Samsung 960 PRO NVMe M.2 SSD

Samsung’s 960 PRO is an M.2 SSD the enthusiast/prosumer segment that uses MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash memory. Since this is a more expensive (and better performing) memory type – and most competitors now use inexpensive TLC NAND instead – this drive has a performance advantage compared to most competing drives, including Samsung’s own EVO lineup.

As of 2018 and 2019, the 960 PRO has a successor in the Samsung 970 PRO, which offers slight improvements in terms of overall performance and durability. Since it uses MLC memory, it might still be a better option for some users compared to the 970 EVO Plus, HP EX950 and other high-end M.2 alternatives using TLC.

Memory Type, Controller and Cache

Samsung uses its own Polaris controller in the 960 series. Polaris is also used in certain other drives from Samsung, such as the SM961 – another NVMe, M.2 SSD that is very similar to the 960 PRO but aimed at OEMs.

Thanks to its use of 48-layer MLC V-NAND, the Samsung 960 PRO offers better overall performance and durability than the TLC-based 960 EVO. The improved performance due to the MLC NAND may not be evident from the specifications but should be consistent in most synthetic and real-world benchmarks.

Because it uses MLC memory chips, the 960 PRO does not require an SLC cache to speed up write transfers, like the EVO drives and many competitors. It is however equipped with an LDPPR4 DRAM cache.

Performance

The 960 PRO’s performance varies only slightly with the different capacities (512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB). Sequential read/write performance is consistent across all capacities at 3,500 MB/s (read) and 2,100 MB/s (write).

Random read/write performance is lower in the 512 GB capacity, at 330,000 IOPS (read/write), compared to 440,000 IOPS/360,000 IOPS (read/write) for the larger 1 TB and 2 TB capacities.

Power Consumption (Laptop Suitability)

As is usually the case, power consumption increases slightly with capacity in the 960 PRO: The 2 TB model is rated at 5.8W, the 1 TB at 5.3W and the 512 GB model at 5.1W.

These figures are slightly lower compared to most competitors.

Warranty and Endurance Rating

Samsung offers a 5-year warranty with the 960 PRO and endurance ratings in TBW (terabytes written) are as follows:

• 400 TBW for 512 GB model
• 800 TBW for 1 TB model
• 1200 TBW for 2 TB model

Reviews

This SSD is or has been featured on our list of the fastest storage devices overall.

StorageReview:

Leveraging PCIe Gen. 3.0 via the NVMe 1.2 protocol, the company’s 3rd generation of V-NAND and a new Polaris controller, the Samsung 960 Pro offers fantastic performance and enhanced reliability.

Guru3D.com

Whatever you are planning with this storage unit, you are good to go from gaming, overall net pc usage (albeit total overkill) to video transcoding and editing and content creation …