Samsung 860 PRO / EVO is here

[UsandThem]

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12347/samsung-announces-860-pro-and-860-evo-sata-ssds

Not much difference in performance. It looks like they are going to continue using MLC in the PRO series, however they are cutting the warranty from 10 years to 5.

I know they just launched, but the 860 is a little pricey at Newegg at launch compared to the Crucial MX500 (which is pretty much identical in performance). For example, the 860 EVO 1TB is $329.99 while the MX500 is $259.99. I think for the first time since I started buying SSDs, I would personally pass on the Samsung drive and get the Crucial.

Edit: I guess one thing I initially missed was the 860 has a higher TBW warranty than Crucial, but both stated amounts really shouldn't impact average consumers. People will likely replace these drives as obsolete before getting near the write amounts.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I noticed that no-where in that article, did they mention anything about the 860 EVO being QLC NAND. Indeed, in their chart, it lists it as "TLC".

What do you think of that other thread on this sub-forum, where they suggest that 860 EVO is really QLC? I'm really temped to get a 256GB model, if they ARE QLC, just to put one through its paces. I'm highly curious how a QLC SSD would work out, for ordinary desktop (or blockchain) tasks.

Problem is, price is still not that cheap, $95 for a 256GB? I can get Team Group L5 Lite 3D NAND SSDs, 480GB for $100 on a good sale, $120 otherwise. And not QLC. So why would I go Samsung? Brand name alone?

 

[UsandThem]

I noticed that no-where in that article, did they mention anything about the 860 EVO being QLC NAND. Indeed, in their chart, it lists it as "TLC".

What do you think of that other thread on this sub-forum, where they suggest that 860 EVO is really QLC? I'm really temped to get a 256GB model, if they ARE QLC, just to put one through its paces. I'm highly curious how a QLC SSD would work out, for ordinary desktop (or blockchain) tasks.

Problem is, price is still not that cheap, $95 for a 256GB? I can get Team Group L5 Lite 3D NAND SSDs, 480GB for $100 on a good sale, $120 otherwise. And not QLC. So why would I go Samsung? Brand name alone?

I would have to read a little more through the QLC thread. I've seen it, but with a million other things to keep track of this week, I figured it would wait until I get done with my trip to read up on it some more.

As far as "So why would I go Samsung? Brand name alone?", I think that is what it has been up to this point. They have been the undisputed leader in SSDs for a while now, and it took their competitors years to even get close to the 850 EVO in overall performance. I would just wait for some actual reviews to show up to see if they are still worth the premium over other drives. Unless they pull of some miracle, based on its specs listed, I don't think it will be much faster overall than the 850 series, and if that is the case, I will grab a MX500 for my next SSD purchase.

I'm just glad SSD prices are starting to go down. Now if we could just get DDR4 and video cards to follow.

 

[Glaring_Mistake]

I noticed that no-where in that article, did they mention anything about the 860 EVO being QLC NAND. Indeed, in their chart, it lists it as "TLC".

What do you think of that other thread on this sub-forum, where they suggest that 860 EVO is really QLC? I'm really temped to get a 256GB model, if they ARE QLC, just to put one through its paces. I'm highly curious how a QLC SSD would work out, for ordinary desktop (or blockchain) tasks.

That was just speculation seeing as Samsung hadn't even mentioned 64-layer 3D MLC NAND before announcing the 860 Pro.
But the EVO will continue to use 3D TLC NAND so it may be that they will at some time announce the 860 which will use 3D QLC NAND.

The SLC-cache in the 860 EVO 250GB is as large as the one the 850 EVO 1TB and likely the 860 will have a large SLC-cache as well it should not be too noticeable that QLC NAND does not perform as well as TLC NAND.
Exhaust the SLC-cache and then performance may suffer however.
According to tests run by Nordichardware there does seem like there may be a problem with write speeds for the 860 EVO however so it might need a firmware update.

 

[XavierMace]

Problem is, price is still not that cheap, $95 for a 256GB? I can get Team Group L5 Lite 3D NAND SSDs, 480GB for $100 on a good sale, $120 otherwise. And not QLC. So why would I go Samsung? Brand name alone?

Some people are looking beyond just the absolute lowest price.

I can't find any reviews of the Team Group L5 Lite's which in and of itself would stop a lot of people from buying one. The reviews I see of most of their other products put their performance at the bottom of the stack in their segment. The L7 Evo is slower than a Crucial BX200. The T-Force Cardea is drastically slower than a 960 EVO in most tests. So, it's not really a matter of "name alone". Samsung and Crucial both have established names and track records in the market for both performance and reliability. On the reliability front, the L5 Lite has a 3 year warranty, the 860 EVO a 5 year warranty.

Therefore there's not much incentive to consider the $80 Team Group L5 Lite over the $95 Samsung 860 EVO (Note: On Amazon the Samsung is actually cheaper than the Team Group). Team Group might give you the lowest price, but I'd argue the 860 EVO is the better value. Also for the record, I could get the MX500 for the same price as the L5 Lite. The MX500 also has a 5 year warranty.

 

[Tup3x]

MX500 2TB for 579,90 € & 860 EVO 739,00 € here in Finland.... Good thing that I didn't wait and just bought the MX500. Finally replaced my ancient 2xSamsung 1TB HDDs with single SSD without loosing space.

 

[Johnny Lucky]

Hiya Gang!

Yesterday AnandTech, Tom's hardware, several other English Language sites, as well as German, Polish, and Swedish sites published reviews of the brand new Samsung 860 Pro and 860 EVO SATA 3 models with 3D 64 Layer MLC flash. Capacities will eventually increase to 4TB.

Computer Base which is a German Language site also published an interesting chart. Looks like the 860 EVO will be available in SATA 3, mSATA, and M.2 formats.

I have added all of yesterday's reviews to the ssd database I maintain. Here is the link:

Link removed

I will add links to additional reviews as they are published on line. There is no advertising, pop-ups, or any other type of distraction on the web page - just useful ssd information. There are additional reviews today that I will post in a little bit.

In addition, AnandTech, Tom's Hardware, and several other English Language sites also published reviews of the brand new Intel 760P M.2 NVMe ssd. Looks promising.





Self promotion not allowed. Links to your website are not allowed.


esquared
Anandtech Forum Director

 

[UsandThem]

A few reviews have started trickling in:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12348/the-samsung-860-pro-512gb-and-4tb-ssd-review

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/samsung-860-evo-2tb-ssd-review,1.html

https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Stora...-PRO-SATA-SSD-Review-512GB-1TB-and-4TB-Tested

The SATA interface is simply too much of a bottleneck for any SATA drive to distinguish itself with high performance on a broad range of tests. Hitting those limits is now expected from mainstream drives, instead of being an aspirational goal.

It seems like the SATA3 (6 Gb/s) road is now mostly tapped out when it comes to performance increases.

 

[Head1985]

Crucial mx500 is way to go.Samsung 860pro/evo are way overpriced.

 

[Yotsugi]

Crucial mx500 is way to go.Samsung 860pro/evo are way overpriced.

Basically.
Samsung suicided their 860 line with bonkers pricing.

 

[razel]

Agree with Allyn's statement about the pricing. NVMe's can be found for less. Of course not everyone can easily stuff NVMe in older laptops, but I take it Samsung is selling the 860 EVOs are a luxury SSD.

I would also watch out for sales on the WD Blue's . The WD Blue 3D 1TB @ Staples for $160 during the holidays. I'll be continually keeping an eye out for more since Office Depot/Staples can get pretty aggressive sometimes with sales.

 

[BSim500]

Crucial mx500 is way to go.Samsung 860pro/evo are way overpriced.

^ This. Samsung halved the warranty (10yrs 850 PRO to 5yrs 860 PRO) whilst Crucial upped theirs from 3yrs (MX300) to the same 5yrs (MX500). Couple that with a notoriously awkward RMA process itself in some regions, and unless you really really want a 4TB 2.5" / 2TB M2 / mSata version, it's hard to recommend the 860's at all with current pricing.