Samsung 850 EVO mSATA and M.2 SSD Review
The Samsung SSD 850 EVO Goes M.2 and mSATA
When we reviewed the Samsung SSD 850 EVO drive last December we knew that different form factors were coming but we didn’t know exactly when. That question has now been answered as we have a few different drives on our hands. With the same components we saw on the 2.5″ 850 EVO we now have an mSATA and M.2 version to play with and expect much the same performance as we saw with the larger drive. The smaller form factors allow it to be used in ultra-thin PCs and desktops without giving up capacity that’s normally only found in the larger drives as the M.2 offers capacity up to 500GB and the mSATA up to 1TB.
The pricing on these is very aggressive and barely above where the pricing has settled on the 2.5″ drives nearly four months after the release.
| Description: | Type: | Capacity: | Model: | MSRP: |
| 850 EVO | M.2 | 120GB | MZ-N5E120BW | $79.99 |
| 250GB | MZ-N5E250BW | $129.99 | ||
| 500GB | MZ-N5E500BW | $229.99 | ||
| mSATA | 120GB | MZ-M5E120BW | $79.99 | |
| 250GB | MZ-M5E250BW | $129.99 | ||
| 500GB | MZ-M5E500BW | $229.99 | ||
| 1TB | MZ-M5E1T0BW | $449.99 |
Performance numbers are much the same with each topping out at 540MB/s reads and 520MB/s writes as they are still bound by a SATA 6Gb/s interface. In fact, the specifications are little changed from the 2.5″ version save for the dimensions and interface types.
Samsung SSD 850 EVO M.2 and mSATA Features and Specifications
| Samsung SSD 850 EVO mSATA | |
| Usage Application: | Client PCs |
| Capacity: | 120GB, 250GB, 500GB, 1TB(1,000GB) |
| Dimensions (L x W x H): | (29.850.15) x (50.800.15) x Max 3.85 (mm) |
| Interface: | SATA 6Gb/s (compatible with SATA 3Gb/s and SATA 1.5Gb/s) |
| Form Factor: | mSATA |
| Controller: | 120/250/500GB : Samsung MGX controller 1TB: Samsung MEX controller |
| NAND Flash Memory: | Samsung 32 layer 3D V-NAND |
| DRAM Cache Memory: | 512MB(120GB & 250GB & 500GB) LPDDR3 and 1GB (1TB) LPDDR2 |
| Performance: | Sequential Read: Max. 540 MB/s Sequential Write: Max. 520 MB/s 4KB Rdm Read (QD1): Max. 10,000 IOPS 4KB Rdm Write(QD1): Max. 40,000 IOPS 4KB Rdm Read(QD32): Max. 97,000 IOPS(250GB/500GB/1TB) Max. 95,000 IOPS(120GB) 4KB Random Write(QD32): Max. 88,000 IOPS |
| Weight: | Max. 8.5g (1TB) |
| Power Consumption: | Active Read/Write (Average): Max. 3.5W(1TB)/ Max. 4.3W(1TB) Idle: Max. 50mW Device Sleep: 2mW |
| Samsung SSD 850 EVO M.2 | |
| Usage Application: | Client PCs |
| Capacity: | 120GB, 250GB, 500GB |
| Dimensions: | (L x W x H) Max 80.15 x Max 22.15 x Max 0.8 (mm) |
| Interface: | SATA 6Gb/s (compatible with SATA 3Gb/s and SATA 1.5Gb/s) |
| Form Factor: | M.2 (2280) |
| Controller: | Samsung MGX controller |
| NAND Flash Memory: | Samsung 32 layer 3D V-NAND |
| DRAM Cache Memory: | 512MB LPDDR3 |
| Performance: | Sequential Read: Max. 540 MB/s Sequential Write: Max. 500 MB/s 4KB Rdm Read (QD1): Max. 10,000 IOPS 4KB Rdm Write(QD1): Max. 40,000 IOPS 4KB Rdm Read(QD32): Max. 97,000 IOPS 4KB Rdm Write(QD32): Max. 89,000 IOPS |
| Weight: | Max. 7g (500GB) |
| Power Consumption: | Active Read/Write (Average): Max. 2.4W(500GB)/ Max. 3.5W(1TB) Idle: Max. 50mW Device Sleep: 2mW |
| Samsung SSD 850 EVO Common Features | |
| Data Security: | AES 256-bit Full Disk Encryption (FDE), TCG/Opal V2.0, Encrypted Drive(IEEE1667) |
| Reliability: | MTBF: 1.5 million hours |
| TBW | 120/250GB: 75TBW 500GB/1TB: 150 TBW |
| Supporting features: | TRIM(Required OS support), Garbage Collection, S.M.A.R.T |
| Temperature: | Operating: 0C to 70C Non-Operating: -40C to 85C |
| Humidity: | 5% to 95%, non-condensing |
| Vibration: | Non-Operating: 20~2000Hz, 20G |
| Shock: | Non-Operating: 1500G , duration 0.5m sec, 3 axis |
| Warranty: | 5 years limited |
| Supporting S/W: | Samsung Data Migration, Samsung Magician 4.6 (including RAPIDmode) |
Of course, the specifications are merely the performance numbers with an assist from Samsung’s TurboWrite Technology which leverages a high-performance write buffer to boost performance though it’s tough to demonstrate with synthetic benchmarks. It relies on a 3GB “TurboWrite” SLC region for the cache buffer and when that is not available, the performance falls off appreciably as evidenced by the tables below.
Let’s have a closer look at each drive.