Samsung.com still show the 970 Evo Plus 2Tb as having a Phoenix controller
The Elpis Controller is for the 980 Pro
Firstly you can check which one that one has. Look at the linked articles. Also the model numbers are slightly different. MZVLB1T0HBLR becomes MZVL21T0HBLU. Also the changes mightn't effect one's performance - that depends on usage. It's annoying though because articles were saying buy Samsung because they make their stuff and they won't change it unless they change the model number - but then Samsung did change their blade similar to other makers who were all heavily criticised for changing performance while selling the same named blades.
Samsung used to specify the Phoenix controller for the 970 Ultra Plus - now they are saying "Samsung in-house Controller".
Compare Data version 2:
Version 2 - 970 Evo Plus Data - 970 Evo Plus Data to Version 3:
Version 3 - 970 Evo Plus Data
The latest description avoids specifying the actual controller. But one can view it by looking at the actual blade.
There are several pictures on the Net of the 1 TB Evo Plus using the Elpis controller. You can look at the actual blade, and the name of the controller is printed on the square controller unit that sticks out on the blade. One says Phoenix and evidently the newer ones may say Elpis. This site shows pictures of both controllers:
Techspot: "Samsung is swapping parts in their 970 Evo Plus SSDs and sabotaging performance"
Part of their article:
The ‘new’ 970 Evo Plus was first tested by a Chinese YouTube channel (whose
video on the topic does have English subtitles, if you want to watch). It’s unclear if the new model is exclusive to China or Asia, or if it’s being distributed globally.
Its only distinguishing feature is a controller branded Elpis, instead of Phoenix. The drives look otherwise close to identical, and they’re labeled the exact same -- 970 Evo Plus 1TB -- with only a small difference in part number denoting the drives as ‘technically’ different: MZVLB1T0HBLR becomes MZVL21T0HBLU on the sticker atop the drive.
I had downloaded all the data descriptions of the Samsung blades - you can use the links I provided earlier in this post. I viewed the data information trying to understand temperature issues. But the data description from version 2 of the Samsung 970 Evo Plus is different in its data claims from the Version 3 data description. The printed difference is that there are no claims for data movement performance on the Version 3 data description. So this statement from version 2 is missing:
Version 2: The sequential write performances for the portion of data exceeding over Intelligent TurboWrite buffer size are: 400 MB/s for 250GB, 900 MB/s for 500GB, 1700 MB/s for 1TB and 1750 MB/s for 2TB. The random write performances for the portion of data exceeding over Intelligent TurboWrite buffer size (tested with QD 32 Thread 4) are: 100,000 IOPS for 250GB, 200,000 IOPS for 500GB, 400,000 IOPS for 1TB and 420,000 IOPS for 2TB.
Version 3 is quite different:
Version 3: Sequential and random write performance was measured with Intelligent TurboWrite technology being activated. Intelligent TurboWrite operates only within a specific data transfer size.
Samsung says thereby that data size effects performance. People found - all across the net - that with large files, the transfer rate was initially super quick at 2500 MB/s, and then slowed right down to 800 MB/s with recent 970 Ultra Plus blades. Samsung increased the cache size a lot, to 145MB I think? (I did not read that spec from the data). But Samsung also changed the memory - NAND - type as well. For large files, an extra layer of memory slows the memory down. So when the cache runs out, then the file transfer slows down. The blade also takes a very long time to recover its cache, compared to previously. The earlier blades would transfer at a typical 1450 MB/S, but that transfer rate was fairly constantly - they had much less cache.
Western Digital did the same thing with the blue 550 blade; so did Adata with their SX8200. Who knows what other manufacturers have changed their specs?
Testers on the latest 970 Ultra Plus blades say that the blade is now faster for most users. But not for large data transfer.
I have now on order from B&H two 2 TB Western Digital SN750 blades. They are difficult to get in Australia and cost here in Oz is over $Au410 each - $US310 - including our 10% sales tax. So here in Australia, people would be buying the Samsung 970 Evo Plus units at the moment, unless they want PCIe type 4 blades. I have used D&H for camera gear before and I have found D&H very good to deal with. But warranty and resale will be poor due to not buying in Australia.
My concern has been hot running blades, compatibility, price and having rapid supply. My concern about hot running is due to the reputation of the Highpoint fan cooled SSD7101A-1 RAID card. Evidently earlier cards were the main culprits, but also HighPoint fan types are reported to vary, some being noisier than others. However users say its easy and cheap to swap out to a better fan if one's copped a noisy and less efficient cooling fan.
I think that the recent - after June July Samsung Ultra Plus cards - would have mostly performed better for me in general performance tasks. But I just don't know. But the WD units do run cooler, and they are slower too. Probably slower again now in general tasks due to the recent 970 Ultra Plus changes. For large files constantly being moved though, the latest Evo Plus are not as quick as they were. Nor the Blue WD 550s (Edit: note the WD Blue 550 has been shown to not be reliably Mac compatible). . Or the Adata SX8200s. And who knows what other blades have had performance changes due to changing the level of their NAND?
If I could have bought from Australian stock the Hynix P35 2TB, at $Au440 inc tax each, would that have been a better decision for me? An extra $Au200 all up? Probably I'd have been better off: Due to local warranty, they run cool, they're Pro speed, pro quality and they'd have had high resale. But they weren't available. And I'm not a Pro.
We have a saying in Australia - "there is no such thing as a free lunch".
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