Results: Samsung 980 Pro vs WD Black SN770 on OSX Ventura 2019 iMac.
I have been comparing performance of 2TB Samsung 980Pro versus 2TB WD Black SN770 on 2019 iMac running Ventura 13.5. which is limited to PCIE 3. These days the PCIE 4 NVME drives are cheaper than preceding PCIE 3 models.
Performance: Samsung; Read 3052 Mbps, Write 2960 - WD Black; Read 3038 Mbps, Write,2896 Mbps.
Boot Times of 200GB system heap: Samsung; 16-23 secs. WD Black; 15 secs.
(The variability of Samsung boot up time reflecting the initial incompatibility behaviour which seemed to settle down to 16 secs with use).
Which you prefer will depend upon Platform and o/s.
Both Samsung and WD Black use TLC, but Samsung has AES encryption, uses DRAM and is warranteed for longer life. Samsung offers considerably better sustained write performance. Samsung claim automatic Trim function through Elpis controller for Windows. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-980-pro-m-2-nvme-ssd-review
On Ventura 13.5 Samsung ran smoothly with one exception. At boot-up, the progress bar showed a marked hesitation 40% through completion. This suggested to me an initialisation conflict. Nevertheless once loaded the drive worked smoothly as the above Black Magic numbers indicate.
WD Black SN770 performance matched Samsung but lacks AES security and as a DRAM-less drive uses 64MB of host system RAM for the Controller. It is a very weak performer for sustained writes. In all other respects the drive was smooth and fast which recommends it for OSX.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/wd-black-sn770-ssd-review/2
The absolute decider is Trim
Thank you trs96 for supplying exhaustive and valuable Trim information which I have included in my conclusions.
Given the reluctance of either Apple or Samsung to inform users on the handling of Trim It is reasonable to assume that despite its good performance over a short term test, the Samsung 980 Pro may well accumulate Trim related problems over time. However, according to Spaceman logs, both Samsung and WD Black trims where occurring regularly which appears to absolve doubts about Samsung, at least over the short term.
Apple only support Trim for their own drives. I understand Trim is on for Apple SSD but should be off for non-Apple SSD as many NVME controllers now instigate trim automatically. Which begs the question whether the Samsung Elpis controller is capable of garbage collection for several o/s. So far, Samsung remain silent repeating only the suitability of their drive for Windows 7 upward. This is utterly counterproductive and throws into relief the importance of independent tests and user feedback on sites such as this.
I enabled Ventura o/s trim which slowed the Samsung performance markedly. I also found that as an external boot drive the Samsung was slow with writes 1245 Mbps, Reads 2320Mbps.
For Mac user the WD Black SN 770 is the best choice. Apparently no trim issues. fast operation in external case also; but why, oh why does Western Digital omit AES security in all their drives, at this time when security is so critical?
I have been comparing performance of 2TB Samsung 980Pro versus 2TB WD Black SN770 on 2019 iMac running Ventura 13.5. which is limited to PCIE 3. These days the PCIE 4 NVME drives are cheaper than preceding PCIE 3 models.
Performance: Samsung; Read 3052 Mbps, Write 2960 - WD Black; Read 3038 Mbps, Write,2896 Mbps.
Boot Times of 200GB system heap: Samsung; 16-23 secs. WD Black; 15 secs.
(The variability of Samsung boot up time reflecting the initial incompatibility behaviour which seemed to settle down to 16 secs with use).
Which you prefer will depend upon Platform and o/s.
Both Samsung and WD Black use TLC, but Samsung has AES encryption, uses DRAM and is warranteed for longer life. Samsung offers considerably better sustained write performance. Samsung claim automatic Trim function through Elpis controller for Windows. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-980-pro-m-2-nvme-ssd-review
On Ventura 13.5 Samsung ran smoothly with one exception. At boot-up, the progress bar showed a marked hesitation 40% through completion. This suggested to me an initialisation conflict. Nevertheless once loaded the drive worked smoothly as the above Black Magic numbers indicate.
WD Black SN770 performance matched Samsung but lacks AES security and as a DRAM-less drive uses 64MB of host system RAM for the Controller. It is a very weak performer for sustained writes. In all other respects the drive was smooth and fast which recommends it for OSX.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/wd-black-sn770-ssd-review/2
The absolute decider is Trim
Thank you trs96 for supplying exhaustive and valuable Trim information which I have included in my conclusions.
Given the reluctance of either Apple or Samsung to inform users on the handling of Trim It is reasonable to assume that despite its good performance over a short term test, the Samsung 980 Pro may well accumulate Trim related problems over time. However, according to Spaceman logs, both Samsung and WD Black trims where occurring regularly which appears to absolve doubts about Samsung, at least over the short term.
Apple only support Trim for their own drives. I understand Trim is on for Apple SSD but should be off for non-Apple SSD as many NVME controllers now instigate trim automatically. Which begs the question whether the Samsung Elpis controller is capable of garbage collection for several o/s. So far, Samsung remain silent repeating only the suitability of their drive for Windows 7 upward. This is utterly counterproductive and throws into relief the importance of independent tests and user feedback on sites such as this.
I enabled Ventura o/s trim which slowed the Samsung performance markedly. I also found that as an external boot drive the Samsung was slow with writes 1245 Mbps, Reads 2320Mbps.
For Mac user the WD Black SN 770 is the best choice. Apparently no trim issues. fast operation in external case also; but why, oh why does Western Digital omit AES security in all their drives, at this time when security is so critical?
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