Samsung 970 PRO 1TB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280

The Samsung 970 PRO is a PCIe 3.0 drive with MLC NAND and a 1200 TBW endurance rating that puts it in the 93rd percentile for longevity. It's not the fastest drive anymore, but it's one of the most reliable. Worth the premium if you hammer your storage daily, overpriced if you just want a fast boot drive.

The 970 PRO hits 3500 MB/s sequential read and 2700 MB/s write. That's about as fast as PCIe 3.0 gets, and it's roughly 30% faster than the previous generation. Random performance is also strong at 500K IOPS for both read and write, which lands it in the 86th percentile. But here's the thing: PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 drives exist now, and they blow past these numbers. The 970 PRO's speed sits at the 59th percentile overall, which is solid but not mind-blowing in 2024. The real story is consistency. The MLC NAND and Samsung's Phoenix controller keep performance steady even when the drive is getting hammered, and the Dynamic Thermal Guard helps prevent throttling. That's where this drive earns its keep.

Against the WD_BLACK SN850X, the 970 PRO looks slow on paper. The SN850X is a Gen4 drive with much higher sequential speeds, and it's often cheaper. But the SN850X uses TLC NAND, so its sustained write performance drops off after the cache fills. The 970 PRO doesn't have that problem. The Kingston Fury Renegade and Seagate FireCuda 530R are also Gen4 drives that beat it on raw speed. The Crucial T710 is a Gen5 drive that's in a completely different league speed-wise. So if you want the fastest thing available, the 970 PRO isn't it. But if you want a drive that stays fast and keeps working for years under heavy load, it's still a standout.

This is where it gets tricky. The 970 PRO launched at a premium price, and it still commands one. You're looking at $450 to $466 USD, which is a lot for 1TB when you can get a solid Gen4 drive for less. But you're not paying for raw speed here. You're paying for MLC NAND, the endurance rating, and Samsung's track record. If you're a professional who needs a drive that won't flake out under constant writes, the premium makes sense. If you're a gamer or casual user, you're better off saving your money and grabbing something cheaper with more capacity.

The Samsung 970 PRO is a bit of a legend at this point. It's a PCIe 3.0 drive that still commands respect because it uses MLC NAND, which is rare these days. Most drives have moved to TLC or QLC to cut costs, but MLC is the good stuff for sustained writes and longevity. This thing is built for people who push their storage hard and don't want to worry about it.

Our database puts it in the 96th percentile for social proof and 93rd for endurance. That's a big deal. People love this drive, and it's rated to take a beating. The 1200 TBW endurance rating is way above what most 1TB drives offer. If you're doing video editing, database work, or anything that hammers the drive constantly, this is the kind of drive you want.

Skip this if you're a gamer or casual user. You won't notice the endurance benefits, and you'll pay a premium for specs you don't need. Also skip it if you want the fastest possible speeds, since Gen4 and Gen5 drives leave it in the dust on sequential reads and writes. If you're on a budget, there are plenty of solid 2TB drives available for less than this 1TB drive costs.

The Samsung 970 PRO is for people who need reliability above all else. Video editors, database admins, anyone who writes terabytes of data regularly and can't afford a drive failure. It's not the fastest drive anymore, and it's not cheap. But it's built like a tank, and the user sentiment backs that up with a 92/100 score. If you're a gamer or just want a fast boot drive, skip it. If you need a workhorse that won't quit, this is still one of the best options out there.