The Latest High-Capacity M.2: The Samsung 860 EVO 2TB SSD, Reviewed
by Billy Tallis on February 14, 2018 1:40 PM ESTPower Management
Real-world client storage workloads leave SSDs idle most of the time, so the active power measurements presented earlier in this review only account for a small part of what determines a drive's suitability for battery-powered use. Especially under light use, the power efficiency of a SSD is determined mostly be how well it can save power when idle.
SATA SSDs are tested with SATA link power management disabled to measure their active idle power draw, and with it enabled for the deeper idle power consumption score and the idle wake-up latency test. Our testbed, like any ordinary desktop system, cannot trigger the deepest DevSleep idle state.
The idle power measurements for the 860 EVO are just a few milliwatts higher than for the 860 PRO, which can be attributed entirely to the M.2 to SATA converter board (it has a status LED). The 860 EVO benefits from all the same controller and DRAM power savings the 860 PRO brought. While there are some smaller SATA SSDs that have lower idle power numbers (eg. some DRAMless SSDs), among multi-TB drives Samsung has the lead.
While Samsung's idle power usage has improved significantly with the 860 generation, the wake-up latency is unchanged. There's room for improvement here as many drives are able to wake up much faster from sleep states that are almost as deep as the Samsung 860 EVO's idle.
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Reflex - Wednesday, February 14, 2018 - link
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LB05YOO/Micron 1100 2TB for $379
This is basically a clone of the MX300 marketed to IT departments. Cheaptest 2TB SATA option I've seen by far, and gets good reviews, essentially identical to the MX300 (same hardware, no surprise) but has a better warranty I believe.
CherryBOMB - Wednesday, February 14, 2018 - link
Thanks for the information comment on your experience.bug77 - Wednesday, February 14, 2018 - link
I wonder what kind of warranty you get with those, since Micron branded products are not usually meant for retail.Reflex - Wednesday, February 14, 2018 - link
https://www.nikktech.com/main/articles/pc-hardware...According to this review of the 256GB model of this drive, it is a 5 year warranty.
Reflex - Wednesday, February 14, 2018 - link
The Crucial MX300 that it is a clone of has only a 3 year warranty, for reference.bug77 - Friday, February 16, 2018 - link
Actually, in the provided Amazon link, the first question is about warranty and the seller says it's 3 years. I was just afraid these were sold as stripped parts and wouldn't be covered, but it seems that not the case.Reflex - Friday, February 16, 2018 - link
The seller is not the OEM however, it's a third party. I have no idea if that is correct or the review I linked was correct. Micron's site is not helpful.xrror - Thursday, February 15, 2018 - link
How long has this drive been out???! Because I've been looking for an affordable 2TB option for the past half year and can't believe I never found this one.Thanks for the heads up on this model.
Reflex - Thursday, February 15, 2018 - link
I am unclear on how long it has been out, the review I linked is from late 2016, but the Amazon page implies its only been there since late 2017. My guess is its only sold into enterprise settings and a seller with stock listed it on Amazon. Regardless, its a great price for a brand that isn't questionable.Reflex - Saturday, February 17, 2018 - link
In case anyone is tracking this: I got mine in the mail yesterday. It is definitely intended for OEM markets, it came in a sealed anti-static bag with no other packaging. That said I popped it into a system and it was immediately recognized and is the capacity expected. No problems at all.