The Samsung 960 Pro (2TB) SSD Review
by Billy Tallis on October 18, 2016 10:00 AM ESTMixed Random Read/Write Performance
The mixed random I/O benchmark starts with a pure read test and gradually increases the proportion of writes, finishing with pure writes. The queue depth is 3 for the entire test and each subtest lasts for 3 minutes, for a total test duration of 18 minutes. As with the pure random write test, this test is restricted to a 16GB span of the drive, which is empty save for the 16GB test file.
The Samsung 950 Pro never had a clear lead on the mixed random I/O test, and then the OCZ RD400 raised the bar. The 960 Pro is 22% faster than that and is alone at the top.
The 960 Pro has power draw comparable to the SATA SSDs that are less than half the speed, and clearly lower than the power draw of the other NVMe SSDs.
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Most of these drives spend at least the first half of the test below 200MB/s and bring their score up with a strong finish of fast random writes. The 960 Pro hits 200MB/s in the second phase and continues increasing throughout the test, then finishes with a random write speed that beats even the Intel SSD 750.
Mixed Sequential Read/Write Performance
The mixed sequential access test covers the entire span of the drive and uses a queue depth of one. It starts with a pure read test and gradually increases the proportion of writes, finishing with pure writes. Each subtest lasts for 3 minutes, for a total test duration of 18 minutes. The drive is filled before the test starts.
The 960 Pro's mixed sequential speeds are a big jump over any previous drive, with about a 30% advantage over the OCZ RD400A and over three times the performance of any SATA drive.
The 960 Pro's power consumption is about the same as the OCZ RD400 and slightly higher than the 950 Pro, so it is only about 15% more efficient than any other drive.
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At the beginning and end of the test the 960 Pro appears to be thermally limited with power consumption above 4W. In the middle of the test where it is typical to see the lowest performance, the 960 Pro doesn't even come close to dropping down to SATA speeds. Its nearest competitor in performance (the OCZ RD400) has much worse performance during the early read-heavy parts of the test.
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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.