The Latest High-Capacity M.2: The Samsung 860 EVO 2TB SSD, Reviewed
by Billy Tallis on February 14, 2018 1:40 PM ESTPower Management
Real-world client storage workloads leave SSDs idle most of the time, so the active power measurements presented earlier in this review only account for a small part of what determines a drive's suitability for battery-powered use. Especially under light use, the power efficiency of a SSD is determined mostly be how well it can save power when idle.
SATA SSDs are tested with SATA link power management disabled to measure their active idle power draw, and with it enabled for the deeper idle power consumption score and the idle wake-up latency test. Our testbed, like any ordinary desktop system, cannot trigger the deepest DevSleep idle state.
The idle power measurements for the 860 EVO are just a few milliwatts higher than for the 860 PRO, which can be attributed entirely to the M.2 to SATA converter board (it has a status LED). The 860 EVO benefits from all the same controller and DRAM power savings the 860 PRO brought. While there are some smaller SATA SSDs that have lower idle power numbers (eg. some DRAMless SSDs), among multi-TB drives Samsung has the lead.
While Samsung's idle power usage has improved significantly with the 860 generation, the wake-up latency is unchanged. There's room for improvement here as many drives are able to wake up much faster from sleep states that are almost as deep as the Samsung 860 EVO's idle.
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yankeeDDL - Friday, February 16, 2018 - link
Today, on Newegg, the 860 Evo m.2 250GB is $77.99. The 960 Evo is $98.99. It seems to me a relevant question to understand if $21 are worth the difference. If the 960 "utterly destroys" the 860 (and, therefore, all other devices in the comparison), then why even bother, given $21 price difference?Luckz - Monday, April 30, 2018 - link
Because it destroying the 960 only matters if you copy files from left to right. Sequential writing.PeachNCream - Thursday, February 15, 2018 - link
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this feels like a slightly disappointing result. There's nothing outwardly wrong about the 860 EVO, but it isn't very far ahead of the competition and the price seems too high for what you get back.Samus - Thursday, February 15, 2018 - link
Is the 2TB m.2 drive single sided?OddFriendship8989 - Thursday, February 15, 2018 - link
I'm always kinda annoyed by these comparisons. Yes the obvious 850 vs 860 comparison was done, but what about the 960? I think both the 860 EVO and 860 Pro should be tested against the 960 and compared. It gives people perspective if they should shell out extra $$ or not. It always seems to me a lot of these benches are lazy. I know it takes time to do comparisons, but that's why we trust you reviewers.saketh_ravirala - Sunday, February 18, 2018 - link
What is the main difference between 850 EVO and 860 EVO?If it is a upgraded version, then why is there a slight performance loss?
If i get both for the same price, which one should i buy!!!
yifu - Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - link
Cheapestyifu - Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - link
If Same price, Which box looks better to you. At this level, there is no difference you will ever knowzodiacfml - Tuesday, February 20, 2018 - link
Reading the first few pages, it felt that Samsung has not done anything substantial. In the last pages, it can be see that the gains are in the mixed random load. They optimized for this load which is logical!peevee - Tuesday, February 20, 2018 - link
What's the point of making iit m.2 and then only giving it SATA?