The Samsung 960 Pro (2TB) SSD Review
by Billy Tallis on October 18, 2016 10:00 AM ESTRandom Read Performance
The random read test requests 4kB blocks and tests queue depths ranging from 1 to 32. The queue depth is doubled every three minutes, for a total test duration of 18 minutes. The test spans the entire drive, which is filled before the test starts. The primary score we report is an average of performances at queue depths 1, 2 and 4, as client usage typically consists mostly of low queue depth operations.
The Samsung 960 Pro slightly widens what was already a commanding lead in low queue depth random read performance.
The 960 Pro's power usage is higher in proportion to its increased performance. Only a handful of the smallest and lowest-power SATA SSDs are more efficient, but at half the overall performance.
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While they are unmatched at lower queue depths, both the 960 Pro and the 950 Pro under-perform expectations at QD32. This hardly matters for a consumer SSD.
Random Write Performance
The random write test writes 4kB blocks and tests queue depths ranging from 1 to 32. The queue depth is doubled every three minutes, for a total test duration of 18 minutes. The test is limited to a 16GB portion of the drive, and the drive is empty save for the 16GB test file. The primary score we report is an average of performances at queue depths 1, 2 and 4, as client usage typically consists mostly of low queue depth operations.
The 960 Pro's random write performance is a big improvement over the 950 Pro, catching up with the OCZ RD400 but still well behind the Intel 750.
In addition to greatly improving random write performance over the 950 Pro, the 960 Pro greatly improves power consumption and jumps to the top of the efficiency ranking, just ahead of the Crucial MX300.
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Where thermal throttling prevented the 950 Pro from improving past QD2, the 960 Pro scales up to QD4 and plateaus at that level for the second half of the test, with somewhat steadier performance than the OCZ RD400 that draws more power and thus has more thermal throttling to contend with. The Intel 750 with its massive heatsink entirely avoids thermal throttling.
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TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
Cant wait to see that, as it seems the 960 pro is thermally limited more often then not, especially on write tests. Hope to see even bigger improvements.eldakka - Wednesday, October 19, 2016 - link
But but but, since the controller is Polaris, doesn't the SSD handle your graphics too?I'll see myself out now.
BurntMyBacon - Wednesday, October 19, 2016 - link
@eldakkaNo. That would be Fiji. Though, I can see how it would be confusing. Even Ryan thought it was a Polaris 10 chip initially.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10518/amd-announces-...
Waiting for a Polaris update to the Radeon Pro SSG. Throw some 960s (Polaris controllers) in to replace the 950s and things will get really confusing. ;')
VeauX - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
Would migrating from an old Sandforce base SSD to this provide the same WOW effect than from mechanical to SSDs back in the days?GTRagnarok - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
No, unless what you're doing involves reading or writing many gigabytes of data at a time in which case it'll be noticeably faster. Otherwise, the experience will be very similar compared to old SATA SSDs.AnnonymousCoward - Wednesday, October 19, 2016 - link
I have an absolutely brilliant idea. AT could just test that, and you wouldn't have to wonder and ask in the comments section!Mr Perfect - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
This is kind of a chicken-and-the-egg problem, but has Samsung said anything about releasing these as U.2? Quite a few new motherboards have U.2 ports now, and putting these drives in the larger 2.5 inch form factor would make it possible to solve the overheating issues with heatsinks.Gigaplex - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
It wouldn't be hard for a 3rd party to create a 2.5" adaptor that incorporates a heatsink.Mr Perfect - Wednesday, October 19, 2016 - link
You wouldn't think so, but I had a hell of a time finding one. All said and done, only one manufacturer seems to make an adapter to turn a M.2 into a U.2. Some company called microsatacables.com http://www.microsatacables.com/u2-sff8639-to-m2-pc...Some more native U.2 drives would be nice.
sircod - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - link
Are you guys doing a review of the 600p? Not quite the same class as the 960 Pro, but I definitely want to see the 960 Evo compared to the 600p.