Samsung 8TB SSD SATA III

The 870 QVO is the storage equivalent of a warehouse: huge, not fast, but exactly what you need when you need it. Find it near USD 645 and it's a no-brainer for capacity hounds.

Sequential reads hit 560 MB/s and writes land at 530 MB/s, which is about as good as SATA III gets. Random performance is where the QLC NAND shows its limits, with 98K read IOPS and 88K write IOPS putting it in the middle of the pack. The DRAM cache and MKX controller keep things feeling snappy for everyday tasks, but if you're moving massive files around all day, you'll notice the SATA ceiling. The endurance rating of 2880 TBW is solid for a QLC drive, though not class-leading.

The 870 QVO doesn't really compete with NVMe drives like the Kingston FURY Renegade or WD_BLACK SN850X on speed, those are in a completely different league. But if you need 8TB in a 2.5-inch SATA slot, there's basically nothing else. The Micron T710 and Crucial T500 are faster but top out at lower capacities. For pure capacity in a SATA form factor, the 870 QVO is the only game in town. If speed matters more than capacity, any of those NVMe competitors will embarrass this drive.

This is where it gets tricky. US prices swing wildly from USD 645 to USD 1,895 across eight listings, which is a massive spread. The best deal we're seeing is around USD 645, and at that price it's a compelling buy for anyone who needs massive capacity in a SATA form factor. At the high end, you're paying a premium for the convenience of 8TB in one drive. If you can find it near the low end, it's worth it. If you're looking at the top of that range, you might want to consider a pair of 4TB drives instead.

The Samsung 870 QVO is the answer to a very specific question: how do I get 8TB of SSD storage into a laptop or desktop without selling a kidney? It's a SATA drive, so it won't win any speed races against NVMe, but it's the biggest 2.5-inch QLC drive you can buy and it does exactly what it promises. The headline here is capacity, and on that front it's basically untouchable.

If you're looking for speed, this isn't it. Go get an NVMe drive like the WD_BLACK SN850X or Crucial T500 instead. If you're building a new system with an M.2 slot, don't waste it on SATA. This drive is for people who need maximum capacity in a 2.5-inch form factor, period.

Buy it if you need 8TB in a SATA form factor and you find it near the USD 645 mark. It's not fast by modern standards, but it's reliable, capacious, and does exactly what it says on the tin. If you're chasing speed, look elsewhere. If you're chasing storage, this is your drive.