4.8/5 - (11 votes)
Samsung is a famous manufacturer around the world and has released a lot of storage devices, such as solid-state drives, USB flash drives, SD cards, and so on. It also has released many SSDs, such as the Samsung 970 EVO, 970 EVO Plus, 980 PRO, etc. What are the differences between them? This post will focus on Samsung 980 Pro vs 970 Evo Plus. Then, you can easily know which one you should choose for your computer.
Samsung 980 Pro vs 970 Evo Plus Overview
Samsung 980 Pro
The 980 PRO adopts a compact M.2 2280 form factor that can be easily plugged into desktop and laptop computers for maximum board design flexibility. Due to its optimized power efficiency, the driver is suitable for building high-performance computing systems.
Utilizing PCIe 4.0 interface, 980 PRO provides twice the data transfer rate of PCIe 3.0, making it one of the fastest SSDs on the market. Additionally, it is compatible with PCIe 3.0 to increase versatility.
Samsung 970 Evo Plus
Samsung’s 970 Evo Plus has taken the enduringly well-liked 970 Evo position as its standard NVMe SSD for professionals, ardent gamers, and tech enthusiasts. It is in the first tier of PCIe 3.0 drives with faster sequential read and write and 4K random read and write speeds and a capacity of 2TB.
So, how can you tell which is better for you, the 970 Evo Plus or Samsung 980 Pro? As the same internal hard drive, in the following part, we will provide all details about them.
Technical Data Comparison: 980 Pro vs 970 Evo Plus SSD
| Samsung 970 EVO Plus | Samsung 980 PRO | |
| Form factor | M.2 2280 | |
| Capacity | From 250GB to 2TB | |
| Interface | M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 | M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| Sequential Read speed | 3,500 MB / s | 7,000 MB / s |
| Sequential Write speed | 3,300 MB / s | 5,000 MB / s |
| Random Read Speed | 620,000 IOPS | 1,000,000 IOPS |
| Random Write Speed | 560,000 IOPS | 1,000,000 IOPS |
| Particles (NAND Flash) | 92L TLC V-NAND | 1XXL TLC V-NAND |
| NAND Flash Controller | Samsung Phoenix | Samsung Elpis |
| NAND Flash Type | Samsung V-NAND (TLC) | N/A |
| Encryption | 256-Bit AES (Hardware-Based) | |
| Durability | From 150 TBW (250 GB) to 1200 TBW (2 TB) | |
| Warranty | 5 years | |
| Price | ||
The Most Popular Comparisons: 970 Evo Plus vs 980 Pro SSD
Form Factor and Interface
M.2 interface SSDs can be divided into SATA and PCIe bus (channel), the latter is more common in the market and can also be subdivided into PCIe 3.0 and PCIe 4.0, The interface of Samsung 970 EVO Plus is PCIe Gen 3.0 x4 and NVMe 1.3, while the interface of Samsung 980 PRO is PCIe Gen 4.0 x4 and NVMe 1.3c.
This means that the Samsung 970 EVO Plus can only be used on motherboards with PCIe Gen 3.0×4 interfaces; while the Samsung 980 Pro can be used on both the latest PCIe Gen 4.0×4 interface motherboards as well as PCIe Gen 3.0×4 interface motherboards, except that the latter cannot deliver maximum performance.
Capacity
Whether you choose a mechanical hard drive (HDD) or an SSD, the first thing you should consider is capacity, as more capacity means more storage space and you can keep more data for files, folders, games, etc. Both of them provide several capacity options – 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB. It is important to note that even with the same SSD, the models represented by different capacities can vary
Performance
The level of performance will directly affect your computer experience, so it is also an important consideration when choosing an SSD. We are facing two SSDs that are very similar in terms of technology, whose main difference is nothing more than the interface and its sequential read and write performance in reality. The 980 PRO model has twice the reading speed of the 970 EVO Plus because of that, while in terms of writing speed, the difference is not so much and the 980 PRO only takes 1,700 MB/s of difference from the 970 EVO Plus.
In short, in terms of performance, the Samsung 980 Pro is much better than the Samsung 970 Evo Plus.
Reliability and Warranty
The Samsung 980 Pro and Samsung 970 EVO Plus both come with a 5-year guarantee, although it should be noted that the warranty is constrained and only covers malfunctions not brought on by user error. Additionally, they offer 1.5 million hours of dependability and have identical security features, including AES 256-bit encryption to prevent data leaks efficiently.
Price
When choosing an SSD, budget is an important consideration. However, it is important to note that even for the same SSD, prices can vary for many differences such as capacities, performance, etc.
As for Samsung 980 Pro vs 970 Evo Plus, Samsung 980 Pro is more expensive than Samsung 970 Evo Plus but brings almost double the performance than 980. If you want to know the more different prices of different storage sizes, you can visit amazon or its official site.
Which Are The Best SSD: 980 Pro vs 970 Evo Plus?
As you can see from the above, the Samsung 980 Pro and Samsung 970 EVO Plus remain the same in terms of specifications, cache DDR4 SDRAM, security, endurance, and warranty. However, in terms of interface protocol, particles, controller, and performance, 970 EVO Plus, which has the only advantage in lower price, is better for technology enthusiasts, high-end gamers, and 4K and 3D content designers. While 980 PRO is designed for hardcore gamers and tech-savvy users.
If you are a professional gamer, computer expert, or professional software user, then the Samsung 980 Pro is the recommended choice. The excellent performance and the PCIe 4.0 interface protocol prove that this SSD is a future-proof product. If you are just a gaming enthusiast or casual user, then the Samsung 970 EVO Plus is more recommended for a better overall price/performance ratio at a more aggressive discount.
PCIe 3.0 and PCIe 4.0: The Choice Depend on Your Mainboard
Being the Samsung 970 EVO Plus an SSD with a PCIe 3.0 interface and the Samsung 980 PRO an SSD with a PCIe 4.0 interface, the choice could be quite clear for many users, so if you have a PCIe 4.0 motherboard you should go for the SSD with the said interface and if your motherboard does not support it, then go for the PCIe 3.0. However, seeing the benchmarks and tests in real scenarios with both interfaces, the choice is not clear, since although obviously PCIe 4.0 is superior and delivers much higher performance, this performance improvement is not noticeable later in real scenarios.
In other words, even if you buy an SSD with 7,000 MB / s speed, in reality when using it it will only save you a few seconds or even less when you are using it compared to using an SSD with half the theoretical performance.
What is clear is that if your motherboard has a PCIe 3.0 interface and does not support the next version, it does not make much sense to buy a PCIe 4.0 SSD since you would be paying a much higher cost not to be able to take advantage of it (it will work, yes ). The other way around is something, therefore, that may make more sense, because although your motherboard supports PCIe 4.0, perhaps a PCIe 3.0 SSD will provide you with optimal performance for what you need without spending that extra money.
FAQs
Is 970 EVO better than 980 EVO?
For 970 Evo, the average read speed is 45% higher, and also the write speed has a 6% increase. You can elucidate from the higher speed of the 970 Evo that it will have much-decreased loading times than Samsung 980 during intensive gaming. Therefore, in terms of read and write speeds, the 970 Evo is the clear winner.
Is Samsung 980 Pro the fastest?
In our testing, it tops out at around 6.7GB/s read and 4.9GB/’s writes in CrystalDiskMark 7 were the fastest 1TB drives, including the WD Black SN850 and PNY XLR8 CS3140 can hit 7GB/s and 5.2GB/s, respectively.
Does the 970 Evo Plus have a cache?
It seems likely that Samsung, like Western Digital, hoped the part swap would go unnoticed because the end result was “good enough.” Under most light usage workloads, a user might never notice the new part number’s lower performance—because like nearly all modern SSDs, the 970 Evo Plus features an SLC write cache.
Conclusion
As for Samsung SSD 980 Pro vs 970 Evo Plus, this post has shown their differences in several aspects. Memoright hopes you can easily know which SSD drive is better between them. And if you have any different ideas for the 980 Pro vs 970 Evo Plus, you can take a look at other product comparisons here.
FAQs
Is Samsung 980 Pro better than 970 EVO Plus? ›
Samsung 980 PRO is faster than Samsung 970 EVO Plus in maximum sequential read, maximum sequential write, maximum random read, and maximum random write. In terms of TBW durability, MTBF reliability, and warranty coverage, the two SSDs are the same.
IS 980 PRO faster than 970 pro? ›The 980 PRO finishes ahead of the 970 PRO in the vast majority of tests.
What is the difference between 970 and 980 Evo? ›The 980 is usually cheaper and much cooler than the 970 evo plus. For laptops, especially thin and light ones, I would absolutely go for the 980. The 970 evo plus will give you more performance in a desktop where cooling is much more sufficient.
Is it worth getting 980 PRO? ›The Samsung 980 PRO with heatsink is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities for $189 and $349, nominal premiums of $20 and $21 over the non-heatsink drives. That's high-end PCIe 4.0 SSD pricing, but per our reviews, it's an excellent performer and worth the money.
Is Samsung 980 Pro the fastest? ›Powered by Samsung in-house controller for pcie® 4.0 SSD, the 980 PRO is optimized for speed. It delivers read speeds up to 7,000 MB/s, making it 2 times faster than PCIe® 3.0 SSDs and 12.7 times faster than SATA SSDs.
Is the 980 Pro the fastest NVMe? ›The Samsung 980 Pro is not only one of the fastest NVMe SSD drives we have tested, it is also one of the best performing drives.
Why is the Samsung 980 Pro good? ›The Samsung 980 Pro is the first Samsung SSD to take advantage of PCIe 4.0, a technology that made its debut in the mainstream with AMD Ryzen 3000 processors and the X570 chipset. It allows for much greater bandwidth, and in turn, much faster SSD speeds than even the best SSDs could offer before.
What is the difference between 970 Evo and Pro? ›The 970 EVO differs from the Pro in that it uses 3-bit TLC V-NAND and features TurboWrite technology, like some previous generation EVO-series drives.
How long will a 970 Evo last? ›The 970 Evo Plus drives come with a life expectancy of 1.5 million hours while WD's Black 3D drives support up to 1.75 million hours.
How much better is a 980 than 970? ›Comparing the GTX 980 and GTX 970 shows that the 970 only lags by around 17% in terms of performance but it's priced nearly 40% lower making the GTX 970 far better value for money card. Even though the GTX 970 beats the 980 in terms of value, the 980 still destroys previous generation cards.
Which is better GTX 970 or GTX 980? ›
The Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 is a high end desktop graphics card based on the Maxwell architecture. As the faster GTX 980, the GTX 970 uses the GM204 chip, but with reduced shaders (2048 vs. 1664) and TMUs (128 vs 103). The graphics card is equipped with 4 GB GDDR5 (7 GHz effective).
Is the 970 EVO Plus good enough? ›With better performance, efficiency, and lower MSRPs, Samsung's 970 EVO Plus is a big "plus" in almost every way over its predecessor. It rivals its bigger brother, the 970 PRO, and comes with a complete software suite, making the Samsung 970 EVO Plus a great buy.
Can I use Samsung 980 Pro without heatsink? ›For PS5 users, the Samsung 980 PRO heatsink is a great drive to expand and speed up the console. For PC and desktop users, we have the option to go with the non-heatsink model or the heatsink model. It is up to you which one to use depending on your scenario.
Is 980 PRO worth it 2022? ›Samsung 980 Pro SSD Review – Quick Conclusion. Is the Samsung 980 Pro still a good SSD to buy in 2022? Well, yes. In the near year and a half since it was originally released, there have been several firmware updates and improved pricing to warranty it's continued place in the top tier PCIe 4×4 SSDs in the market.
Does Samsung 980 Pro run hot? ›Samsung 980 Pro 2TB runs really hot, despite being under a heatsink - Storage Devices - Linus Tech Tips.
Is 980 Pro overkill? ›Even though Samsung 980 Pro is a better SSD compared to Samsung 970 Evo Plus, it is seen that the Samsung 980 Pro is overkill for users who have a PCIe 3.0 motherboard. So, they should not go for it. But, the 970 Evo is a good option for any kind of motherboard with enough data read and write speeds.
What is it after 980 pro? ›And while the Samsung 980 Pro is no longer our favorite drive (it's been replaced by the slightly faster and more affordable SK Hynix Platinum P4, which is also on sale today (opens in new tab)), it's still a blazingly fast and reliable drive from a brand that many are happy to pay a premium for.
What is the fastest NVMe in the world? ›The newly launched Samsung 990 PRO is one of the fastest Gen4 SSDs overall in December 2022. It is closely followed by the SK Hynix Platinum P41, Western Digital's WD Black SN850X, and Kingston's KC3000 (as well as other SSDs based on the same controller/memory chip combo).
What is better than NVMe? ›Taking a Look at SATA SSDs
SATA SSDs have the advantage of being faster than spinning disc HDDs, but their speed caps at 600 MB/s. Generally, SATA SSDs offer lower cost storage than M. 2 or NVMe drives, so they tend to be a better option for anyone seeking a general purpose drive on a tighter budget.
Samsung's 980 Pro is a fast PCIe 4.0 M. 2 SSD that's capable of sequential read speeds of up to 7,000MB/s and write speeds of up to 5,000MB/s. These specs make it a great choice for a modern PCIe 4.0-equipped PC or for a PS5.
Is the Samsung 980 good enough? ›
The Bottom Line. Samsung's SSD 980 M. 2 drive provides a stellar mid-tier option for new or returning fans of the company's SSDs, squeaking the most performance possible out of PCI Express 3.0 in 2021.
What generation is Samsung 980 Pro? ›User rating, 4.9 out of 5 stars with 1295 reviews.
Is Samsung 980 worth it? ›Samsung's 500GB 980 is a very fast DRAM-less M. 2 NVMe SSD that runs both cool and efficiently. For those penny pinchers on the hunt for a solid PCIe 3.0 x4 M. 2 NVMe SSD, Samsung's 980 is a good choice.
Is Pro better than EVO? ›In general, the PRO model is faster than the EVO model. This is because the PRO model is designed for professionals who need the fastest possible speeds for gaming and other demanding tasks.
How long does the 970 EVO Plus SSD last? ›Exceptional Endurance
* Warrantied TBW for 970 EVO: 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.
Samsung's SSD 970 EVO Plus is less expensive and just as capable as its predecessor, making it an excellent choice for installation in a gaming rig or high-end PC upgrade.
Is the 970 EVO Plus a 4th gen? ›Essentially, newer 970 EVO Plus releases come equipped with the same Elpis controller as the 980 PRO SSD instead of the PCIe Gen 3.0 Phoenix controller. Yes, Elpis is a PCIe Gen 4.0 controller, but it's backward compatible with the PCIe Gen 3.0 platform.
Is Evo 970 reliable? ›The drive also boasts hardware encryption support, a five-year warranty, and up to 1,200 TBW of endurance. Overall, the 970 EVO Plus is one of the fastest SSDs we've tested, so it easily gains our recommendation.
What is 970 EVO Plus used for? ›The 970 EVO Plus provides endurance powered by V-NAND technology and Samsung's quality. Samsung's nickel-coated controller and heat spreader on the 970 EVO Plus enable improved heat dissipation. The Dynamic Thermal Guard automatically monitors and maintains proper operating temperatures to minimize performance drops.
Is GTX 980 high-end? ›The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 is a high-end desktop graphics card based on the second generation Maxwell architecture.
What graphics card is better than a 980? ›
Memory clock speed of GeForce GTX 1660 is 7993 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 980.
What graphic card is better than GTX 970? ›GeForce GTX 1660 has 2 GB more memory, than GeForce GTX 970. Both cards are used in Desktops. GeForce GTX 1660 is build with Turing architecture, and GeForce GTX 970 - with Maxwell. Core clock speed of GeForce GTX 1660 is 480 MHz higher, than GeForce GTX 970.
Is GTX 980 Good for 4K? ›I would be happy with recommending the GTX 980 for 4K gaming, but I would recommend pushing the details down a little. In today's games, even running them at Medium settings is fine, and you don't notice too much of a change in graphics quality. Some of the AA is gone, but that really strains a GPU.
Is a 980 better then a 1060? ›Our Verdict: Upgrading from GTX 1060 6GB to GTX 980 is not recommended as it is less than 30% of improvement in performance. In general, a reasonable upgrade is between 30% and 50% or more to justify the purchase of new hardware. The price/performance ratio is much better for GTX 1060 6GB .
Is the 970 EVO Plus Gen 3 or 4? ›User rating, 4.9 out of 5 stars with 2513 reviews.
Is Samsung 970 EVO Plus fast? ›The 970 EVO Plus reaches sequential read/write speeds up to 3,500/3,300 MB/s, up to 53% faster than the 970 EVO. The latest V-NAND—which brings greater NAND performance and higher power efficiency—along with optimized firmware, a proven in-house controller, and intelligent turbowrite boost.
Does 970 EVO Plus use TLC? ›Design and specs
The 970 EVO Plus is basically the same drive as the 970 Evo, using the same 64-layer stacked TLC (Triple Level Cell/3-bit) NAND and Phoenix controller with improved firmware. Note that Samsung refers to the NAND not as TLC, but as 3-bit MLC V-NAND (vertical).
“This addition to the Samsung 980 PRO SSD family is delivered with a proprietary built-in heatsink with Samsung Advanced Heat Dissipation Technology and new firmware enhancements.”
Is the Samsung 980 Pro good for gaming? ›The max READ speed of the 980 Pro 1TB is 7,000 MB/s. The max WRITE speed of the 980 Pro 1TB is 5,000 MB/s. The Samsung 980 Pro 1TB's read and write speeds are excellent for gaming. This drive will load games quickly and allow for excellent gaming performance.
Do I need a heat sink for my NVMe? ›Do NVMe SSDs need heatsinks? The answer is Yes. M. 2 drives are not only faster and more compact but also eliminate the need for bulky power and data cables.
How hot does the 980 PRO get? ›
The heatsink works well enough as the hottest the drive got was 54° C when being pushed very hard during the Performance Stability test. For the bulk of our testing the temperature averaged around 40° C, comfortably below the maximum operating temperature of 70C.
Is the 980 PRO single or double sided? ›The Samsung 980 Pro 1TB comes in a single-sided M. 2 2280 (80mm) form factor.
What is too hot for an NVME SSD? ›“The controller and all the other components … are good up to 125 degrees Celsius (257 degrees F),” he said, “but the NAND isn't, and the SSD will go into critical shutdown if it detects that the temperature of the NAND is above 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees F) or so.”
IS 980 pro good for PS5? ›The 980 Pro is a good choice for the PS5 because it comes in an M. 2 form factor and supports read speeds up to 7,000 MB/s.
How many watts does a 980 Pro use? ›The new 3-bit MLC NAND technology in the SSD 980 Pro has more than 100 layers of cells, and it consumes 15 percent less power, according to Samsung, than the previous generation. Power consumption is between 4 and 6 watts while accessing data, Samsung says, and approximately 35 milliwatts while idle.
Is Samsung 980 Pro the fastest SSD? ›The Samsung 980 Pro is a speed machine, and easily the fastest SSD we've ever tested. If you want to future-proof your system, this is the SSD for you.
Is the 980 Pro worth it for gaming? ›The Samsung 980 Pro is still right near the top and gold standard-level for PCIe Gen 4 contenders for best SSDs for gaming. Though it's since been left slightly lagging by newer and faster drives, a new variant, the Samsung 980 Pro with Heatsink, fixes at least one obvious shortcoming.
Is Samsung 970 EVO Plus worth it? ›Price: $88
With better performance, efficiency, and lower MSRPs, Samsung's 970 EVO Plus is a big "plus" in almost every way over its predecessor. It rivals its bigger brother, the 970 PRO, and comes with a complete software suite, making the Samsung 970 EVO Plus a great buy.
- Kingston 240GB A400 SATA 32.5”
- Western Digital 500GB.
- WD_Black 500GB SN750 NVMe Internal Gaming SSD.
- SanDisk SSD Plus 1TB Internal SSD.
- Samsung T5 Portable SSD 1TB.
- SK hynix Gold S31 SATA Gen3 2.5 Inch.
- Samsung 870 QVO SATA III 2.5 Inch.
- SK hynix Gold P31 PCIe NVMe Gen3.
The only difference is the 980 PRO Heatsink comes with a heatsink that is compatible with the PS5. And also, the heatsink version is a little bit more expensive than the no-heatsink model. Also, the 980 PRO (without heatsink) is available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities.
Which Samsung SSD is the fastest? ›
990 PRO. Our fastest PCIe 4.0 NVMe® SSD available, offering blazing fast read/write speeds up to 7,450/6,900 MB/s and up to 2TB storage.
What heatsink do I need for Samsung 980 Pro? ›2 SSD heatsink is perfectly work with M. 2 2280 SSD, Samsung 850 EVO, 860 EVO, 960 EVO, 970 EVO, 950 PRO, 960 PRO, 970 PRO, 980 PRO,WD SN850 SN750 SN570, Firecuda 530, Crucial P2 Crucial P5 Plus, etc. The 2280 M.
How hot does the 980 Pro get? ›The heatsink works well enough as the hottest the drive got was 54° C when being pushed very hard during the Performance Stability test. For the bulk of our testing the temperature averaged around 40° C, comfortably below the maximum operating temperature of 70C.
Is 980 faster than 970 Evo Plus? ›The 980 is significantly faster than the 970 EVO Plus in both random and sequential 1MiB blocksize workloads—but the increase doesn't really address users where the pain lives. When we move down to 4KiB workloads, there's little to choose from between any of these drives.
What size SSD is best for PS5? ›Best High-Capacity PS5 SSD
The PS5 itself does not come with much storage, only about 667GB of usable space. So, that M.2 slot is essential. And if you're looking to make the most of your storage upgrade, this 4TB drive is the one to get.
- Samsung 980 Pro with Heatsink M.2 SSD. $120 at Samsung. ...
- Seagate FireCuda 530 NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 SSD. $140 at Amazon.
- Corsair MP600 PRO LPX. $110 at Amazon. ...
- PNY XLR8 CS3140 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD. $146 at Walmart. ...
- WD Black SN850 Gen4 x4 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD. $84 at Amazon.
Exceptional Endurance
* Warrantied TBW for 970 EVO: 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.
970 EVO Plus does get hot. 60+ degrees when under a medium load for some time. I was not too confident to try 100% load for prolonged time when it reached near 70C. Thats why I switched to 8200 Pro - with motherboard heatsink temps rarely near 50.