Samsung SSD 970 Pro Review

Samsung 970 Pro SSD Review
Long-Term Test
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The Samsung SSD 970 Pro is the latest model in a long line of ground-breaking NVMe drives that the Korean company has released in recent years. Each new incarnation has significantly eclipsed the previous model in terms of read/write speeds and Samsung has showed no signs of slowing down as rivals, such as the Western Digital Black NVMe SSD, attempt to dethrone the reigning NVMe champ. We decided to see how the 970 Pro SSD would fare in a long-term review and to see how it would impact music production when stressed by simultaneously running a multitude of plug-ins and virtual instruments. We employed five different reviewers for this evaluation, their comments in quotes below.

Samsung 970 Pro SSD drive review by FutureMusic.

Employing the latest PC build by a major custom configurator, we spared no expense in outfitting our audio workstation with the latest and greatest to see how the Samsung 970 Pro would perform when unbridled with hardware restrictions. For our long term test, Samsung provided us with their 2TB model, so we could load various Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), virtual synths, soft instruments, and various CPU-intensive plug-ins.

I Have The Need…The Need For Speed

The 970 Pro gets its newfound speed increases by utilizing their new Phoenix Controller, as well as their 64-layer 3D V-NAND. The multilayer cell structure pays off with performance that blows away consumer-oriented Three-Layer-Cells, not only on the spec sheet, but also in our real-world audio production environment. This is performance you can feel, not just feel good about because you read it on the side of the box. Beefy file transfers happen in the blink of an eye and when loading large 24 bit samples into Ableton Live, for example, several of our reviewers commented that it occurred so quickly they had to recheck to make sure it actually happened. Interestingly enough, the 970’s read speeds are not that much faster than its predecessor, on paper that is, since we didn’t perform an official comparison, but when working with audio programs, our reviewers could only comment how “blazingly fast the 970 performed when loading .wav’s (files)…a 10 GB file took just seconds to load into (Ableton) Live.”

The Samsung 970 Pro does improve impressively on both the sequential and random write speeds from the earlier model. On the random write test, the 970 Pro scored 355 MB/Second on average; the sequential write shot up to 2641 MB/Second. On the audio front, this translated into accurate, low latency audio recordings, no matter how many plug-ins our reviewers chained on the channel. “The 970 (Pro) handled anything I did to try and trip it up when recording. Just incredible. Very impressed,” stated one reviewer.

 

Due to the 970 Pro’s small footprint, heat issues can limit its performance, causing what is known as thermal-throttling. In the 960, Samsung addressed this issue by incorporating a copper strip in the logo sticker and added a nickel metal cover over the Phoenix Controller to help dissipate energy. For the 970, Samsung increased the copper strip’s thickness and updated their Enhanced Dynamic Thermal Guard algorithm, allowing the drive to transfer more data before “throttling” occurs to combat the excessive energy generated. Heat is not only an issue for performance, but also the lifespan of the drive. We spoke to Samsung’s Rich Leonarz about this concern and he stressed one of the main features of the 970 Pro is the drive’s intelligence. The drive has three different heat sensors that communicate the temperature of the components in realtime, allowing the 970 Pro to regulate excess heat like never before. The result, according to Samsung’s specs, is a 26% gain in random write performance and data integrity. Now we don’t want to lose you in a load of technical quicksand, but it’s important to show that Samsung puts an extraordinary amount of effort into squeezing every ounce of performance out of their flagship M.2 NVMe drive.

 

Samsung 970 Pro review by FutureMusic Copyright 2018 FutureMusic


 

 

Samsung 970 Pro review by FutureMusic Copyright 2018 FutureMusic - Closeup Back

  

So how does all this glorious technology miniaturized into a compact M.2 NVMe SSD drive impact your digital music production or DJing? Well, obviously everything you do is going to be faster. Much faster. In our long-term test, we set up two different PC’s, both running the same DAW’s and plug-ins. The aforementioned PC flagship, sporting high-spec components, sat right next to a more consumer-level model with a mid-range TLC SSD drive. Our reviewers where asked to perform the same production / composing tasks on each computer and to compare their experiences. Every one of our evaluators noticed the speed difference between the two PCs. “I never really thought about how computer speed affects my workflow,” revealed one evaluator, “but after using the 970 computer, it made me realize how much time I spend waiting for the computer to do its job, limiting my creativity during key moments of inspiration.” Now we all knew that the 970’s increased speed would positively impact our testers, but another very important element was unveiled, reliability.

 
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The Samsung 970 Pro demonstrated to each reviewer that it’s not only the speed king, but it’s much more reliable compared to consumer-grade SSD drives. This is no accident. Samsung is dedicated to reliability in their NVMe drives, this is not only backed up by their five-year warranty, but also in the real world. “The 970 never choked once or failed to record a performance, but the other PC did crap out twice when I was simply bouncing a few tracks.”

Samsung Macro - Samsung 970 Pro Review Copyright FutureMusic

 

To explore this reliability issue more, we asked a couple of our testers, who also edit video, to compare the 970 Pro-based PC with the consumer model when using Adobe Premier. Again, the 970 Pro not only proved to be a much faster, but also more reliable. The consumer model crashed when taxed with complicated transitions and layers, whereas the 970 Pro handled them with ease. For video editing, this was a game changer for our reviewers. “It was clear that the Samsung 970 Pro was a real asset in music production, but now that I’ve seen first hand what it can do for video, there’s no way I’m going back to my old drive.”
 

Samsung 970 Pro SSD NVMe reviews Copyright 2018 FutureMusic

Conclusion

The only bad news that we have to report is all this glorious speed and reliability comes at a cost. The Samsung 970 Pro is not cheap, especially if you bump up to the 2TB model. Competitors, such as the aforementioned Western Digital NVMe SSD drive, come in at a lower price point, but when you weigh this against capturing your creativity in the fastest and most reliable manner, the couple of extra dollars shouldn’t prohibit you for getting the best. And right now, the Samsung 970 Pro is the best M.2 NVMe SSD drive on the market. Highly Recommended.

 

Rating: 100%

 

Cheers:

+ Technology

+ Build Quality

+ Speed

+ Performance

Jeers:

– Expensive (but worth it!)

 

Samsung 970 Pro SSD Retail Box - Review Copyright 2018 FutureMusic

Samsung’s 970 Pro SSD drive comes in three different versions: 512GB / $199.99 – 1TB / $399.99 – 2TB / $599.99.

 

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  Samsung 970 Pro Review 100 Rating    

The Future:

Samsung is certainly not resting on it’s laurels. The company is forging ahead to try and increase the density of the V-NAND with additional stacks to expand the capacity with even more access speed. In addition, as more and more computers move to the PCIe spec, Samsung is focusing on developing even more advanced technology to increase marketshare, while continually lowering the price point. This means that the latest computers, as well as slightly older models that can support the NVMe spec, can benefit from Samsung’s latest SSD offerings.  


 
 

Author: FutureMusic

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