PC Components

Samsung SSD 980 – NVMe M.2 SSD from the tech giant with blazing fast read/write speeds

After Samsung already introduced the SSD 980 Pro as a new high-end SSD with PCIe 4.0 last year, the SSD 980 – with PCIe 3.0 connection – now follows. With a read speed of up to 3500 MB/s and a write speed of up to 3000 MB/s, it is one of the fastest PCIe 3.0 SSDs on the market. An upgraded Intelligent TurboWrite (version 2.0) as well as the Host Memory Buff feature (HMB for short) gives the 980 another huge boost of additional performance compared to its predecessor – the Samsung 970 EVO.

The SSD’s longevity has also been tested by Samsung to the utmost and, according to the manufacturer, it has a write performance of up to 600 TB. Overheating is prevented by built-in temperature regulators, and a heat spreader with built-in copper film efficiently dissipates heat at high operating temperatures.

We have put Samsung’s storage medium to the test and are curious whether the South Korean company keeps its promises.

Technical data

Capacity 250 GB/500 GB/1 TB
Interface PCIe 3.0 DRAMless
form factor M.2 2280
Flash type 3Bit MLC V-NAND
max. read/write speed 3,500/3,000 MB/s
IOPS 500,000 IOPS Max
MTBF 1,500,000 hours
TBW 150/ 300/ 600 TB
Guarantee 5 years
Price 250 GB: €49.90
500 GB: 69.90 €
1 TB: 129.90 €

The new generation of Samsung SSDs

The SSD 980 is a PCIe 3.0 SSD in M.2 format and it will be available in 3 variants – 250 GB, 500 GB and 1 TB. The software and hardware of the predecessor model have been overhauled and the performance has been raised to a whole new level. With a read speed of 3500 and a write speed of 3000 MB/s, Samsung’s 980 is clearly one of the top models on the market. An IOPS MAX of 500,000 is also impressive. Overall, the 980 is a long-lasting, performance-oriented SSD for the user, which has even fewer weaknesses than its predecessor due to the improved software.

The 980 is also quite a bit ahead of the 970 EVO in terms of energy efficiency with a 54% increase (performance/watt). A new software called Magician 6.3 brings an additional feature – the Full Power Mode. In this mode, the 980 delivers its full power uninterruptedly which gives the end user immensely fast data transfer.

The performance of the Samsung SSD 980 in the test

Our test system

The measurements

wdt_ID SSD Seq (lesen in MB/s) Seq (schreiben in MB/s) 4K (lesen in MB/s) 4K (schreiben in MB/s) 4K-64-Thrd (lesen in MB/s) 4K-64-Thrd (schreiben in MB/s)
1 Samsung SSD 960 PRO 2 TB 2.278,89 1.832,34 47,47 197,25 1.690,47 1.211,18
2 Samsung SSD 960 EVO 1 TB 2.833,98 1.977,16 38,95 207,29 1.301,00 992,33
3 Plextor M8SeGN 256 GB 2.170,45 637,79 35,37 5,44 282,25 8,73
4 Plextor M9PeG 512 GB 2.246,29 880,66 41,74 7,49 511,00 31,01
5 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 2TB 2.553,25 2.481,28 42,45 110,08 1.687,72 1.901,41
6 Crucial P1 500 GB 1.774,87 927,44 59,92 172,76 346,82 878,87
7 Samsung SSD 970 Evo Plus 250 GB 2.794,51 2.204,05 54,37 132,99 795,31 1.930,24
8 WD Black SN750 1TB 2.966,45 2.690,48 45,74 149,72 1.580,57 1.740,14
9 WD Blue SN550 500 GB 2.178,75 858,33 36,35 155,07 747,57 385,85
10 Corsair MP510 480 GB 2.409,10 1.264,05 48,06 148,67 684,76 1.258,88
11 LC-Power Phenom Pro 1 TB 2.926,34 2.560,03 56,02 144,17 1.199,26 1.390,36
12 Pioneer APS-SE20Q 1 TB 2.728,68 1.740,70 47,48 137,52 721,73 1.441,33
13 XPG Spectrix S40G 1 TB 2.833,85 1.496,62 46,72 110,77 1.240,11 836,95
14 Team Group Cardea IOPS 1 TB 2.860,91 2.733,69 54,90 133,84 1.998,03 1.812,39
15 Samsung SSD 980 1 TB 2.569,42 2.366,17 51,08 129,69 1.489,46 1.100,07
16 Crucial P5 2 TB 2.319,45 2.445,02 40,09 73,66 1.716,32 2.052,95
17 goodram IRDM M.2 512 GB 2.999,16 2.497,66 69,46 205,26 2.016,57 2.351,02
18 TEAMGROUP MP34 1 TB 2.968,56 2.806,79 69,46 191,71 1.767,79 2.597,34
19 Silicon Power XD80 512 GB 3.031,90 2.330,21 70,01 232,94 1.911,62 2.210,43
20 Silicon Power US70 1TB 4.285,45 3.856,62 78,81 246,76 2.928,71 3.674,07
21 Kioxia Exceria 1 TB 1.580,12 1.587,90 63,23 167,43 1.657,50 1.501,68
22 Kioxia Exceria Plus 2 TB 2.678,46 2.678,82 49,10 125,36 1.990,35 2.986,04
23 Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB 2.501,35 4.238,61 48,54 144,46 2.225,47 2.781,88
24 WD_BLACK SN750 SE 1 TB 3.157,27 2.566,19 52,84 181,71 2.233,36 2.254,34
25 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Ceramic C440 2 TB 3.783,76 3.690,50 56,20 176,79 2.317,14 2.878,50
26 WD Blue SN570 500 GB 3.050,84 2.342,03 37,52 154,14 982,68 1.573,10
27 Corsair Force Series MP600 Pro LPX 1 TB 5.211,37 5.207,10 76,92 186,65 2.947,55 3.281,34
28 goodram PX500 512GB 2.264,99 1.561,40 49,21 184,05 881,04 831,01
29 Kingston KC3000 1 TB 5.425,19 5.172,04 90,74 190,77 2.935,80 3.132,12
30 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Z44L 1 TB 2.639,24 2.432,48 81,06 272,34 2.275,26 993,65
31 Adata Legend 840 1 TB 3.701,46 3.976,39 75,74 235,64 1.602,58 2.219,75
32 Silicon Power XPOWER XS70 1 TB 5.138,97 5.055,37 99,34 264,38 2.971,08 2.825,82
33 Kioxia Exceria Pro 2 TB 5.307,65 5.216,05 84,56 234,07 2.368,25 3.061,54
34 Corsair Force Series MP600 GS 2 TB 3.834,92 3.476,47 93,92 253,17 2.227,09 1.384,78
35 Crucial P3 2 TB 3.126,73 2.937,83 78,29 232,44 2.237,47 2.320,77
36 Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB 3.837,97 3.874,93 81,09 243,28 2.309,87 2.884,90
37 Kingston NV2 2 TB 2.991,12 2.504,85 45,27 220,40 1.483,32 1.561,91
38 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 5.468,15 5.103,35 53,62 123,57 1.593,89 1.920,43
39 TeamGroup MP44 1 TB 6.292,26 5.614,48 72,27 230,44 2.634,75 3.085,63
40 Crucial T700 2 TB 9.058,04 9.939,20 83,44 254,77 3.536,75 3.120,13
41 Crucial T500 2 TB 6.197,23 6.056,93 81,97 248,92 3.134,16 4.087,88
42 Nextorage G Series 4 TB 5.457,12 5.773,07 80,36 198,99 3.048,62 4.106,43
43 Kioxia Exceria Plus G3 2 TB 4.380,42 3.301,38 55,90 271,46 1.397,09 3.151,40
44 TeamGroup T-Create Classic 1 TB 4.371,84 4.386,65 67,66 232,00 2.848,70 3.182,26
SSD Seq (lesen in MB/s) Seq (schreiben in MB/s) 4K (lesen in MB/s) 4K (schreiben in MB/s) 4K-64-Thrd (lesen in MB/s) 4K-64-Thrd (schreiben in MB/s)
wdt_ID SSD Lesen Schreiben Gesamt
1 Samsung SSD 960 PRO 2 TB 1.966 1.592 4.542
2 Samsung SSD 960 EVO 1 TB 1.623 1.397 3.809
3 Plextor M8SeGN 256 GB 578 82 891
4 Plextor M9PeG 512 GB 777 127 1.244
5 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 2TB 1.985 2.228 5.219
6 Crucial P1 500 GB 584 1.144 2.008
7 Samsung SSD 970 Evo Plus 250 GB 1.129 2.284 3.975
8 WD Black SN750 1TB 1.923 2.159 5.052
9 WD Blue SN550 500 GB 1.002 627 2.082
10 Corsair MP510 480 GB 974 1.534 2.961
11 LC-Power Phenom Pro 1 TB 1.548 1.791 4.122
12 Pioneer APS-SE20Q 1 TB 1.042 1.753 3.290
13 XPG Spectrix S40G 1 TB 1.570 1.097 3.409
14 Team Group Cardea IOPS 1 TB 2.338 2.216 5.744
15 Samsung SSD 980 1 TB 1.197 1.466 4.178
16 Crucial P5 2 TB 1.988 2.371 5.380
17 goodram IRDM M.2 512 GB 2.386 2.732 6.310
18 TEAMGROUP MP34 1 TB 2.134 3.070 6.298
19 Silicon Power XD80 512 GB 2.285 2.676 6.103
20 Silicon Power US70 1TB 3.436 4.306 9.479
21 Kioxia Exceria 1 TB 1.879 1.828 4.678
22 Kioxia Exceria Plus 2 TB 2.307 3.379 6.865
23 Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB 2.524 3.350 7.248
24 WD_BLACK SN750 SE 1 TB 2.602 2.693 6.592
25 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Ceramic C440 2 TB 2.748 3.424 7.571
26 WD Blue SN570 500 GB 1.325 1.961 3.933
27 Corsair Force Series MP600 Pro LPX 1 TB 3.546 3.989 9.345
28 goodram PX500 512GB 1.157 1.171 2.896
29 Kingston KC3000 1 TB 3.525 3.913 9.227
30 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Z44L 1 TB 2.620 1.509 5.470
31 Adata Legend 840 1 TB 2.048 2.853 5.977
32 Silicon Power XPOWER XS70 1 TB 3.584 3.596 9.018
33 Kioxia Exceria Pro 2 TB 2.984 3.817 8.330
34 Corsair Force Series MP600 GS 2 TB 2.704 1.986 6.071
35 Crucial P3 2 TB 2.628 2.847 6.819
36 Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB 2.775 3.516 7.720
37 Kingston NV2 2 TB 1.828 2.033 4.773
38 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 2.194 2.554 5.854
39 TeamGroup MP44 1 TB 3.336 3.878 8.884
40 Crucial T700 2 TB 4.526 4.369 11.244
41 Crucial T500 2 TB 3.836 4.942 10.730
42 Nextorage G Series 4 TB 3.949 4.693 10.650
43 Kioxia Exceria Plus G3 2 TB 1.891 3.753 6.564
44 TeamGroup T-Create Classic 1 TB 3.381 3.853 8.972
SSD Lesen Schreiben Gesamt

wdt_ID SSD ISO (in MB/s) Programm (in MB/s) Spiel (in MB/s)
1 Samsung SSD 960 PRO 2 TB 1.827,04 647,49 483,93
2 Samsung SSD 960 EVO 1 TB 1.917,71 283,09 471,35
3 Plextor M8SeGN 256 GB 1.471,74 547,76 1.166,32
4 Plextor M9PeG 512 GB 1.566,28 632,28 1.130,44
5 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 2TB 1.378,01 354,96 749,40
6 Crucial P1 500 GB 977,33 363,49 558,79
7 Samsung SSD 970 Evo Plus 250 GB 1.405,19 414,16 921,26
8 WD Black SN750 1TB 1.682,28 426,18 943,93
10 WD Blue SN550 500 GB 1.108,05 349,78 419,12
11 Corsair MP510 480 GB 1.040,48 190,51 762,33
12 LC-Power Phenom Pro 1 TB 1.196,60 153,90 868,05
13 Pioneer APS-SE20Q 1 TB 961,05 322,21 748,55
14 XPG Spectrix S40G 1 TB 2.076,52 591,51 1.327,85
15 Team Group Cardea IOPS 1 TB 1.901,03 650,28 1.313,24
16 Samsung SSD 980 1 TB 1.294,84 338,29 944,94
17 Crucial P5 2 TB 1.923,18 1.010,93 1.629,58
18 goodram IRDM M.2 512 GB 2.194,08 948,05 1.298,95
19 TEAMGROUP MP34 1 TB 1.984,76 854,77 1.489,55
20 Silicon Power XD80 512 GB 2.359,27 1.065,63 1.876,26
21 Silicon Power US70 1TB 3.011,38 1.224,04 2.328,32
22 Kioxia Exceria 1 TB 1.296,82 408,44 596,72
23 Kioxia Exceria Plus 2 TB 2.076,71 1.060,45 1.763,90
24 Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB 2.917,07 410,88 1.225,89
25 WD_BLACK SN750 SE 1 TB 2.103,68 379,38 1.046,72
26 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Ceramic C440 2 TB 2.735,59 401,44 1.156,82
27 WD Blue SN570 500 GB 2.295,18 411,62 1.099,37
28 Corsair Force Series MP600 Pro LPX 1 TB 3.076,12 413,18 1.232,93
29 goodram PX500 512GB 1.801,72 304,17 568,27
30 Kingston KC3000 1 TB 2.973,39 409,04 1.213,11
31 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Z44L 1 TB 1.948,30 374,06 988,76
32 Adata Legend 840 1 TB 2.543,82 388,18 1.135,27
33 Silicon Power XPOWER XS70 1 TB 2.805,98 447,39 1.154,33
34 Kioxia Exceria Pro 2 TB 2.594,74 409,41 1.043,58
35 Corsair Force Series MP600 GS 2 TB 2.323,46 1.002,08 1.612,10
36 Crucial P3 2 TB 2.182,93 383,13 1.056,01
37 Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB 2.751,88 395,22 1.164,56
38 Kingston NV2 2 TB 2.112,46 1.191,60 2.398,90
39 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 3.092,41 639,48 1.691,61
40 TeamGroup MP44 1 TB 1.134,91 745,34 1.069,53
41 Crucial T700 2 TB 4.661,57 1.556,02 3.005,81
42 Crucial T500 2 TB 4.188,85 1.691,40 3.166,24
43 Nextorage G Series 4 TB 4.557,63 1.058,92 2.804,48
44 Kioxia Exceria Plus G3 2 TB 2.856,23 1.470,23 2.704,32
45 TeamGroup T-Create Classic 1 TB 4.421,38 735,61 2.075,70
SSD ISO (in MB/s) Programm (in MB/s) Spiel (in MB/s)

In the AS SSD benchmark, the 980 is far from the manufacturer’s claims with a measured read speed of 2569 MB/s and a write speed of 2366 MB/s. The 4K values do not come close to the expectations, so this test result was rather a disappointment overall.

wdt_ID SSD Seq Q32T1 (lesen in MB/s) Seq Q32T1 (schreiben in MB/s) 4K Q32T1 (lesen in MB/s) 4K Q32T1 (schreiben in MB/s) Seq (lesen in MB/s) Seq (schreiben in MB/s) 4K (lesen in MB/s) 4K (schreiben in MB/s)
1 Samsung SSD 960 PRO 2 TB 3.470,00 1.922,00 779,40 681,70 2.729,00 1.856,00 53,17 250,90
2 Samsung SSD 960 EVO 1 TB 3.402,00 1.934,00 829,10 741,00 2.087,00 1.890,00 52,95 260,80
3 Plextor M8SeGN 256 GB 2.249,00 369,00 560,20 366,70 1.573,00 437,70 39,15 143,90
4 Plextor M9PeG 512 GB 2.788,00 1.316,00 599,90 633,70 1.810,00 1.344,00 45,53 192,70
5 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 2TB 3.560,00 2.508,00 337,00 231,70 2.447,00 2.489,00 50,01 153,70
6 Crucial P1 500 GB 1.928,00 978,30 355,30 347,20 1.688,00 973,20 57,60 146,70
7 Samsung SSD 970 Evo Plus 250 GB 3.556,20 2.372,80 579,10 1.329,40 355,30 302,30 46,36 173,90
8 WD Black SN750 1TB 3.411,80 2.990,90 1.297,90 1.395,20 331,20 315,00 42,26 195,00
9 WD Blue SN550 500 GB 2.430,00 1.519,00 361,20 267,10 1.675,00 1.235,00 38,02 139,30
10 Corsair MP510 480 GB 3.392,00 1.354,00 274,40 307,70 1.003,00 1.338,00 39,68 139,30
11 LC-Power Phenom Pro 1 TB 3.468,00 3.019,00 440,00 342,40 2.760,00 2.736,00 55,64 132,30
12 Pioneer APS-SE20Q 1 TB 3.405,00 1.949,00 486,60 286,90 1.263,00 1.930,00 39,60 121,90
13 XPG Spectrix S40G 1 TB 3.546,00 2.721,00 391,00 289,90 2.956,00 2.016,00 50,90 110,70
14 Team Group Cardea IOPS 1 TB 3.459,00 3.021,00 383,10 283,80 1.844,00 2.332,00 44,14 120,30
15 Samsung SSD 980 1 TB 3.540,00 2.759,00 433,70 310,60 1.879,00 2.082,00 52,75 123,70
16 Crucial P5 2 TB 3.189,00 3.155,00 730,60 680,30 1.956,00 1.749,00 56,98 115,90
17 goodram IRDM M.2 512 GB 3.461,00 2.501,00 608,10 396,50 2.179,00 2.489,00 58,44 229,94
18 TEAMGROUP MP34 1 TB 3.460,00 2.798,00 619,80 554,00 2.001,00 2.976,00 49,55 212,30
19 Silicon Power XD80 512 GB 3.468,00 2.487,00 675,60 660,20 2.385,00 2.477,00 45,59 234,80
20 Silicon Power US70 1TB 4.978,00 4.238,00 733,70 671,30 2.707,00 4.214,00 55,39 254,40
21 Kioxia Exceria 1 TB 1.737,30 1.452,32 501,31 463,31 1.196,81 1.331,56 46,98 185,42
22 Kioxia Exceria Plus 2 TB 3.424,00 3.204,00 800,10 734,40 1.858,00 2.348,00 55,68 242,00
23 Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB 6.638,76 5.000,90 684,20 495,25 4.319,68 4.490,32 70,47 215,02
24 WD_BLACK SN750 SE 1 TB 3.608,20 2.800,76 735,60 582,10 2.534,99 2.860,58 58,41 306,98
25 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Ceramic C440 2 TB 5.013,42 4.267,00 790,40 461,97 2.722,93 4.049,53 60,67 258,68
26 WD Blue SN570 500 GB 3.523,00 2.496,00 679,90 485,00 2.663,10 2.334,90 69,93 234,70
27 Corsair Force Series MP600 Pro LPX 1 TB 6.985,06 5.851,75 796,04 618,63 4.234,78 5.284,88 84,67 312,15
28 goodram PX500 512GB 2.572,58 1.837,37 508,83 436,76 2.258,18 1.852,41 65,60 206,57
29 Kingston KC3000 1 TB 6.982,25 6.116,38 775,38 604,27 4.346,05 5.158,72 86,68 306,92
30 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Z44L 1 TB 3.508,57 3.214,89 689,92 465,24 2.154,89 3.202,24 69,67 298,68
31 Adata Legend 840 1 TB 5.033,08 4.828,19 680,23 496,77 3.456,78 4.708,73 95,22 294,05
32 Silicon Power XPOWER XS70 1 TB 7.002,90 5.874,20 841,60 687,00 4.279,90 5.435,50 89,30 337,09
33 Kioxia Exceria Pro 2 TB 6.978,80 6.006,07 840,78 674,03 3.570,61 5.681,97 71,69 310,02
34 Corsair Force Series MP600 GS 2 TB 4.969,65 4.749,09 647,26 428,19 2.921,09 4.734,90 77,81 265,79
35 Crucial P3 2 TB 3.672,00 3.259,00 569,90 407,50 2.724,00 2.972,00 59,58 234,80
36 Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB 5.028,00 4.351,00 566,70 362,20 3.050,00 4.296,00 60,66 249,40
37 Kingston NV2 2 TB 3.784,32 2.944,50 681,02 477,24 3.252,05 2.855,73 57,56 233,65
38 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 7.141,24 5.427,86 464,83 229,07 3.243,98 5.117,66 64,16 165,74
39 TeamGroup MP44 1 TB 7.427,45 6.590,66 708,80 467,82 4.924,22 5.424,73 73,14 244,66
40 Crucial T700 2 TB 12.341,34 11.779,15 703,55 493,06 8.996,78 9.691,96 91,27 303,43
41 Crucial T500 2 TB 7.435,37 7.000,65 663,23 469,37 5.812,01 6.021,80 90,71 299,76
42 Nextorage G Series 4 TB 6.374,84 6.494,85 770,17 532,92 3.943,69 5.113,27 64,71 241,88
43 Kioxia Exceria Plus G3 2 TB 5.075,66 3.974,58 647,90 421,44 3.171,24 3.959,23 62,73 331,70
44 TeamGroup T-Create Classic 1 TB 5.223,00 4.827,00 625,80 400,20 3.041,00 4.631,00 76,03 262,50
SSD Seq Q32T1 (lesen in MB/s) Seq Q32T1 (schreiben in MB/s) 4K Q32T1 (lesen in MB/s) 4K Q32T1 (schreiben in MB/s) Seq (lesen in MB/s) Seq (schreiben in MB/s) 4K (lesen in MB/s) 4K (schreiben in MB/s)

The SSD 980 achieves the best values in CrystalDiskMark, which to our regret was the only one that came close to the manufacturer’s specifications, but was still slightly below Samsung’s specifications in terms of write speed. A read speed of 3540 MB/s and a write speed of 2759 MB/s was measured.

wdt_ID SSD 512 B 1 KB 2 KB 4 KB 8 KB 16 KB 32 KB 64 KB 128 KB 256 KB 512 KB 1 MB 2 MB 4 MB 8 MB 12 MB 16 MB 24 MB 32 MB 48 MB 64 MB
1 Samsung SSD 960 PRO 2 TB 76.544 154.112 298.496 564.224 974.848 610.304 959.460 1.362.629 1.736.704 1.772.954 1.723.012 1.743.475 1.880.853 1.864.135 1.839.607 1.774.740 1.775.366 1.742.785 1.709.344 1.536.037 1.606.345
2 Samsung SSD 960 EVO 1 TB 27.008 56.434 111.337 212.460 393.216 680.628 1.056.768 1.454.539 1.496.107 1.682.899 1.807.889 1.847.711 1.893.590 1.910.844 1.906.501 1.886.493 1.853.836 1.797.558 1.711.960 1.620.005 1.605.595
3 Plextor M8SeGN 256 GB 16.853 33.280 65.024 120.776 211.566 346.101 500.029 671.088 754.000 855.864 979.691 989.319 989.319 989.319 986.895 986.309 984.482 983.971 984.482 981.467 979.691
4 Plextor M9PeG 512 GB 21.888 43.520 84.992 164.864 293.444 507.904 813.101 1.170.866 1.414.446 849.843 1.245.339 1.494.407 1.350.097 798.915 947.865 735.842 574.365 635.982 607.649 605.113 596.419
5 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 2TB 15.447 31.586 61.797 120.776 227.950 421.028 732.959 1.173.618 1.631.147 2.011.693 1.954.627 2.348.810 2.487.938 1.494.021 2.494.021 2.492.090 2.494.021 2.491.416 2.483.027 2.454.597 2.397.934
6 Crucial P1 500 GB 23.936 47.360 92.672 178.176 312.562 551.581 874.358 980.588 983.040 980.588 984.578 975.419 982.272 975.419 980.586 978.035 978.352 971.412 967.334 964.036 965.161
7 Samsung SSD 970 Evo Plus 250 GB 37.480 75.680 150.880 303.710 552.730 810.330 1.021.000 1.080.000 744.420 795.450 604.840 877.190 978.000 767.750 572.660 486.220 562.190 621.600 570.000 561.370 460.160
8 WD Black SN750 1TB 11.390 28.670 65.100 283.200 572.270 1.090.000 1.800.000 2.220.000 2.470.000 2.450.000 2.470.000 2.690.000 2.410.000 2.240.000 2.260.000 2.340.000 2.420.000 2.020.000 1.860.000 1.840.000 1.650.000
10 WD Blue SN550 500 GB 15.665 24.003 52.473 157.302 268.991 484.999 720.896 918.137 1.138.418 1.372.823 1.436.405 1.287.724 1.166.704 1.252.031 1.253.902 785.940 662.607 571.560 535.073 531.814 531.555
11 Corsair MP510 480 GB 18.513 35.072 66.048 148.183 265.534 375.565 716.657 1.167.779 1.572.341 1.717.495 2.049.630 2.147.483 2.171.169 2.176.503 2.203.574 2.209.069 2.080.374 1.363.665 1.355.082 1.366.144 1.364.926
12 LC-Power Phenom Pro 1 TB 19.024 37.888 75.076 144.684 262.144 482.122 819.200 1.252.176 1.667.000 1.682.899 2.097.152 2.383.127 2.595.485 2.741.375 2.773.093 2.777.684 2.728.002 2.732.445 2.723.574 2.730.461 2.735.647
13 Pioneer APS-SE20Q 1 TB 18.816 36.772 71.832 123.904 139.264 184.269 179.327 341.656 437.949 1.743.322 583.839 528.693 1.815.716 1.811.794 1.804.001 1.834.243 1.835.581 1.820.971 1.825.594 1.809.290 1.093.214
14 XPG Spectrix S40G 1 TB 13.056 26.106 52.224 115.682 186.533 328.234 549.136 501.276 534.872 829.373 1.237.930 1.480.579 1.620.987 1.759.164 1.807.420 1.822.987 1.824.318 1.836.424 1.837.699 1.841.401 1.846.730
15 Team Group Cardea IOPS 1 TB 17.536 35.152 69.322 133.883 245.768 391.908 698.617 1.098.272 1.098.099 1.538.085 1.740.479 2.155.321 2.416.572 2.783.775 2.857.110 2.906.652 2.923.554 2.946.394 2.952.790 2.944.401 2.938.099
16 Samsung SSD 980 1 TB 16.512 32.941 64.700 127.680 239.865 439.074 756.184 1.084.175 1.285.019 1.114.112 1.512.369 1.950.839 2.226.276 2.429.133 2.530.500 2.567.941 2.577.145 2.591.742 2.593.078 2.602.310 2.589.279
17 Crucial P5 2 TB 5.196 10.515 21.906 73.541 138.628 261.459 462.409 757.705 1.203.378 1.370.037 1.494.919 1.855.850 2.039.583 2.203.574 2.314.098 2.329.707 2.331.325 2.347.136 2.337.124 2.362.757 2.374.367
18 goodram IRDM M.2 500GB 24.832 48.263 99.364 192.105 34.832 521.705 884.377 1.371.516 1.934.909 2.361.218 2.476.835 2.506.276 2.506.276 2.500.134 2.500.134 2.504.276 2.506.276 2.504.276 2.500.134 2.504.306 2.487.938
20 TEAMGROUP MP34 1 TB 24.987 40.960 94.785 171.676 337.592 495.954 892.528 1.355.173 1.964.193 2.402.334 2.776.918 2.945.426 2.997.418 3.004.874 2.975.858 2.992.692 2.982.616 2.975.858 2.982.616 2.944.401 2.938.099
21 Silicon Power XD80 512 GB 28.600 57.200 111.885 212.590 386.744 570.880 980.484 1.481.666 1.944.584 2.341.383 2.487.938 2.470.674 2.470.674 2.476.835 2.470.674 2.460.658 2.458.443 2.460.658 2.476.835 2.466.749 2.483.027
22 Silicon Power US70 1TB 30.848 61.440 120.868 232.489 365.350 649.035 1.139.277 1.823.763 2.636.829 3.519.996 3.959.422 4.083.432 4.160.749 4.196.385 4.206.824 4.179.769 4.160.749 4.152.360 4.150.373 4.131.702 4.129.776
23 Kioxia Exceria 1 TB 17.792 40.960 67.072 130.271 275.251 471.500 866.509 1.304.574 1.581.365 1.631.288 1.620.987 1.632.819 1.640.803 1.628.855 1.636.801 1.640.438 1.640.803 1.636.398 1.640.803 1.509.949 1.338.830
24 Kioxia Exceria Plus 2 TB 17.362 32.859 64.567 125.871 268.435 490.242 838.074 1.275.068 1.526.664 1.986.857 1.719.044 2.181.864 2.446.332 2.631.720 2.737.774 2.768.240 2.776.918 2.603.790 2.565.927 2.516.582 2.506.276
25 Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB 18.048 34.560 70.005 151.247 293.011 543.703 975.606 1.605.027 1.872.793 2.676.091 2.446.332 2.989.998 3.739.399 4.093.640 4.165.377 4.190.140 4.196.385 4.295.545 4.150.373 4.142.005 4.093.640
27 WD_BLACK SN750 SE 1 TB 23.493 47.888 95.780 185.417 337.592 621.353 1.081.933 1.694.105 1.863.499 2.456.886 2.717.494 2.578.567 2.677.660 2.770.095 2.756.549 2.754.468 2.751.463 2.740.832 2.744.601 2.731.937 2.730.981
28 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Ceramic C440 2 TB 23.296 46.475 92.196 178.826 331.923 523.010 886.582 1.474.822 1.858.886 2.623.747 2.657.776 2.916.335 3.623.878 3.806.174 3.768.675 3.768.644 3.758.096 3.709.305 3.720.887 3.680.971 3.663.511
29 WD Blue SN570 500 GB 8.131 35.916 73.764 158.397 288.194 523.010 882.182 1.029.109 1.460.219 1.717.495 1.644.825 2.019.781 2.302.755 2.476.835 2.476.835 2.466.749 2.476.835 2.466.749 2.470.674 2.436.593 2.428.389
30 Corsair Force Series MP600 Pro LPX 1 TB 24.514 49.029 97.074 188.019 355.136 576.389 1.023.016 1.635.204 2.213.019 2.966.413 3.438.089 3.347.075 4.217.315 4.862.478 5.154.496 5.233.489 5.262.134 5.259.657 5.234.491 5.145.012 5.262.134
31 goodram PX500 512GB 23.365 49.540 95.268 174.306 320.881 523.010 886.582 1.241.591 1.676.148 1.818.378 1.846.730 1.865.060 1.865.060 1.860.443 1.842.204 1.831.923 1.819.901 1.818.552 1.811.939 1.811.939 1.811.939
33 Kingston KC3000 1 TB 24.131 47.872 95.031 184.955 347.832 547.789 967.454 1.681.494 2.196.545 2.907.603 3.221.225 3.181.457 4.073.274 4.862.478 5.169.868 5.508.936 5.288.379 5.344.623 5.368.709 5.284.823 5.208.449
34 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Z44L 1 TB 25.600 74.020 145.629 272.629 476.762 860.499 1.433.862 2.158.471 2.796.029 3.090.729 3.189.332 3.197.246 3.197.246 3.064.027 3.122.887 3.114.270 3.115.176 3.121.055 3.115.176 3.131.746 3.122.887
35 Adata Legend 840 1 TB 6.368 13.466 113.700 233.510 548.850 864.584 1.480.884 2.308.697 3.288.220 3.890.741 4.340.374 4.429.185 4.063.166 4.119.554 4.129.776 4.190.140 4.231.494 4.221.566 4.217.315 4.229.342 4.217.315
36 Silicon Power XPOWER XS70 1 TB 35.072 72.048 142.409 272.873 424.120 779.157 1.307.836 2.091.529 2.985.558 3.938.159 4.618.964 4.898.947 4.083.432 4.729.259 4.618.964 4.921.316 4.995.697 5.083.121 5.008.124 4.970.407 4.995.697
37 Kioxia Exceria Pro 2 TB 30.208 65.280 129.249 244.334 364.216 712.048 1.229.461 2.024.588 2.951.217 3.785.774 4.618.964 4.618.964 3.672.624 4.006.499 4.196.385 4.306.152 4.529.432 4.522.373 4.697.620 4.634.498 4.729.259
38 Corsair Force Series MP600 GS 2 TB 32.384 64.351 127.012 242.703 439.517 819.641 1.358.561 2.169.404 3.054.886 3.814.097 4.385.331 4.563.402 4.507.064 4.518.220 4.540.699 4.579.558 4.563.402 4.476.010 4.429.185 4.443.242 4.407.149
39 Crucial P3 2 TB 29.749 59.136 115.748 222.274 393.951 703.856 1.154.348 1.796.224 2.236.179 2.656.219 2.938.099 3.087.007 3.189.332 3.247.737 3.280.134 3.288.998 3.297.732 3.305.361 3.314.017 3.313.604 3.322.220
40 Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB 30.336 60.420 119.035 223.878 423.133 797.643 1.383.137 2.230.976 3.018.326 4.294.967 5.037.307 5.514.886 5.676.874 5.809.424 5.928.227 5.951.717 5.979.997 5.990.968 6.009.749 6.009.749 6.009.749
41 Kingston NV2 2 TB 30.336 60.416 120.356 221.253 399.032 666.184 1.098.272 1.588.684 2.058.219 2.372.821 2.618.882 2.783.775 2.797.590 2.811.543 2.804.549 2.788.645 2.811.543 2.781.810 2.797.590 2.798.930 2.783.775
42 TeamGroup MP44 1 TB 27.392 55.923 111.140 216.146 415.949 787.349 1.253.976 2.001.684 2.903.929 3.795.168 4.563.402 5.301.600 5.704.253 6.009.749 6.143.298 6.213.008 6.225.560 6.250.865 6.009.749 6.278.997 6.276.848
44 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 12.160 23.296 54.511 98.852 204.910 387.822 695.664 1.240.727 2.318.259 3.288.334 4.063.166 4.694.314 5.062.306 5.288.379 5.381.998 5.344.623 5.275.224 5.190.451 5.154.496 5.121.025 5.087.554
45 Crucial T700 2 TB 6.606 13.586 30.491 257.004 480.847 919.269 1.714.395 3.010.799 4.763.156 6.357.874 8.099.920 9.328.132 10.175.000 10.643.000 10.911.000 11.017.000 11.072.000 11.045.000 11.140.000 11.118.000 11.112.000
46 Crucial T500 2 TB 28.672 47.752 66.048 253.550 421.085 760.871 1.342.177 2.214.592 3.278.565 4.226.285 5.167.382 5.847.108 6.174.015 6.442.450 6.560.268 6.594.320 6.627.209 6.643.777 6.644.441 6.685.845 6.677.498
47 Nextorage G Series 4 TB 25.216 51.072 102.436 200.777 368.312 573.734 1.053.152 1.768.754 2.643.405 3.453.552 4.385.331 5.116.220 5.542.324 5.861.617 6.076.442 6.128.691 6.128.055 6.197.553 6.225.560 6.250.663 6.245.775
48 Kioxia Exceria Plus G3 2 TB 35.239 70.436 137.289 267.218 455.901 829.882 1.458.438 2.325.040 3.229.770 3.861.777 3.949.549 3.986.665 3.949.549 3.986.665 3.986.665 3.974.206 3.959.422 3.934.905 3.929.948 3.916.078 3.920.220
49 TeamGroup T-Create Classic 1 TB 23.493 47.360 87.881 198.234 381.694 691.568 1.157.234 1.752.452 2.357.998 2.848.502 3.271.974 3.539.074 3.693.460 3.768.675 3.768.675 3.700.123 3.711.700 3.787.393 3.739.399 3.793.469 3.796.729
SSD 512 B 1 KB 2 KB 4 KB 8 KB 16 KB 32 KB 64 KB 128 KB 256 KB 512 KB 1 MB 2 MB 4 MB 8 MB 12 MB 16 MB 24 MB 32 MB 48 MB 64 MB

The values in the ATTO benchmark also do not leave a good impression with a maximum file size of 64 MB and the read speed is similar to the AS benchmark around the 2500 mark, while the write speed is just under 2100 MB/s.

wdt_ID SSD Minimum (in MB/s) Maximum (in MB/s) Average (in MB/s)
1 Samsung SSD 960 PRO 2 TB 1.331,3 1.861,7 1.771,5
2 Samsung SSD 960 EVO 1 TB 1.365,9 1.914,5 1.736,2
3 Plextor M8SeGN 256 GB 1.125,6 1.280,7 1.245,0
4 Plextor M9PeG 512 GB 209,4 1.285,0 1.254,3
6 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 2TB 1.460,6 1.982,2 1.797,2
8 Crucial P1 500 GB 1.507,6 1.600,1 1.575,0
9 Samsung SSD 970 Evo Plus 250 GB 1.225,6 1.600,2 1.556,7
10 WD Black SN750 1TB 315,0 1.489,1 1.426,4
12 WD Blue SN550 500 GB 1.372,3 1.512,9 1.480,7
13 Corsair MP510 480 GB 863,9 1.561,9 1.492,6
14 LC-Power Phenom Pro 1 TB 1.370,8 1.472,3 1.444,7
15 Pioneer APS-SE20Q 1 TB 1.066,5 1.552,9 1.481,7
16 XPG Spectrix S40G 1 TB 1.224,0 1.384,9 1.355,4
17 Team Group Cardea IOPS 1 TB 836,2 1.496,4 1.438,3
18 Samsung SSD 980 1 TB 1.406,4 1.461,2 1.451,0
19 Crucial P5 2 TB 616,8 894,9 889,6
20 goodram IRDM M.2 500GB 1.179,0 1.960,8 1.894,0
22 TEAMGROUP MP34 1 TB 1.211,7 1.944,6 1.889,3
23 Silicon Power XD80 512 GB 1.439,0 1.995,0 1.957,3
24 Silicon Power US70 1TB 1.758,4 2.730,4 2.612,1
25 Kioxia Exceria 1 TB 1.138,5 1.829,8 1.741,2
27 Kioxia Exceria Plus 2 TB 799,4 1.695,3 1.685,5
28 Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB 916,6 1.733,5 1.719,6
29 WD_BLACK SN750 SE 1 TB 1.975,2 2.071,3 2.049,4
30 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Ceramic C440 2 TB 682,3 2.141,9 2.109,0
31 WD Blue SN570 500 GB 1.303,4 1.418,1 1.333,0
32 Corsair Force Series MP600 Pro LPX 1 TB 977,8 2.094,2 1.945,7
33 goodram PX500 512GB 1.702,7 1.771,7 1.750,2
34 Kingston KC3000 1 TB 1.063,9 2.261,1 2.240,3
35 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Z44L 1 TB 429,2 2.313,9 2.260,9
36 Adata Legend 840 1 TB 2.502,6 2.795,9 2.730,8
37 Silicon Power XPOWER XS70 1 TB 1.255,4 2.308,7 2.256,1
38 Kioxia Exceria Pro 2 TB 1.313,6 2.144,4 2.105,6
39 Corsair Force Series MP600 GS 2 TB 583,0 2.642,4 2.588,3
40 Crucial P3 2 TB 1.891,0 1.961,8 1.949,2
41 Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB 2.503,2 2.832,1 2.764,6
42 Kingston NV2 2 TB 1.705,1 1.986,7 1.898,7
43 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 1.297,0 2.230,9 2.150,6
45 TeamGroup MP44 1 TB 2.000,3 2.138,2 2.098,0
46 Crucial T700 2 TB 2.681,6 2.743,5 2.706,7
47 Crucial T500 2 TB 2.087,8 2.406,9 2.389,1
48 Nextorage G Series 4 TB 1.224,5 2.440,8 2.365,7
49 Kioxia Exceria Plus G3 2 TB 1.441,2 2.912,8 2.846,6
50 TeamGroup T-Create Classic 1 TB 377,6 2.914,5 2.774,8
SSD Minimum (in MB/s) Maximum (in MB/s) Average (in MB/s)
wdt_ID SSD AS SSD (lesen) AS SSD (schreiben) HD Tune Pro
1 Samsung SSD 960 PRO 2 TB 0,220 0,373 0,018
2 Samsung SSD 960 EVO 1 TB 0,000 0,402 0,023
3 Plextor M8SeGN 256 GB 0,024 0,832 0,021
4 Plextor M9PeG 512 GB 0,020 0,592 0,018
5 Samsung SSD 970 EVO 2TB 0,032 0,349 0,018
6 Crucial P1 500 GB 0,020 0,448 0,017
7 Samsung SSD 970 Evo Plus 250 GB 0,049 0,027 0,049
8 WD Black SN750 1TB 0,030 0,024 0,034
9 WD Blue SN550 500 GB 0,028 0,585 0,021
10 Corsair MP510 480 GB 0,051 0,250 0,034
11 LC-Power Phenom Pro 1 TB 0,265 0,023
12 Pioneer APS-SE20Q 1 TB 0,032 0,271 0,033
13 XPG Spectrix S40G 1 TB 0,038 0,062
14 Team Group Cardea IOPS 1 TB 0,028 0,036
15 Samsung SSD 980 1 TB 0,299 0,028
16 Crucial P5 2 TB 0,106 0,050
17 goodram IRDM M.2 512 GB 0,024 0,018 0,027
18 TEAMGROUP MP34 1 TB 0,024 0,018 0,026
19 Silicon Power XD80 512 GB 0,024 0,016 0,024
20 Silicon Power US70 1TB 0,017 0,016 0,018
21 Kioxia Exceria 1 TB 0,025 0,022 0,025
22 Kioxia Exceria Plus 2 TB 0,022 0,028
23 Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB 0,027 0,028 0,026
24 WD_BLACK SN750 SE 1 TB 0,019 0,105 0,015
25 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Ceramic C440 2 TB 0,022 0,023
26 WD Blue SN570 500 GB 0,027 0,024
27 Corsair Force Series MP600 Pro LPX 1 TB 0,019 0,021 0,018
28 goodram PX500 512GB 0,021 0,101 0,019
29 Kingston KC3000 1 TB 0,020 0,018
30 TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Z44L 1 TB 0,318 0,019
31 Adata Legend 840 1 TB 0,020 0,047
32 Silicon Power XPOWER XS70 1 TB 0,015 0,018
33 Kioxia Exceria Pro 2 TB 0,016 0,018
34 Corsair Force Series MP600 GS 2 TB 0,014 0,020 0,019
35 Crucial P3 2 TB 0,015 0,016 0,017
36 Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB 0,014 0,015 0,015
37 Kingston NV2 2 TB 0,132 0,023
38 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 BLADE 0,026 0,031 0,038
39 TeamGroup MP44 1 TB 0,021 0,047 0,025
40 Crucial T700 2 TB 0,015 0,039 0,017
41 Crucial T500 2 TB 0,022 0,017 0,028
42 Nextorage G Series 4 TB 0,023 0,020 0,035
43 Kioxia Exceria Plus G3 2 TB 0,014 0,014 0,019
44 TeamGroup T-Create Classic 1 TB 0,016 0,016 0,019
SSD AS SSD (lesen) AS SSD (schreiben) HD Tune Pro

In our benchmarks, the SSD 980 didn’t live up to expectations and was almost 20 percent below the manufacturer’s stated values with an average read speed of 2873 MB/s and an average write speed of 2560 MB/s. However, this is usual since the manufacturer’s specifications are maximum achievable values.

Host Memory Buffer (HMB) – Acceptable performance without own DRAM

In a common SSD, a powerful DRAM is immensely important to manage communication within the hardware and ensure smooth data transfers. With the HMB feature built into the SSD 980, this is the first time a Samsung SSD has done away with DRAM. Up to now, a large number of manufacturers have failed in the task of bringing a high-performance SSD without DRAM onto the market – this is now to be put to an end.

The HMB cleverly solves this by leveraging the PCI’s Direct Memory Access (DMA) and thus partially accessing the CPU’s DRAM instead of its own DRAM. This ensures that the manufacturing costs of the SSD could be reduced by a good bit, which also has a positive effect on the sales price without sacrificing any speed.

Depending on the size of the SSD, up to 160 GB of memory is available for Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0 – even without its own DRAM. The SSD’s speed does not drop during this time, but it drops to about SATA level afterwards. But what normal home user writes that much data at full speed to the SSD in one go?

Improved temperature management

A large number of small M2 NVMe SSDs share a common weakness – overheating. Under extreme load, the temperature quickly rises to areas that negatively impact both performance and lifespan. The 980 circumvents this problem with a heat spreader, a nickel alloy on the controller, and state-of-the-art firmware – Dynamic Thermal Guard (DMG for short).

The effectiveness of these innovations can also be seen in the temperatures under high load compared to the 970 Evo. During long-lasting write processes, the latter was at an operating temperature of around 83 degrees, while the 980 only had an operating temperature of 55 degrees under the same load. This is an improvement of over 50% in some cases. During our benchmarks, we were thus unable to detect any throttling due to overheating.

Conclusion

The Samsung SSD 980 is once again a strong, serious contender. A number of previously existing weaknesses have been eliminated through hardware and software renewals. Apart from that, the innovative, DRAM-free solution of the SSD can be rated as positive and progressive. The improved temperature management solution also makes the 980 look good as a stable, long-lasting SSD.

In summary: The price-performance of the Samsung SSD 980 is right. It will be interesting especially when the market price has pushed the MSRP down a bit more.

Samsung SSD 980

Access times
Transfer rate (read)
Transfer rate (write)
Value for money

95/100

The 980 is an M.2 SSD that makes clever use of technological advances, but left something to be desired in terms of performance. However, improved software, hardware, and temperature management upgrades allowed the 980 to score.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

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