Samsung 870 EVO 1000GB

The Samsung 870 EVO represents a fully vertically integrated utilization of the SATA III interface, pushing the protocol to its theoretical bandwidth limits. The drive is architected around Samsung’s proprietary MKX controller—a refined iteration of the MJX controller found in the preceding 860 series—paired with 1GB of LPDDR4 DRAM for efficient mapping table management. Storage density is achieved through Samsung’s 6th Generation (V6) 128-layer 3D TLC V-NAND, which relies on a static and dynamic SLC caching implementation (Intelligent TurboWrite) to maintain high throughput during burst workloads. While the 870 EVO is widely utilized as a reference standard for SATA performance, the product line experienced a distinct manufacturing anomaly affecting batches produced primarily between September 2020 and early 2021. Hardware enthusiasts and data recovery specialists documented a rise in uncorrectable error counts and early drive failures in these specific units. Samsung subsequently addressed these stability issues via firmware updates (notably version SVT02B6Q and later), and drives manufactured after this period have returned to expected reliability metrics.

Key Specifications

• Interface: SATA III (6 Gbps)
• Controller: Samsung MKX (S4LR059)
• NAND Flash: Samsung 128-Layer 3D TLC V-NAND
• DRAM Cache: 1GB LPDDR4
• Sequential Read/Write: Up to 560 MB/s Read / 530 MB/s Write
• Endurance: 600 TBW
• Security: AES 256-bit Full Disk Encryption, TCG Opal 2.0, IEEE 1667 Encrypted Drive support

Hardware Alternatives

• Crucial MX500: The most direct technical competitor. It utilizes a Silicon Motion SM2258/SM2259 controller paired with Micron TLC NAND. Like the 870 EVO, it retains a dedicated DRAM cache, making it one of the few remaining high-performance SATA options.
• SK Hynix Gold S31: A similar vertically integrated solution utilizing SK Hynix’s own "Quartz" controller and NAND. It offers comparable power efficiency and sustained write performance to the MKX-based EVO.
• WD Blue 3D NAND (SATA): Historically a competitor in the same performance tier using SanDisk BiCS flash and Marvell controllers, though recent revisions and the transition to the SA510 model have introduced hardware variability.