Introduction

Samsung is one of the world leaders in digital technology, making pretty much any electronic device you can think of. Their products are used by millions of people around the world.

Being a leader in DRAM and flash memory production, it comes as no surprise that they are also a player in the SSD business. Their EVO and PRO Series SSDs are highly popular among upgraders, system builders, and enthusiasts.

Today's review covers the Samsung 970 EVO, which is the smaller sister to the 970 Pro we reviewed last week. Unlike the 970 Pro, which uses MLC flash, the 970 EVO uses TLC chips, which are cheaper to make because they store 3-bits per cell instead of two. Both Samsung 970 EVO and 970 Pro use the same Samsung Phoenix controller, which is a new model for the 970 Series. For host connectivity, the PCI-Express x4 interface is used, which guarantees the highest possible throughput.

Samsung ships the 970 EVO in a wide range of capacities: 250 GB ($88), 512 GB ($150), 1 TB ($278), and 2 TB ($577). Endurance for our tested 500 GB version is set to 300 TBW, the 250 GB variant is rated at 150 TBW, 1 TB at 600 TB, and 2 TB at 1,200 TBW.

Packaging and Contents

The Drive

The drive uses the M.2 2280 form factor, which means it is 22 mm wide and 80 mm long.


Like most M.2 NVMe SSDs, the Samsung 970 EVO uses a PCI-Express 3.0 x4 interface.


You will find the SSD controller and two flash chips on the PCB. A single LPDDR4 DRAM chip is also present to provide the SSD controller with operating memory for the mapping tables. The other side of the PCB is empty.


On the back of the PCB, you'll find a thin copper foil, which is used to help spread the heat over a larger area.


The Samsung Phoenix is a new controller for the 970 Series, which now has a metal case to improve thermal performance over the traditional packaging that was used on earlier models.


The two flash chips are Samsung 3D V-NAND with 48 layers of TLC flash. Each chip has a capacity of 256 GB.


A Samsung 512 MB LPDDR4 chip provides fast DRAM storage for the controller to store the mapping tables in.

Test Setup