram capacity, can you guys please mention the Dram capacity of all current storage options of the MX500.

is the 500gb version ships with 512mb dram or less?

All capacities are 512MB of DRAM IIRC

 

[Jon555]

BTW/FYI I bought mine on 8th June 2022 and seems good so far...

 

[chrcoluk]

Reduced DRAM I expect is due to the much faster TLC now being used so not needed for performance, that DRAM will still preserve longevity on the mapping cells.

 

[Jon555]

P.S. Note what it says about the firmware (at bottom, 2022 drive remember):

 

[SPDIF]

Only newer drives that you order now are shipped with new firmware. Further drives from 2 and 4TB stay using SVT02B6Q as firmware. Only drives from 500GB and 1TB use SVT03B6Q as new firmware.

So nothing to worry about this.

 

[SuperConker]

There are no hardware changes inside the newer drives that would prevent this Firmware from working on the older versions.

So the newer SVT03B6Q Firmware will most likely be released to the other models very soon.

 

[SPDIF]

No in the 2 and 4TB i did not see any changes, only in the 500GB and 1TB they use different NAND packages. Not sure if there will be an update for older ones, as for example 970EVO models there are different firmware versions. Some SSD even need a Samsung driver, other's use the Microsoft driver, all 970 and 960 series need a Samsung driver to work good. If you don't install this driver they work very slow.

 

[tavosoft]

Friends, my motherboard has a free Pci 3.0 x2, not a Pci 3.0 x4, will I lose performance if I connect a disk like the Samsung 970 Evo Plus to the Pci 3.0 x2?
Between the Samsung 970 evo plus and the Samsung 870 evo because my motherboard has a Pci 3.0 x2 Free which disk is best for me for performance and quality?

Q

 

[agent_x007]

There are no hardware changes inside the newer drives that would prevent this Firmware from working on the older versions.

So the newer SVT03B6Q Firmware will most likely be released to the other models very soon.

Here's my Samsung 870 Evo 2TB, bought last month (date of manufacture : June 2023) :

 

[SuperConker]

Well there you go, the other models are getting the new Firmware too.

 

[SPDIF]

Most likely also new NAND, otherwise firmware would already be available for everyone.
They go the same way like the 970EVO models, different badges with different firmware. Why, that is a question for Sammy.

Friends, my motherboard has a free Pci 3.0 x2, not a Pci 3.0 x4, will I lose performance if I connect a disk like the Samsung 970 Evo Plus to the Pci 3.0 x2?
Between the Samsung 970 evo plus and the Samsung 870 evo because my motherboard has a Pci 3.0 x2 Free which disk is best for me for performance and quality?

Q

You wil loose halve performance, but anyway your 970EVO will still be much faster then an SATA disk!

Don't forget to download the Samsung driver if you use the 970EVO. Driver version 3.3.
This driver make you can use HMB from your computer like the 870EVO.

An 870EVO has a maximum of about 560MB/s, your 970EVO on PCIE 3.0 x2 goes to 2GB/s.

 

[Jon555]

?? SATA @ 6G supports transfers up to 600MB/s; PCIe 2x v2 supports 1 GB/s (v3 2GB/s, v4 4GB/s, approximately), so it's fine. If anyone had PCIe v1 lanes they'd be just under at 500MB/s.

 

[SPDIF]

So go for the 970EVO for the fastest speed! Maybe later you can use it at full speed of 4TB/s.
The 870EVO's maximum speed is 560MB/s.

From Samsung's website;

The 870 EVO achieves the maximum SATA interface limit of 560/530 MB/s sequential speeds.​

I just did do a test with the older 860EVO; Not so much slower then the 870EVO!

 

[agent_x007]

Here you go (Intel's X99 SATA controller)

Side note : Does VLO (smi_flash_id ?) work with Samsung 870 Evo ?

 

[SPDIF]

No i did try that already does not work, it would be interesting! Sammy want to keep the secret's...

Just did do a test again; A 970EVO plus at PCIE 3.0 x1

OK i know it's no exactly to the point of this thread, but just for interesting things here; Speed of a Samsung 980 PCIE 3.0 x4 (Not a PRO).

You can clearly see the 980 has no DRAM cache build in, write is so much slower.

 

[tavosoft]

Friends, the performance loss of the 970 Evo Plus would be copying files and other things but not opening programs like Windows , Office, Visual Studio etc or boot windows? In normal tasks I am not going to notice a loss of performance of the 970 Evo Plus due to my board having a free pci 3.0 x 2?

 

[SPDIF]

Friends, the performance loss of the 970 Evo Plus would be copying files and other things but not opening programs like Windows , Office, Visual Studio etc or boot windows? In normal tasks I am not going to notice a loss of performance of the 970 Evo Plus due to my board having a free pci 3.0 x 2?

In normal tasks the 970EVO at PCIE3.0 x2 will still be 3 times faster then an 870EVO!

Again:
870EVO Max 560MB/s
970EVO PCIE 3.0 x2 Max 2000MB/s
970EVO PCIE 3.0 x4 Max 4000MB/s

Here you go i just did test again; 970EVO Plus at PCIE 3.0 x2

 

[tavosoft]

In normal tasks the 970EVO at PCIE3.0 x2 will still be 3 times faster then an 870EVO!

Again:
870EVO Max 560MB/s
970EVO PCIE 3.0 x2 Max 2000MB/s
970EVO PCIE 3.0 x4 Max 4000MB/s

Here you go i just did test again; 970EVO Plus at PCIE 3.0 x2

View attachment 311192

Thanks you SPDIF.

 

[SuperConker]

That is still over 3x faster than the 870 EVO (plus your files are much safer too).

 

[Sora]

There are no hardware changes inside the newer drives that would prevent this Firmware from working on the older versions.

That you know of.

 

[Jon555]

So I asked Samsung technical support in Europe about my 2022 2TB 870 EVO drive and they replied:

"Thank you for contacting Samsung Memory Support.

This is the firmware related problem and was improved at the middle of 2021-December already.
The update of the improved firmware was released from the December of 2021 and the products with the latest firmware don't have this problem.
You can check the SSD status with Magician (SMART) Diagnostic scan to see if the SSD is showing any fail.

We hope that we have given you sufficient information.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us."

In fairness (11 hours! Although I was also doing an AI video upscale... and running a VM...):

 

[SuperConker]

That you know of.

There was someone who posted pictures of the inside of the new revision a few pages back,
and the only difference seem to be the NAND flash they have used.

That alone won't prevent the newest Firmware from working on the older revisions though,
so i do expect the newer SVT03B6Q Firmware to be released for download soon.

"Thank you for contacting Samsung Memory Support.

This is the firmware related problem and was improved at the middle of 2021-December already.
The update of the improved firmware was released from the December of 2021 and the products with the latest firmware don't have this problem.

A lot of drives made after 2021 have also failed (even the ones that had the SVT02B6Q Firmware Samsung is talking about pre-installed).

So i would not trust that message from Samsung at all.

 

[80251]

There was someone who posted pictures of the inside of the new revision a few pages back,
and the only difference seem to be the NAND flash they have used.

That alone won't prevent the newest Firmware from working on the older revisions though,
so i do expect the newer SVT03B6Q Firmware to be released for download soon.

If the NAND flash has different timing parameters it could affect the firmware. If the newer firmware is expecting faster NAND it would be a disaster.

 

[SuperConker]

If the newer firmware is expecting faster NAND it would be a disaster.

This is a SATA drive (where the speed is already at the SATA limit) so i doubt they will be using faster NAND.