Samsung SSD

The 970 EVO Plus 500GB has a 600 TBW endurance rating that puts it in the 95th percentile, backed by a 5-year warranty and 4.8 stars from 60,479 reviews. Sequential speed tops out at 3,500 MB/s, which is only 60th percentile these days. At $85 it's a steal, at $250 it's a pass.

Let's talk numbers. 3,500 MB/s sequential read and 3,300 MB/s write. That's the ceiling for PCIe 3.0 x4, and Samsung hits it. Random performance is where this drive actually shines, 600K read IOPS and 550K write IOPS put it in the 86th percentile. That's a strong showing for a drive that's been on the market this long. In practice, that means snappy app launches and quick file operations, even when things get busy.

The catch is that sequential speed is now middle of the pack. Gen4 drives routinely double these numbers, and Gen5 drives quadruple them. If you're moving massive video files around all day, you'll feel the ceiling. But for boot drives, gaming, and general workstation use, the 970 EVO Plus still feels quick. The Dynamic Thermal Guard does its job, keeping performance steady without needing a chunky heatsink in most builds.

Against the Crucial T710, SanDisk Optimus GX PRO 850X, and Lexar NM790, the 970 EVO Plus is fighting with one hand tied behind its back. Those are all Gen4 drives with sequential reads well past 7,000 MB/s. The WD_BLACK SN8100 and MSI Spatium M480 also leave it in the dust on paper. But here's the thing, none of them match Samsung's endurance rating or warranty track record at this price point. The 970 EVO Plus wins on trust and longevity, not raw speed. If you're building a new system with a Gen4 slot, buy a Gen4 drive. If you're upgrading an older machine, this Samsung is still the safe pick.

Pricing on this drive is all over the place. US listings range from $85 to $250, which is a $165 spread for the exact same 500GB drive. At $85, this is a no-brainer for anyone still on PCIe 3.0. At $250, you're paying more than double for a drive that gets outrun by $100 Gen4 options. The value story hinges entirely on which store_name you buy from. Shop around, because the cheapest listing is the only one that makes sense. The endurance and reliability are worth a premium, but not that much of one.

The Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB lands in a weird spot in 2025. Its endurance rating of 600 TBW sits in the 95th percentile of our database, which is genuinely impressive for a drive this size. And the social proof is off the charts, 60,479 reviews averaging 4.8 stars. People love this thing. But the speed story is more complicated. Sequential reads top out at 3,500 MB/s, which puts it at the 60th percentile overall. That's fine, but it's not the headline Samsung wants it to be anymore.

What you're really buying here is a known quantity. Samsung's Phoenix controller, TLC NAND, and DRAM cache have been doing their thing for years. The 5-year warranty matches the endurance rating, and the 1.5 million hour MTBF is a nice confidence boost. For a 500GB drive, this is about as safe a bet as you can make. Just don't expect it to hang with Gen4 or Gen5 drives in raw throughput.

Skip this if you have a Gen4 or Gen5 M.2 slot and want maximum throughput. The 3,500 MB/s ceiling is a hard limit, and drives like the Crucial T710 or Lexar NM790 will double or triple that for similar money. Also skip it if you need capacity, 500GB is in the 24th percentile and feels cramped for anyone with a large game library or media collection. And if you're seeing it priced anywhere near the $250 end of the spectrum, walk away. That's Gen4 territory money for Gen3 performance.

The Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB is a reliability champion that's starting to show its age on the speed front. The 600 TBW endurance and 5-year warranty are best-in-class, and the 4.8-star rating across 60,479 reviews tells you real owners are happy. But the 3,500 MB/s sequential ceiling is now average at best. If you can find it at the low end of that $85 to $250 price range, it's a fantastic upgrade for older systems. Pay much more than that, and you're better off with a Gen4 drive.