Samsung Electronics has announced its first ever consumer-ready Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) solid state drive (SSD) – the Samsung 950 PRO at starting $199.99.
The Samsung 950 PRO SSD with its M.2 2280 form factor, vertical NAND (V-NAND) technology supports PCIe 3.0 interface. The drive will also support next-generation desktop and mobile platforms with M.2 PCIe slot and interface. Because of its compact design (80.15 x 22.15 x 2.38mm) and exceptionally light weight (10 grams), we may see it being used in making more ultra-slim notebook PCs as well as tablets and smartphones in future. As of now, the NVMe driver by Samsung only supports Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.
The drive also comes with AES 256-bit Full Disk Encryption to protect data and Dynamic Thermal Guard, which according to Samsung can protect the device and data in inclement weather from 0 to 70 degrees Celsius. It can also withstand physical shock of up to 1500G/0.5ms and vibrations up to 20G.
Samsung also claims that the 950 PRO SSD offers improved random and sequential performance over SATA interface drives utilizing the legacy AHCI protocol. It will be available in 256GB and 512GB storage capacities. The 512GB version delivers sequential read/write speeds of up to 2,500 MB/s and 1,500 MB/s. Random read performance is up to 300,000 IOPS, with write speeds of up to 110,000 IOPS.
The 256GB ($199.99) and 512GB ($349.99) capacity variants of 950 PRO will be available from October 2015 and comes with 5-year limited warranty. Samsung says that the 1TB variant will be released next year.
“With the introduction of the 950 PRO using NVMe and PCIe, Samsung is able to provide our customers with the memory needed to handle the increased storage demands of tomorrow’s computing systems,” said Un-Soo Kim, Senior Vice President of Branded Memory, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “Consumers and businesses alike can experience enterprise-quality performance and benefits such as speed, endurance and energy efficiency to support the most demanding applications. The 950 PRO is yet another example of a branded memory solution that continues to elevate our portfolio of products and reflects Samsung’s continued leadership in the memory industry.”