PC World - USA (2021-03)

70 PCWorld MARCH 2021

REVIEWS SAMSUNG 870 EVO SATA SSD

Samsung 870 EVO SATA SSD

PROS

• Excellent performance, especially with small file
  operations.


• Unlike the QVO, it doesn’t slow with long writes.
  CONS


• A little expensive.
  BOTTOM LINE
  The Samsung 870 EVO is a little pricier than the
  competition, but it’s also faster with small file
  operations. You get what you pay for, and in this
  case, you get a lot.
  $65

throughput test, the differences between the

drives in our 48GB transfers were slight. The

870 EVO still took home the win by 12

seconds, or about 2 percent.

On the next page, you can see why the

870 EVO is a bit pricier than the 870 QVO:

The latter slows down to a miserable

150MBps when it runs out of secondary

NAND cache. The 870 QVO doesn’t allocate

NAND as secondary cache dynamically, as

does the 870 EVO.

The 450GB write was performed on both

the 1TB and 4TB models, resulting in a 5-second

difference, which is well within the expected

variation. That means the TurboWrite is doing its

job on the larger capacities. You might see a

slowdown with the 500GB model, though it

shouldn’t be as drastic with the TLC-based EVO

as it is with the QLC in the 870 QVO.

BOTTOM LINE

The Samsung 870 EVO is easily the best

performer in its class and a top performer in any

class across all usage scenarios. If you never

write very large files, you could opt for the

cheaper 870 QVO. Just make sure you go for a

capacity well beyond what you think you’ll

need. If you’re not strapped for cash, the 870

EVO is easily the better drive, the more future-

proof of the two, and our recommendation.

This is why you might want to spend more money

on an EVO (or the others) rather than a QVO. But

if long writes aren’t something you do, don’t

sweat it. Note that this was the 2TB version of the

QVO; the 8TB version would have more secondary

NAND cache and would not slow down as soon.

450GB Write

2,686

1,024

1,012

450GB Single-File Write

Seconds

997

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

Samsung 870 EVO Samsung 870 QVO

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