Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 (2280) Internal
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 (2280) Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (MZ-V7S2T0) , Black
Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD
Design flexibility
The next advancement in NVMe SSD. The 970 EVO Plus fits up to 2TB onto the compact M.2 (2280) form factor, greatly expanding storage capacity and saving space for other components. Samsung’s innovative technology empowers you with the capacity to do more and accomplish more.
¹1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes by IDEMA. A certain portion of capacity may be used for system file and maintenance use, so the actual capacity may differ from what is indicated on the product label.
² Performances may vary depending on SSD’s firmware version and system hardware & configuration. Performance measurements based on IOmeter 1.1.0. The write performances were measured with Intelligent TurboWrite technology being activated. The sequential write performances after Intelligent TurboWrite region are: 400 MB/s(250GB), 900 MB/s(500GB), 1,700 MB/s(1TB) and 1,750 MB/s(2TB). Test system configuration: Intel Core i7-7700K CPU @ 4.2GHz, DDR4 2400MHz 32GB, OS-Windows 10 Built 10240, Chipset–ASUS PRIME Z270-A. Up to 53 percent performance increase for sequential write speed for 250GB version.
³TBW: Terabytes Written * BW for 970 EVO Plus: 150 TBW for 250GB model, 300 TBW for 500GB model, 600 TBW for 1TB model, 1,200 TBW for 2TB model. * 5-years or TBW, whichever comes first.
| Weight: | 8 g |
| Dimensions: | 0.24 x 8.01 x 2.21 cm; 8 Grams |
| Brand: | Samsung |
| Model: | MZ-V7S2T0BW |
| Colour: | Black |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Samsung |
| Dimensions: | 0.24 x 8.01 x 2.21 cm; 8 Grams |
I purchased this to upgrade my C drive on my Alienware 17 R5 from 256Gb to 1Tb (my C drive was almost full preventing the computer from updating). Installation went smoothly and the computer works as expected. Would definitely recommend.
This is used to upgrade my previous 1Tb 970 EVO SSD to 2Tb 970 EVO Plus SSD in my 5 year old laptop. I needed the extra storage even though it is operating at half its speed due to my laptop, The Samsung support software Magican is very good.
Buying this for the Samsung name you probably already know the product will be reliable and trusted. 1TB is enough space for most people. The SSD was easy to install and works like a charm. No failures or issues so far since I’ve had the SSD for a few months. Would recommend.
i bought this after my brother, works perfectly as described this is my secondary SSD – make sure you buy a set of screws if you don’t already have some lying around – don’t be like me and have to wait a second day to sort it 🙂
Have a Razer base model laptop, doesn’t come with much space so eventually got this. Easy to install as I can have 2 and didn’t need to remove the original one.
Packaged great and fit perfectly. Great value for money too.
If the storage size is right, the price not terrible. Then there’s nothing to dislike. It’ll do what needs to be done, with the assurance [as much as is possible in tech] that it’ll do what you require.
Not much else to say!
This SSD is great on a budget. Very good balance between price and performance. I use mine for gaming and it has seen some pretty heavy use over the last year and half and is still working perfectly fine with no failures. SSDs are reliable and Samsung is a reputable brand.
All in all, a very good drive!
The Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1 TB SSD is a cutting-edge storage solution designed to optimize both speed and efficiency. Engineered with Samsung’s pioneering V-NAND technology, this M.2 (2280) SSD ensures rapid data access and transfer. Its 2.5-inch form factor is versatile, making it an excellent choice for both laptops and desktop PCs. Boasting an impressive random read of up to 600,000 IOPS and random write of up to 550,000 IOPS, it ensures seamless multitasking and swift data access. With a SATA 6.0Gb/s interface, it also offers backward compatibility with SATA 3.0Gbps and 1.5Gbps, ensuring flexibility across systems. The sequential read and write speeds of up to 3,500 MB/s and 3,300 MB/s, respectively, underline its top-tier performance capability. However, potential buyers should heed the warning to ensure system compatibility before purchasing. A crucial note to consider is its software’s functionality — it operates only when the operating system is installed on the Source Disk. In essence, the Samsung 970 EVO Plus stands as a beacon of efficiency and performance in the realm of SSDs.
I purchased the 1TB model to replace my older 500Mb model on my Linux exclusive system (even hiving off some data and Steam programs to other drives, my /home partition was starting to get full). Cloning (using an external enclosure) was a doddle (using Clonezilla), and then the swap out. No problems booting right away from the newly cloned drive, and testing with kdiskmark (a Linux alternative to Crystal Disk Mark) shows that I am making full use of the 4x PCI 3.0 interface (getting around 3.5Gbs). I can’t test the rated speed, since that would need PCI 4.0, which I don’t have, but works just a treat for me.
The old one is now in an external enclosure, and will likely be used for backup purposes.
Originally I was going to use this 2TB NVMe to increase the size of my 1 TB NVMe OS drive.
Unfortunately I had trouble transferring my OS over to the new drive (the external usb adaptor I ordered didn’t work), so I ended up installing it as secondary drive.
That said, it’s working well and helps reduce stuttering and/or loading times in some demanding (or poorly optimised) games.
Upgraded to the Samsung 970 EVO Nvme and couldn’t be happier. Coming from the EVO lineup, I knew I was in for a treat. Plugged it into my iMac for some extra storage, and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. Fast, reliable, and does exactly what it says on the tin. A no-brainer for anyone looking to boost their storage game.
Bought it due to my SATA coming to its lifespan and started failing so decided to find NVMe/SATA replacement which I went for this NVMe. In all honesty it has little difference between SATA apart from its capability of being able to be attached to the motherboard (recommend a heatsink) but only really ideal if you want 1 extra less cable. Item will be seeing temps around 30-50*C depending on your cooling capabilities in PC. Overall, I can recommend but if an SATA is great too if you have the space.
When I built my PC I couldn’t afford this drive, so I’ve been using an older 3.5″ SSD to store all the scenery, tracks, cars and aircraft for my flight and driving simulator software. Turns out I have a lot of scenery, tracks, cars and aircraft, and I pretty-much filled this 2TB drive! On the plus side, that freed up 2TB of space on my SSD.
Installation is a doddle, but make sure you haven’t lost the fixing screw that came with your motherboard. The drive doesn’t come with a spare.
The drive was detected immediately (once I’d found the Drive Manager function in W10). It needed to be formatted, which is normal, and then it behaved exactly as it should – like a really fast hard drive.
To be totally honest, the software I’m using can’t really make use of the high speed offered by an M.2 drive. The real advantage for me is being able to remove a SATA drive and transfer the contents of my old HDD over to the SSD. Less stuff inside the case impeding airflow, fewer cables too.
Speaking of airflow, this drive does run quite hot. I considered a cooler heatsink, but apparently it’s perfectly normal and a heatsink can actually make it worse. It’s been used every day for a couple of months without complaint, so I’ll just leave it alone!
I have a 500GB 970 EVO (not the Plus version) that’s been the main operating system drive in my PC for a couple of years, and it’s been absolutely 100% rock solid reliable. The SSD in the machine is a 2TB 860, and that transferred over from an older PC! I trust Samsung drives and I don’t buy anything else.
Clocked 13khours of ontime and whilst this one specifically isn’t used as an OS this size of drive is perfect for it and recommended really since your OS drive should really be empty with nothing but the OS so you can update and clean install if problems arise at all. Memory is so unbelievably cheap these days that it’d wouldn’t really hurt to get a 1tb or even 2tb OS drive if you don’t think you are going to be wiping it alot however this will also lower the lifetime of your OS drive so it’s up to you.
Would recommend the higher sized m.2’s as the 970 pricing is excellent especially if you don’t have alot of m.2 slots.
The 970 EVO Plus’s read and write speeds are truly impressive, making file transfers and multitasking a seamless experience. Whether it’s gaming, photo editing, or even just day-to-day tasks, this SSD has elevated my computing experience to a whole new level. The sleek M.2 form factor also means that it fits snugly into my motherboard without taking up any extra space.
If you’re looking for a reliable and high-performance SSD to supercharge your system, the Samsung 970 EVO Plus is an absolute game-changer. I couldn’t be happier with my purchase!
I had to purchase a seperate ones from Amazon ( a review has been written for them).
Putting in the card , is really easy, it just slots in at an angle of around 45 degrees and then you can carefully push it down flat and then screw in the little screw, of course first installing the standoff.
I have only used the SSD for a few minutes, however, I am running programs from it and it seems to be doing well. It has 931Mb avaiable from the initial 1TB, I am not too worried about losing a few MB.
Running Presonus Sphere pro from this drive is quick and presented no issues.
I would recommend this produc
I also have one of these as the main drive for my PC and boot up is lighting fast. Once the password sign in has been done, Windows 11 kicks in instantly with no delay, so this is one amazing drive that is a must have if your PC supports NVME.
However, if as I did, you are going to place it into an enclosure, there are other things that may be worth considering. My PC is only 18 months old, yet it only has the slower USB3.1, so that enormous speed potential of the Samsung Evo 970 SSD is lost. I don’t know how much faster this would be with USB 3.2 and I imagine it would make a significant difference, but I am betting you still wouldn’t get the speed promised. And then there are a couple of other things that may or may not be relevant to you. I wanted to be able to plug the NVME enclosure into my TV or Android mobile phone, but despite formatting the 970 SSD to EXfat, both the TV and phone refused to recognise it reliably. After trying out different USB ports on the back of the TV, one did finally work, oddly not the one that was supposed to be high power. And as for my Samsung S23 Ultra phone, it did seem to work with it at first, but soon stopped recognising the SSD as anything other than a charger. The option to connect the phone was also greyed out.
On the other hand, my enclosures with 2.5″ Samsung or Crucial SSDs in them worked instantly with the TV and my phone can read or write to them via a USB cable totally reliably.
So apart from these perhaps rather obscure glitches, the Evo 970 SSD is highly recommended as a solid and fast upgrade that you can’t go wrong with as an addition to your PC. But its also worth considering whether a 2.5″ SSD might be better if you are going to connect via USB, as the speed difference might not be much different in the real world away from advert claims and its also a lot easier to swap one out if you are going to use multiple drives with your enclosure.
Judging by my past usage of older versions of windows, I expect future updates that add more features and more of my own installations to drag out how long the system takes to boot up. If I keep track and limit how many programs can start up when the system logs in however, and boot times remain under a minute, I’ll have no real issues.
If you plan on installing or working with a large amount of programs of files (especially when it comes to games or media video editing) you might want to consider the 2TB option, but 1TB should be enough for most people. As for the longevity of m2 ssds, just make sure you have more than one copy of your most precious personal files elsewhere at all times (sd card, dvd, bluray, cloud or other means) and you’ll have little to worry about.
I bought this on offer for 50 quid, copied my OS over to it and my PC is almost instantly fast. Everything works better. Great SSD I’ll be buying a bigger one for my next PC
Fast and high-capacity SSD, I have had it for a while and zero issues. The computer boots instantly, big enough to have a decent Steam library.
Purchased a 250GB SSD as it was on the Synology 920+ compatible list to use as a read only cache. I’d seen all the worries and concerns re read write failures using a Raid cache, so decided to install just the one drive, read only.
The main functions of my NAS are file storage and Plex media server. Whilst I didn’t expect miracles, I was aware that Plex UI could see some speed improvements with the SSD cache, and so far, that has proved to be the case. However, I would note that speed improvements have been limited to higher performance devices, and lower performance devices haven’t seen any improvements. As an example, the Plex native app on a cheap LG smart tv has always been incredibly slow to navigate on a local network, images take a while to load and the home dashboard takes a while to sync. Speed of playback start is also as slow as previously seen.
However, on higher performance devices such as iOS, MacOS and Roku 4K, there are very clear improvements. On MacOS and iOS, thumbnails load instantly, dash appears much quicker and when you load a library item, all associated extras are there almost instantly. In the past, film extras, collections, Tidal playlists etc took a second or two or three to connect and load these now appear without delay. On both, buffering before playback starts is also much improved with an almost instant start of media up to 1080p 4k takes a second or two longer.
On Roku 4K, the improvements are there, but not quite as pronounced. Dash and media screens load faster, and although media playback starts quicker, it’s not as instant as MacOS or iOS, but these are obviously much more powerful devices to start with.
For the cost, 30, I would definitely say that I am happy with the outlay and performance boost for my Plex needs.
Installation was simple and easy. No hiccups at all. And it’s performing fine at the moment.
The fact that this is now a low cost option, and comes with solid TBW rating and is a cache based M.2 makes it a perfect storage solution for your OS or even just a game drive. Compared to most M.2 drives on the market, this is a little more expensive (than Curical for example), but comes with extra features on the M.2 which makes it more reliable than most. I have 3 of these now, over a few years, and never had an issue with any of them
Don’t understand why they don’t supply the screw to secure it to the motherboard or the rubber pad but the drive works great.
First and foremost, the speed of this SSD is simply astonishing. With its NVMe interface and M.2 form factor, the 970 EVO Plus takes advantage of PCIe Gen 3.0 x4 technology, delivering blazing-fast read and write speeds. From booting up my system to loading large applications and files, everything happens almost instantaneously. The difference in speed compared to traditional hard drives is like night and day. It has definitely enhanced my productivity and reduced any waiting time significantly.
The storage capacity of 2 TB is more than ample for my needs. I can store a vast collection of multimedia files, games, and work documents without worrying about running out of space. The 970 EVO Plus strikes a perfect balance between performance and capacity, making it suitable for gamers, content creators, and professionals alike.
Samsung’s reliability and reputation in the SSD market are well-established, and the 970 EVO Plus lives up to that standard. The drive feels solidly built and durable, ensuring longevity and data integrity. It also comes with advanced features like AES 256-bit hardware encryption, ensuring the security of my sensitive files and information.
Another notable aspect is the thermal management system implemented by Samsung. The 970 EVO Plus employs intelligent heat dissipation through a nickel-coated controller and heat spreader label, effectively preventing thermal throttling and maintaining optimal performance even during heavy workloads.
Setting up the drive was a breeze, thanks to Samsung’s user-friendly software suite, which includes the Samsung Magician software. It allows you to monitor drive health, update firmware, and optimize performance with ease.
The only minor downside is the price, as high-capacity SSDs tend to be more expensive. However, considering the performance gains and reliability this drive offers, I believe it’s worth every penny.
In conclusion, the Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 Internal Solid State Drive is an exceptional storage solution. Its lightning-fast speed, generous storage capacity, and robust build quality make it a top choice for anyone seeking to upgrade their system’s performance. If you’re looking for a reliable SSD that delivers on its promises, I highly recommend the 970 EVO Plus.
Good value for money and easy to setup I.e migrated previous windows 11 installation easily using Samsung magician.
However can’t say i noticed a significant improvement in system speed over my existing standard Sata SSD drive..
Reputable 970 EVO Plus. One of the best, if not the best, PCIe 3.0 NVME SSD. Comfy DRAM cache allows for system to work flawlessly. Really like it and will be keeping it for a long time!
Excellent price for 2TB with great speed. Also have tools from Samsung for all the detail information about the SSD. Must install! Samsung Magician!
As my Gaming laptop already has a Samsung SSD in it I though I’d go for Samsung for the second drive. Was easy to install and luckily my main board had a screw on the slot reasy for it, thank you Asus
Turned everything on and it wasn’t recognised, of course I forgot to go the drive management and initialise it first. All sorted and so far running at good spead. Installed Modern Warfare onto it and loading quick.
what a difference using this SSD card. So much better than the old hard drive, which i now use for storage only. Laptop is like new, its so fas
Genuine Product according to Samsun Magician. Cloned OS drive with Samsung software without issues. Drive was installed into HP EliteDesk 800 G4 with additional radiator (air flow is not great around M.2 slot there). Temps under load around 50. Beware that it does not come with installation screw so order separately if your MB does not come with it. Plenty of options here on Amazon.
Crucial P1 500 GB to this Samsung 970 EVO
VW beetle compared to a Porshe.
1 TB is almost needed, now that games are getting to be the hundreds of GB. DCS alone with the few modules that i have is nearly 250 gig’s now. WOW is now over 100 gigs in the 125 GB range.
That is neary half this drive already!
I am already thinking bout getting a 2 TB now 🙁 but the cost is a bit off putting. Although they are gettign closer to the 100 pounds mark.
Funny thing is that the packaging this SSD came in is quite cool. Not something i am throwing away.
I previously bought a 960GB MP510 drive (double sided drive) for my Dell XPS 9570 laptop. The drive ‘worked’ but the PC wouldn’t boot when restarted. It always required a hard power reset. I ended up using the drive in my desktop PC.
I fitted this in my laptop without any issues.
It’s very fast and good value at current prices.
I’d been looking for a new larger m.2 drive and for 2tb this was a reasonable price. I ordered with a pci card and it was extremely simply to install and once that was done it was simple to activate it in my settings. Very bappy with the purchase.
The new drive mounted straight away and was back where I was with the old drive but with a formatted capacity of 1.8TB and noticeably faster. Happy!
The 970 Evo Plus 1TB runs hot in a traditional sense but this is normal and nothing to worry about. The operating temp stated by Samsung (and many other brands) is 0-70 degrees which means the drive will be fine being used in environments that are in that temp range, so the thermals of the drive itself go well beyond that range.
Samsung also state that:
“A high drive temperature does not necessarily mean that the drive is faulty, especially if it is within the recommended temperature when used.
Please note that Samsung does not manufacture nor recommend the use of a third-party radiator or heatsink on its SSDs, since it is not necessary.
This is because the 970 EVO Plus has advanced thermal control solutions that enhance performance with reduced heat risk. Dynamic Thermal Guard (DTG) technology proactively prevents overheating, and a heat spreader with an integrated thin copper film dissipates heat more efficiently. Additionally, a nickel coating on the Phoenix controller also helps to dissipate heat faster during heavy workload use in order to ensure the high levels of quality and reliability.
You, therefore, do not need a radiator specifically for your SSD 970 EVO Plus.
Please be informed as well that using a heatsink on your SSD will require the peeling of the label on the drive. Removing the label on your drive will automatically void the drive’s warranty and warranty service will no longer be possible.”
So not only is a heatsink not necessary for these drives, but a hot running drive is within the standard operations. Flash storage tends to perform faster at temp anyway.
I am very impressed, will add another Samsung SSD (likely 8TB to replace 2 4TB HDDs) soon.
Hi bought this off actual amazon not some random seller, it came sealed in retail box i got exactly what i purchased as described, been using this drive for over a week now, im extremely impressed with how windows loads up so FAST and i can instantly start using my pc theres no waiting around for desktop icons to load, ive got 3 games on it Flight sim 2020 Red dead redemption 2 and GTA 5 with 528GB free space so could install more games to it, flight sim loading times have improved greatly no more 10 minute loading screens heck 3 minutes and im on the runway! its super fast at loading MASSIVE difference compared to a regular spinning harddrive, Looks as described.
cons
what dont i like about it? well my pc didnt see it straight away im no expert, i know a little bit about PC’s i struggled to get the drive show up, i had to use my old harddrive log into windows open disk management format it and give it a drive letter, i dont know what i would of done without an already running pc god knows what people do for fresh builds anyways i got it working, the drive does not like been moved around in bios for some reason it causes a blue screen dunno if thats an SSD thing?, i feel like its over priced “they all are” i got a few strange words from my mother when i showed her what i spent 160 on, also ive seen some horrible 1 star reviews of people getting ripped off! that was scary to read as id already purchased and was waiting for delivery i almost pulled out on the sale thinking id be a victim too, hope all those 1 star reviews got their money back what happened there is not cool! hope amazon are looking into that, as a buyer its not a very nice thing to read about. but everything seems fine here looks genuine to me all good. play it safe buy from amazon actual amazon no one else i dont wanna see more people getting robbed.
overall
i would of give it 5 star if i didnt have the headache i got trying to get it working, other than that now its working impressed with how fast its made my pc, was worth it in the end.
Update:
2 months on still very happy with it, it holds up its speed working like the day i got it no issues so far so good.
7 months later
Stll no issues runs like the day i bought it correct speeds etc happy up to now, will keep updating this in future, good luck everyone.
What was previously a 2 minute boot time, with a further 2 minutes to load up start up programs (even after I selectively disabled the heavier ones) and general sluggish behaviour has now been reduced by probably around 90%. That’s right, it’s literally dropped down to 8 seconds for a cold boot with start up applications, including wallpaper engine already loaded up. Previously if I would blue-screen and disconnect from a League game, I would 100% be getting hit with leaverbuster. Now, I can make it back before I even respawn – that’s not even a joke or exaggeration.
So, you understand the benefits now. But the craziest part of all of this is, you can get the same times on a normal SSD, you don’t even need an M.2. The extra speeds an M.2 provides (literally 5x the speed in some cases) is just too fast for even windows to take full advantage of. This will probably change as the new generation of consoles will help standardize things, but that’s still a few years off. Also, with the new SSD’s coming up on the new PCIE channel, you’re basically looking at an eventual double speed increase from the current 3500~ to around 5000 ~ 7000. If you want that extra bit of future proofing, you can wait until 2022/2023 but if you don’t have an SSD at all, buying a 970 EVO at the current price is honestly fine.
There’s a few things you need to know about installing though.
1) If you’re moving everything from your HDD to your SSD, use Samsung Magician. Worked flawlessly for me and was done in around 1 hour. Macrium also works, but if you’ve got a Samsung SSD, just stick to the Samsung software.
2) ALWAYS download the latest Samsung drivers and software directly from their website. I saw a serious speed increase on the benchmarking once I got the latest drivers, so don’t miss out on the free performance boost.
3) When you’re physically installing it, REMEMBER this order: First, mount screw. Second, place M2. Third, screw into mount screw. Basically, you should be screwing an open ended piece into the motherboard first, then getting your M2 secure and lined up, then screwing it down into the first screw. If you need a replacement, you can eBay them for next to nothing.
4) Finally, depending on your motherboard, it will end up disabling some SATA slots (the cables for HDD/SDD). Refer to your motherboard manual for more details on it. This is only important if you’re still using the SATA cables for other HDD/SDD’s.
Anyway, it’s amazing how much difference an SSD actually makes and I’m kicking myself for cheapening out on a HDD for all these years. I can easily recommend the 970 EVO – I wouldn’t buy the PRO or the 980 EVO yet when you can basically get the same thing here for 60% of the price. Also the 980 is relatively new hardware, I’d personally wait for any issues to be manufactured out first…
At 100 – 120, it’s a solid deal. At 140~, it’s still giving you good value. If you want maximum value, buy a cheap 120gb to throw your operating system onto and use a HDD for everything else, but I’d seriously just recommend you take the full dive. It’s a clean FIVE STARS from me!
I’ll keep this updated and come back to it if there’s any major developments. If you’re interested, or if you found this helpful, please hit that HELPFUL button below. It’ll really help me too 🙂
I bought this Intel Mini PC from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07KPMWTQS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . It’s bare bones so needed a hard drive, memory, operating system and all the peripherals. I chose an M.2 type SSD after reading up on the internet about keeping down the heat generation and about operating speed. I chose this RAM for the same reason: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01BNJL8I4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1.
For installation, I followed the instructions supplied by Intel (on the web). It was simple enough, and quickly done. But I did take the precaution of wearing an anti- static wrist band and earthing myself to the Mini PC chassis. Installing the OS on the drive was also just a case of following the bouncing ball. This OS was a great price at the time and it came supplied with Windows 10 on a USB key: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0111YEG44/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 But a much cheaper OEM version would do just as well.
The PC boots up and Ableton opens up, all incredibly quickly. Installing any new USB device seems to happen in seconds. So I’d say the drive is working well with the PC and the RAM. Before I jacked up the permanent speed of the processor to around 4.45 Ghz from the standard 2.7Ghz, I don’t think the PC fan operated at all, so I’d say, it’s really not generating that much heat.
So it’s been one of those delightful (but sadly rare) experiences, when having chosen the product, then fitting it and using it just went very smoothly. I only have one pic, which shows the Mini PC itself… that measures a little over 10x10x5 cms and provides plenty of room for this M.2 SSD – I even have a Sandisk 2.5″ SSD drive in there to hold my library files and it’s certainly not “crowding” the Samsung.
The original Apple SSD in my MacBook Pro 15″ (mid-2015) started failing. Upon booting up, a folder icon with a question mark kept on appearing more and more frequently until the SDD eventually gave up altogether. Likely I made frequent backups using TimeMachine.
I replaced the original “Apple SSD 1TB” with the “Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB NVMe M.2 Internal SSD”. Considering SSD technology has improved over the last 4 years, this SSD appears to be faster and BlackMagickDesign Disk Speed Test reports Write Speeds of over 2500MB/s and Read Speeds of over 2100MB/s — and also gives a green tick across all of its tests. (Regretfully could not yet locate any of the BlackMagickDesign Disk Speed Test screenshots I made a few years back on the original Apple SSD from 2015. I do recall however that, unlike with the Samsung 970 EVO Plus — not all tests showed up with a green tick).
In order for the Samsung 970 EVO Plus to fit into the MacBook Pro 15″ (mid-2015) and SSD Adapter Card is required. To aid others I have provided a link below to the item that worked for me.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07Q45BJCN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Be forewarned… I found it to be a rather tight fit!
When inserting and/or removing the SSD and/or the Adarpter Card be careful not to not lift these items much higher than the minimum that is required so as to remove them from their slot!
NB! Also before replacing your SSD make sure that have at least updated your Macbook Pro to Mojave. I am currently running on MacOS Mojave 10.14.6 without any issues. I cannot say anything about Catalina as I have not updated to it yet.
Now a little bit of back story why I am writing this extremely positively review.
I have also a Crucial MX500 that I bought a while ago when first upgraded my pc from a normal mechanical hard drive. Needless to say I was surprised how fast the operating system loaded (win 10) after the first installation and the general responsiveness of my system incredible improved. I was pleased to see that reading speeds and writing speed (circa 500 MB/s) where confirmed in the benchmarks and everything was going fine until I needed more space (VR games are extremely demanding in terms of space). So I bought this Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 1 TB. The reason for which I went for the plus instead of the 970 evo was merely because I found a good offer from another seller for a product that had the damaged packing but that is in theory brand new.
Well…I clearly read about sequential reading and writing speeds (up to 3500 MB/s) which were already order of magnitude bigger than my previous ssd. But I wasn’t prepared in terms of what that meant in real life.
It is very easy to mount…if you remember that you need a screw to fix it on the motherboard.i didn’t have any at home so I had to find a screw from one of the toys of my daughter. That wasn’t easy.
Clearly you do the normal stuff (e.g initialise the disk, update firmware etc) and then do the data migration. Samsung magician is very easy to use. Cloning my ssd in the new Samsung was pretty straightforward. All easy peasy.
Now comes the mind blowing stuff. After setting up the boot priorities, I was expecting a booting time of about 20 seconds. Well…it took only 5-6 seconds. Unbelievable.
I benchmarked the speeds and values are what the say on the box. So if you are thinking about this SSD don’t look further and think too much. It is really good.
By now all motherboards and most laptops have M.2 PCIe slot (not just SATA) and NVMe supporting BIOS (old BIOSes had to be hacked for this module to be added in order to boot) so it makes sense to get such a SSD rather than a SATA version.
In use – just like previous versions it does not disappoint:
– Performance is stellar, not just sequential read/write but 4kB blocks also (won’t add benchmark values as the kernel changes for multiple vulnerabilities have impacted I/O thus depends on OS /patches)
– Like all TLC drives it does rely on SLC cache (50GB or so) for write, once that is full it goes down to about 800MB/s, still above SATA but may be beaten by “grandfather” XP941 from 5 years ago!
– It does support hardware encryption/Bitlocker but as the older 960 Pro/Evo you cannot boot from it; only Dell, Lenovo, etc. can use it – mainstream brands (Asus!, Gigabyte, etc.) forget it.
– It does not get too hot in use – but spend a few pounds on a heatsink/thermal pads if the mainboard does not already come with one for the M.2 slot (I prefer the ‘Warship’ one – cheap and big)
– It has the latest generation TLC which is a lot better than 1st generation QLC we are seeing now (e.g. Crucial P1, Samsung QVO) which I would avoid – just remember the Samsung 840 debacle…
– All my old Samsung M.2 SSDs either SATA or NVMe (subjective I know) are still working while other competitors’ SSDs have died ;(
But I would question value-for-money aka whether you ‘need it’ rather than ‘want it’:
– Unless you’re running serious I/O on your system (aka your company’s SQL server/Exchange/etc.) or multiple VMs, I doubt you would notice any delta between this and the much cheaper 860 or equivalent (e.g. MX500) SATA versions
– Also SATA versions using AHCI have no problems with hardware crypto/Bitlocker – if using software crypto with NVMe you may end up being slower I/O due to the overhead – not to mention higher CPU utilisation. Just benchmark before and after.
– SATA versions are still much cheaper (1/2 the cost) and have improved a lot in 4kB performance – which is more important than raw sequential speed in most workloads.
In conclusion – if you want the best (and don’t want to pay even more for the ‘Pro’) then do get it. And get a heatsink just in case. But if you want to save money go for the SATA (870) version.