The Intel SSD 670p (2TB) Review: Improving QLC, But Crazy Pricing?!?
by Billy Tallis on March 1, 2021 12:00 PM ESTAnandTech Storage Bench - The Destroyer
Our AnandTech Storage Bench tests are traces (recordings) of real-world IO patterns that are replayed onto the drives under test. The Destroyer is the longest and most difficult phase of our consumer SSD test suite. For more details, please see the overview of our 2021 Consumer SSD Benchmark Suite.
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| 99th Percentile Latency | 99th Percentile Read Latency | 99th Percentile Write Latency | |||||||
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The SLC cache on the 2TB Intel 670p isn't large enough for The Destroyer to operate entirely within the cache, as we saw with the massive 8TB Sabrent Rocket Q. But the big SLC cache is still enough for the 670p to score very well overall on this test, clearly outperforming all the smaller entry-level NVMe SSDs we have tested, and more than a few mainstream and high-end models as well. The 670p's biggest weakness is with 99th percentile write latency, but even that score isn't problematic.
AnandTech Storage Bench - Heavy
The ATSB Heavy test is much shorter overall than The Destroyer, but is still fairly write-intensive. We run this test twice: first on a mostly-empty drive, and again on a completely full drive to show the worst-case performance.
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| Average Latency | Average Read Latency | Average Write Latency | |||||||
| 99th Percentile Latency | 99th Percentile Read Latency | 99th Percentile Write Latency | |||||||
| Energy Usage | |||||||||
As with The Destroyer, the empty-drive test run of the Heavy test shows that the 670p's performance can compete with good TLC drives. It's only on the full-drive test run that the QLC NAND starts to hold back the 670p. Even so, it fares better than almost all the competing entry-level drives and keeps the 99th percentile latencies down to reasonable values.
AnandTech Storage Bench - Light
The ATSB Light test represents ordinary everyday usage that doesn't put much strain on a SSD. Low queue depths, short bursts of IO and a short overall test duration mean this should be easy for any SSD. But running it a second time on a full drive shows how even storage-light workloads can be affected by SSD performance degradation.
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| Average Latency | Average Read Latency | Average Write Latency | |||||||
| 99th Percentile Latency | 99th Percentile Read Latency | 99th Percentile Write Latency | |||||||
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On the Light test, the Intel 670p comes very close to matching the performance of mainstream TLC NVMe drives for both the empty and full drive test runs. Write latencies (average and 99th percentile) are still clearly higher than TLC drives, but not high enough to be a noticeable performance problem in storage-light real world usage. Power consumption is a bit on the high side, but that appears to be more due to the SSD controller than the downsides of QLC NAND.
PCMark 10 Storage Benchmarks
The PCMark 10 Storage benchmarks are IO trace based tests similar to our own ATSB tests. For more details, please see the overview of our 2021 Consumer SSD Benchmark Suite.
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| Full System Drive | Overall Score | Average Bandwidth | Average Latency | ||||||
| Quick System Drive | Overall Score | Average Bandwidth | Average Latency | ||||||
| Data Drive | Overall Score | Average Bandwidth | Average Latency | ||||||
Since we run the PCMark 10 Storage tests starting from an empty drive, the Intel SSD 670p is able to make full use of its large and very fast SLC cache. That puts it at the top of the charts for both the Quick System Drive and Full System Drive tests, and competitive with good TLC drives on the Data Drive test that is more geared toward sequential IO.
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Spunjji - Thursday, March 4, 2021 - link
That's good for you, but your opinion is such garbage that even Samsung no longer agree. High-performance TLC drives now outperform the best MLC had to offer, and while you could argue that MLC with the same tech would be faster, the cost involved would make it impossible to sell to anyone outside of the Enterprise market.bug77 - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link
Fwiw, first TLC drives (planar) had about the same endurance as these QLC V-NAND drives. So yeah, same reluctance.Wereweeb - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link
Planar TLC is as bad as today's 3D QLC, so no wonder people are criticizing it for roughly the same reasons. The difference is that the NAND cells of 3D flash are much larger, so they can handle both many more electrons and much more wear. Shrink those 3D cells, and QLC can become as bad as we imagine PLC will be.Tomatotech - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link
QLC gets much better at higher densities. The 4TB/ 8TB QLC drives are looking pretty good.Don't forget a good QLC drive will fold empty space into fast SLC storage. An empty 4TB QLC will give you 1TB SLC. A half full 4TB QLC drive still has about 500GB of SLC tier space available.
FunBunny2 - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link
"I refuse out of principle to ever purchase a QLC drive."well... once the vendors decide that they won't manufacture anything less dense, then what?
powerarmour - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link
Simple, they get one less sale from me.FunBunny2 - Thursday, March 4, 2021 - link
"Simple, they get one less sale from me."the problem is: in due time xLC NAND simply won't exist because the vendors refuse to make any. or if they do, it will be only for niche OEMs or the likes of Google who buy out a year's worth of production. even then, the Enterprise world simply retires stuff at warranty and buys more. not a problem for them, since they get to write off the costs to the American Taxpayer. one might expect QLC/PLC(should it ever exist) SSD to have a warranty that lasts a blink of an eye.
brucethemoose - Monday, March 1, 2021 - link
As brands, Intel and Samsung are worth top dollar. I've seen many online discussions where some shockingly overpriced SSDs are recommended, either for "reliability," or without any justification or alternatives being presented.In other words, I suspect the 670p will sell just fine at that price.
ZolaIII - Monday, March 1, 2021 - link
It won't sell or better said you won't have choice when OEM's stick it up to you.ZolaIII - Monday, March 1, 2021 - link
With such products and prices it's good that they are leaving the market. For less you can get much much better TLC M2 which runs around this in circles regarding performance.