The Samsung PM981 SSD Review (512GB, 1TB): Next Generation Controller And 3D NAND
by Billy Tallis on November 30, 2017 9:02 AM ESTConclusions
The Samsung PM981 looks poised to sit as a potential base for a 980 Evo equivalent in 2018. It offers a healthy generational improvement to performance due to the combination of a new controller and Samsung's new 64-layer 3D TLC NAND. The previous generation (PM961 for OEMs, 960 EVO for retail) was already the fastest TLC-based client SSD, and it outperforms many MLC-based SSDs. By improving on that level of performance, the PM981 has caught up to or surpassed the MLC-based 96x drives on many tests, setting new records not just for TLC-based drives but for client SSDs as a whole.
The Samsung PM981 offers performance that is more well-rounded than any other TLC-based SSD. The faster 1TB capacity is almost completely immune to the typical pitfalls of using TLC NAND; it is almost impossible for a real-world workload to trigger the kind of nasty slowdown that typically indicates a full SLC write cache or something else causing a lot of background work for the SSD controller.
The 512GB PM981 doesn't set records except for within its own product class, but it too is a meaningful improvement over its predecessors. The 512GB model doesn't handle heavy workloads quite as well as the larger model, but it still beats any other TLC-based option.
Both drives raise the bar for how well TLC SSDs should perform. On lighter workloads, they set a new standard that even MLC-based drives have trouble reaching. For almost everyone, the fact that the PM981 uses TLC NAND is no cause for concern because the performance defies the expectations for TLC SSDs. They are obviously great choices for OEMs to offer in high-performing notebook computers, depending on the power consumption, which we will test when our testing equipment is fixed.
Enthusiasts will have to wait until CES in January or some later event to hear about Samsung's next SSDs based on the PM981, which is likely to be called the 980 Evo if it follows previous naming conventions. These PM981 drives, if you can source them on the grey market, may be a reasonable choice for impatient system builders wanting to put the latest TLC into their systems today. As always though, OEM drives purchased on the grey market come with no warranty from the manufacturer and firmware updates may be hard to come by, so they aren't for everyone.
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romrunning - Thursday, November 30, 2017 - link
@sleeplessclassics - "Today, even TLC can perform better than MLC/SLC just 2-3 generations ago due to better controllers."Well, the MLC-based 950/960 Pro still is basically beating all of the newer TLC drives. Even in SATA, my Sandisk Extreme Pro still beats all of the TLC drives.
sleeplessclassics - Friday, December 1, 2017 - link
@romrunning, well you should have paid more attention in your high school English class.I am comparing present-gen TLC NAND with SLC/MLC that is two generations old.
Of course, current gen 950/960 Pro MLC NAND with Polaris controllers will beat TLC NAND with Polaris controllers.
I suggest you begin one of the simpler ones like Aesop's fables or maybe those illustrated children books will more your level. And while you are at it, try getting an IQ test as well
romrunning - Friday, December 1, 2017 - link
You mad, bro?! ;)Lighten up a little, and act a little more objectively. Try clarifying the original statement or submitting more information to support your point without resorting to childish insults.
For example, I will submit that you would have had to define "generations" and product lines before you put out generic statements like "Today, even TLC can perform better than MLC/SLC just 2-3 generations ago due to better controllers.". It's also hard to compare since the interface can change (like from SATA to NVMe).
For my example, I will say again that my SATA Sandisk Extreme Pro will still beat newer TLC-based SATA drives from Sandisk. Also, I believe older Intel enterprise controllers (like a DC P3700) can still beat a terrible newer drive like the Intel 600p. There are even specialized drives from several "generations" of product lines ago that can beat some of the "newer" TLC-based drives in the same product line-up.
However, obviously this is changing with NVMe-based drives, although it would harder to find a mfg with two "generations" of controllers on NVMe drives. Plus, we're getting into different tech like 3d XPoint, so TLC likely won't be around anymore a number of years in the future.
I personally am looking forward to retail releases of Samsung's Z-NAND-based drives. It will be very interesting to see how they measure up performance-wise to Optane.
treecrab - Thursday, November 30, 2017 - link
Sequential write numbers are off.1TB drive has fooled you - it has HUGE write buffer. Like 50GB huge. You need to check write speed second by second and on a much larger span (100 GB?)
mapesdhs - Thursday, November 30, 2017 - link
Toms posted a review and pointed this out with their sustained tests.Drumsticks - Thursday, November 30, 2017 - link
It feels like we haven't seen new high end drives from Samsung in a while (not that they're really heavily in need given the performance on tap already). It'll be nice to see another round of products coming out of them. Thanks for the review!Side note: Would it be possible to, in future SSD reviews, add those buttons that change the graphs based on capacity for the different storage metrics? Perhaps a button for "All SSDs," "250GB," "500GB," "1TB+" or something. Performance can vary wildly across capacities, and it would be a nice way to sort through all of the 500GB class drives that you've reviewed for example. The only outlier would be Optane since it isn't quite as dominated by the amount of parallel dies you can add.
mapesdhs - Thursday, November 30, 2017 - link
Good idea; it's bizarre how sometimes the 960 EVO looks terrible compared to the 1TB version, and sometimes the other way round. Steady state is particularly bad, it's why I stuck with hunting for 950 Pros instead, which also have their own boot ROM and thus work ok on older mbds.Kastriot - Thursday, November 30, 2017 - link
200$ for 512GB i have intel 530 480GB which i bought on ebay for 80 euros 3 years ago and still working great so ssd prices are insane like memory+gpu+intel cpu-s prices together, dark times for PC desktop owners unless you have dosh :)mapesdhs - Thursday, November 30, 2017 - link
GN has commented on this quite a lot recently, it is indeed a sucky time to build a new PC. Hence why I make the most of used parts (or new ones via normal auction) until the need for something better really is paramount. Bagged another 840 Pro 256GB recently for a good price; pity old models like this are not included in newer product reviews, I bet they'd put newer products to shame. For a while the old Vector was retained in newer reviews, but then it vanished, probably because it just looked too good compared to the latest tech. The same likely applies to the Neutron GTX, Vertex4 and various other models, at least in the SATA world anyway. If one can though, it's better to go NVMe, the SM951 and SM961 are rather good.bcronce - Thursday, November 30, 2017 - link
It looked mostly on par until the "mixed" results. Nice!