Samsung 960 EVO 500GB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280

The Samsung 960 EVO is a 500GB M.2 NVMe SSD with solid random performance and a DRAM cache, but its sequential speeds and price are stuck in the past. It's fine for older laptops and workstations, but modern Gen4 drives offer more capacity and speed for less money. Only consider it if you find a used one at a steep discount.

The 960 EVO puts up 3200 MB/s sequential reads and 1800 MB/s sequential writes. For a PCIe 3.0 drive, those are respectable numbers, though they land in the middle of the pack by today's standards. Random performance is where this drive still shows some life: 330K random read IOPS and 330K random write IOPS put it well above average for its class. In practice, that means snappy app launches, quick boot times, and smooth multitasking on a laptop or workstation. It's not going to win any benchmark races against a Crucial T500 or a WD_BLACK SN7100, but it's not going to feel sluggish either.

Where the 960 EVO falls behind is raw throughput. Modern Gen4 drives routinely double or triple these numbers, and even some newer Gen3 drives edge it out. The endurance rating of 200 TBW is solid for a 500GB drive, though it's not exceptional. If you're doing heavy video editing or constant large file transfers, you'll notice the ceiling. For gaming and general use, it's fine. The DRAM cache helps keep things consistent, which is more than we can say for some DRAM-less budget drives floating around today.

Stacked against the Crucial T500, the 960 EVO gets embarrassed. The T500 is a Gen4 drive with roughly double the sequential throughput and often sells for less per gigabyte. The Kingston Fury Renegade and WD_BLACK SN7100 are in the same boat, both offering dramatically better performance and higher capacities at competitive prices. Even the Team Group MP44, which isn't exactly a flagship drive, outruns the 960 EVO in sequential workloads while offering more storage for the money.

That said, the 960 EVO has one thing going for it: compatibility. If you're working with an older motherboard that only supports PCIe 3.0, a Gen4 drive will still work but you won't see its full speed. In that scenario, the 960 EVO's random performance and DRAM cache make it a reasonable choice, assuming you can find it at a sane price. But if your system supports Gen4, there's no contest. Buy the newer drive and don't look back.

Here's where things get ugly. The 960 EVO is listed between $200 and $319 in the US, and that's for 500GB. For context, you can often find a 1TB Gen4 drive for less than $100 these days. Even at the low end of $200, you're paying a premium for old tech. The best deal we saw was on Amazon, but even that price is hard to justify. If you absolutely need this specific drive for compatibility reasons, shop around and don't pay more than the lowest listing. Otherwise, put your money toward something newer with more capacity. The 960 EVO was a great drive in 2016, but value is not its strong suit in 2025.

The Samsung 960 EVO is a 500GB M.2 NVMe SSD from the early days of PCIe 3.0 storage. It's not new anymore, and that shows in a few places, but it still holds up surprisingly well for everyday use. We're looking at a drive that launched as a premium option and now sits in that weird middle ground where used prices and old stock make it either a bargain or a trap depending on what you find. The 960 EVO uses Samsung's Polaris controller, TLC NAND, and a DRAM cache, which was a solid recipe back then and still beats a lot of budget SATA drives today.

People searching for this drive usually want to know if it's still worth buying in 2025, or whether it'll work in their older motherboard. The short answer: it's a capable drive for laptops and workstations with M.2 slots, but it's not going to impress anyone who's used a modern Gen4 or Gen5 drive. If you're upgrading from a spinning hard drive or an old SATA SSD, the jump to 3200 MB/s reads will feel massive. If you're already on a newer NVMe drive, there's no reason to look back.

One thing to keep in mind: this drive is old enough that finding it new at a sane price is hit or miss. We saw listings ranging from $200 to $319, which is frankly absurd for a 500GB drive in today's market. At the low end, it's still overpriced compared to newer 1TB drives. At the high end, you'd be getting robbed. We'll dig into that more below.

Skip the 960 EVO if you're building a new PC or upgrading a system with PCIe 4.0 or 5.0 support. You'll get more speed and capacity for less money with something like the Crucial T500 or WD_BLACK SN7100. Also skip it if you need lots of storage, since 500GB fills up fast with modern games and media. If you're on a laptop with only a SATA connection, this drive won't work at all, so look for a 2.5-inch SATA SSD instead.

Should you buy the Samsung 960 EVO in 2025? Only if you find it dirt cheap and you're upgrading an older system that can't take advantage of newer drives anyway. At $200 to $319 for 500GB, it's a terrible value compared to what's on the market now. The performance is fine for everyday tasks, and the random IOPS are still respectable, but you're paying a nostalgia tax for a drive that's been outclassed by budget options.

If you're on a tight budget and just need a boot drive for an older laptop, a used 960 EVO at a low price could make sense. But if you're building a new system or upgrading a modern one, skip it. There are faster, bigger, and cheaper drives everywhere you look. The 960 EVO had its moment, and that moment has passed.