Samsung Releases 2 TB Models For 850 Pro and 850 EVO

Samsung announced two new client-focused SATA SSDs that will usher in a new era of high capacity and performance. Our review isn't ready due to an unfortunate testing abnormality that we want to investigate further, but that won't stop us from releasing some of our findings now that the NDA has expired, though. 

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ProductSamsung 850 ProSamsung 850 EVO
Price (MSRP)$999.99$799.99
Capacities128 GB256 GB512 GB1 TB (1,024 GB)2 TB (2,048 GB)120 GB250 GB500 GB1 TB (1,000 GB)2 TB (2,000 GB)
InterfaceSATA 6 Gb/sSATA 6 Gb/s
Form Factor2.5", 7 mm2.5", 7 mm
Controller128 GB: MEX256 GB: MEX512 GB: MEX1 TB: MEX2 TB: MHX120 GB: MGX250 GB: MGX500 GB: MGX1 TB: MEX2 TB: MHX
DRAM128 GB: 256 MB LPDDR2256 GB: 512 MB LPDDR2512 GB: 512 MB LPDDR21 TB: 1 GB LPDDR22 TB: 2 GB LPDDR3120 GB: 256 MB LPDDR2250 GB: 512 MB LPDDR2500 GB: 512 MB LPDDR2 1 TB: 1 GB LPDDR22 TB: 2 GB LPDDR3
NAND FlashSamsung 3D V-NAND MLCSamsung 3D V-NAND TLC
Sequential Read550 MB/s540 MB/s
Sequential Write128 GB: 470 MB/s256 GB: 520 MB/s512 GB: 520 MB/s1 TB: 520 MB/s2 TB: 520 MB/s520 MB/sBased on TurboWritePerformance
Random ReadUp to 100,000 IOPS(QD1) 10,000 IOPSUp to 98,000 IOPS(QD1) 10,000 IOPS
Random WriteUp to 90,000 IOPS(QD1) 36,000 IOPSUp to 90,000 IOPS(QD1) 40,000 IOPS
Power ConsumptionAverage Read: 3.3 WattsAverage Write: 3.4 WattsAverage Read: 3.7 WattsAverage Write: 4.7 Watts
DEVSLP Power5mW120 GB: 2mW250 GB: 2mW500 GB: 2mW1 TB: 4mW2 TB: 5mW
Endurance128 GB: 150 TBW256 GB: 150 TBW512 GB: 300 TBW1 TB: 300 TBW2 TB: 300 TBW120 GB: 65 TBW250 GB: 75 TBW500 GB: 75 TBW1 TB: 150 TBW2 TB: 150 TBW
Warranty10 Years5 Years

Undoubtedly, the first thing you will notice is the price. The 850 Pro 2 TB tips the scales at nearly $1,000 or what I call Extreme Edition prices. This model will be a tough sale with Intel's SSD 750 1.2 TB NVMe model being just a used Honda payment away. The 850 EVO 2 TB is a more palatable $799.99, but that isn't why we think the 850 EVO 2 TB is better.

Both new 850 2 TB models use the same Samsung MHX tricore controller and 2 GB of Samsung LPDDR3 DRAM. The 850 Pro ships with Samsung's 32-layer 3D V-NAND MLC, and the 850 EVO ships with 32-layer 3D V-NAND TLC. The TLC model also has an SLC buffer via TurboWrite. Like other EVO SSDs from the company, Samsung scales the SLC portion size in relation to the overall capacity of the drive. With the new 2 TB model, the SLC cache is very large. It's so large, in fact, that we never hit true TLC performance even when transferring a Blu-Ray ISO file to the drive.

In our Computex 2015 coverage, I stated that drive makers would need to mask TLC performance to gain mass acceptance. Samsung managed to do just that with the 850 EVO 2 TB. What end users see is blistering-fast SLC write performance and latency. For normal consumer tasks, that means the lower cost 850 EVO 2 TB is actually faster than the professional 850 Pro. Transfer performance and price are not the only areas where the 850 EVO gets the nod over the 850 Pro.

Notebook users will benefit from the increase in on-battery time made possible by the new 2 TB models. Armed with new low power DDR3, the new drives outperform the previous 850 products in this test. The older 850 Pro and EVO models in lower capacity sizes ship with LPDDR2 that uses more power than DDR3. DDR3 also runs at a higher clock speed so the page table buffer delivers data to the controller faster than before.

The  850 EVO 2 TB is quite possibly the best SATA SSD ever released to the public. In a notebook running on battery power, the CPU, GPU and system bus all run at reduced clock speeds. This causes the whole system to lump around at Pentium III speeds. SSDs accelerate system performance; even older computers benefit from the latency reduction.

The Samsung 850 EVO is so good and has so much pseudo-SLC that the end user almost always writes data at SLC levels. That led to the highest notebook performance score we've ever achieved even though this is the value model. The 850 EVO 2 TB is so efficient that it even performs better than SSDs filled with real SLC, even the one that has my name on it

You can read our full review of the Samsung 850 Pro and 850 EVO 2 TB models tomorrow on Tom's Hardware.

Update, 7/6/15, 9:45am PT: Fixed typo.

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Chris Ramseyer
Chris Ramseyer is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews consumer storage.
  • ubercake
    In around five years when everything is SATA 4.0 and 2TB SSDs cost us around $100, we're going to be saying "Why did I drop a grand on this????"
    Reply
  • usertests
    The review says 1 GB of DRAM, the chart says 2 GB
    Reply
  • Arabian Knight
    SSD are overpriced.

    and I find it strange with all the competition out there , the prices are identical .

    it is about time we buy a 2T SSD for $500 and the 1T for $250

    The manufacturing cost of SSD are way lower than Mechanical drives. just a board and chips soldered on that board.
    Reply
  • Arabian Knight
    16193261 said:
    In around five years when everything is SATA 4.0 and 2TB SSDs cost us around $100, we're going to be saying "Why did I drop a grand on this????"

    The Answer : because I needed it .

    People who buy stuff only because they can buy it and not for needing it are stupid.
    Reply
  • zodiacfml
    when you dismantle the drives.....you would find an m.2 drive. just kidding but that is the way to go in terms of performance, better profit for the maker, and cheaper prices eventually versus 2.5" drives.
    Reply
  • Vivecss
    In around five years when everything is SATA 4.0 and 2TB SSDs cost us around $100, we're going to be saying "Why did I drop a grand on this????"
    For bragging rights, of course.
    Reply
  • childofthekorn
    16193414 said:
    SSD are overpriced.

    and I find it strange with all the competition out there , the prices are identical .

    it is about time we buy a 2T SSD for $500 and the 1T for $250

    The manufacturing cost of SSD are way lower than Mechanical drives. just a board and chips soldered on that board.

    Don't forget paying back R&D. If they were just to lower MSRP simply because the end result of how much it is to produce it they would lose money cause R&D is a monster that must be fed. Otherwise it'll eat the company from the inside out. Not to mention they have to line the pockets of their execs.
    Reply
  • CROOKID
    What about people that buy stuff because they want it?
    Reply
  • childofthekorn
    16193673 said:
    What about people that buy stuff because they want it?

    That option hasn't been available since someones usage always is the perfect usage than <insert individual here>. Such is the interwebs.
    Reply
  • gamebrigada
    SSD are overpriced.

    and I find it strange with all the competition out there , the prices are identical .

    it is about time we buy a 2T SSD for $500 and the 1T for $250

    The manufacturing cost of SSD are way lower than Mechanical drives. just a board and chips soldered on that board.

    SSD's are expensive because the chips are born on a wafer, and wafers have a very constant price. Prices will go down slowly as the manufacturing process gets smaller.
    Reply