Introducing the Samsung 980 PRO SSD, Samsung’s first PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD released in the market. The evolution of solid state drives (SSD) has taken the lead from SATA drives to M.2 SATA, and now to even faster speeds with the 4th Gen PCIe NVMe.
Taking a step back, how does NVMe differ from SATA M.2? Well, the answer lies on the way the storage communicates. Instead of going through the motherboard,NVMe uses the CPU to directly communicate, which increases the read/write speeds while decreasing the program loading times as well.
Samsung reached out to us for a review of their Samsung 980 PRO 250GB SSD, how could we say no?
Samsung 980 PRO 250GB SSD
Throughout the years, storage has evolved itself with an increase in rapid speeds while making sure that prices are still affordable in the market. Being the newest in the Samsung PRO lineup, Samsung has claimed that they have the fastest performance in the market (with up to 7,000 MB/s on sequential read). Let’s see if it’s able to hit the benchmark during our test review.
Specifications
| Capacity | 250GB |
| Interface | PCIe Gen 4 |
| Connector | M.2 |
| Dimensions | 80.15″ x 22.15″ x 2.38″ (mm) |
| Sequential Read Performance | 6400MB/s |
| Sequential Write Performance | 2700MB/s |
What’s In The Box
There’s literally just one thing in the box, the SSD itself:
- Samsung 980 PRO 250GB SSD
Samsung Magician
An additional software will be provided if you purchase a Samsung 980 PROfrom Samsung, you’ll be able access Samsung’s essential toolkit for Storage – Samsung Magician. This software allows the user to check their drive health & TBW via S.M.A.R.T monitoring.
With Samsung Magician, we’re able to perform firmware updates, benchmark drives, and even securely erase the drive should you need to pass the drive to someone else. The application has got you covered for your daily drive management usage. In addition, the application does allow users to clone or migrate their existing data to their new Samsung SSD too, which is a bonus.
Performance
The Samsung 980 PRO has four different storage capacities, which comes in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB & 2TB. In this review, we’re going to benchmark the 250GB variant we received for review. According to Samsung, 500GB to 2TB variant will have the same read speeds of 7,000MB/s with 5,000MB/s write speeds (2TB will have a total of 5,100 MB/s). The 250GB variant however, only has a maximum read speed of 6,400MB/s with a 2,700 MB/s of write speed, as shown below.
The above are some of the speed test benchmarks we’ve done with Samsung 980 PRO 250GB. As shown above, the SSD manages to maintain its promised 6,400MB/s read speed and 2,600 MB/s write speed. Surprisingly, the SSD managed to consistently surpass its claimed read & write speed with a little more speed to spare.
From the results above, we are able to tell its responsiveness towards PCIe Gen4 performance. The speed test has proven itself to be the most effective than most of its PCie Gen 4 competitors. Although we’re not able to hit 7,000MB/s read speed due to the limitation in storage capacity, we’re certain that the other variants will be able to hit its benchmark and be prized as the fastest SSD in the market.
With the massive performance from Samsung 980 PRO’s, the component is bound to generate some heat. Which is why Samsung has been using copper heat spreaders to help them keep the system cool while the device is under heavy workloads.
Cost Per GB
(Last updated: 5th May 2022)
Capacity SRP TBW Rating Cost Per GB Max Throughput (Read/Write) 250GB RM388 150TBW RM1.55 R: 6,400MB/sW: 2,700MB/s 500GB RM638 300TBW RM1.28 R: 7,000MB/sW: 5,000MB/s 1TB RM1,039 600TBW RM1.04 R: 7,000MB/sW: 5,000MB/s 2TB RM2,049 1,200TBW RM1.02 R: 7,000MB/sW: 5,100MB/s
The above chart shows the cost per GB when you’re purchasing the 980 PRO series. Although the speed may be seen as an advantage, The 980 PRO series may be considered to have a higher cost per GB in the market.
Do take note that these are suggested retail prices and prices may vary depending on the market condition. Do check out Samsung official stores in Lazada and Shopee for the accurate pricing.
Conclusion
If you were considering budget options, then it may not be the best pick against other PCIe Gen 4 SSDs you’ll find in the market. Of course, there are cheaper options out there.
But, PCIe Gen 4 is still in its early stages and manufacturers are still in development to optimize an even faster and more efficient drive for their users. In addition to that, Samsung has built its reputation on producing a well performing and powerful SSD for their users (as shown in the test result).
With that said, if you were to consider the fastest read and write speed, having a 5-year warranty, a software package,then the Samsung 980 PRO will be a good choice for those who are looking for a responsive PCIeGen4 performance SSD for their daily usage (huge advantage to those who want to upgrade their PS5 storage).
