[SOLVED] Corsair Force MP600 1TB vs Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB Endurance question.

[knowledge2121]

I am running both in gen3 mode and speed wise they are both overkill...

My main concern is endurance:
‐‐-------------
MP600 Force:

1800 TBW
1700000 MTBF
Comes with a heatsink
--------------
970 EVO Plus:

600 TBW
1500000 MTBF
No heatsink
-‐---------
At first sight it seems the MP600 Force has better endurance....but there is a catch:

Corsair force mp600 has dynamic slc caching....the tlc flash memory itself is used directly for caching...this could wear the drive faster.


Samsung 970 evo plus has a static slc caching. the slc cache is not on the tlc flash memory. It is separate....it is designed to last as long as the drive lives....once the static slc cache is all used up, tlc flash memory is used for caching...

My question:

Considering all the specs and the way the caching works...which SSD has the better endurance ?

 

[Maxxify]

The original 970 EVO Plus has TurboWrite 1.0, the new revision has TurboWrite 2.0. In both cases, it's a hybrid cache: there's a static portion and also a dynamic portion. TurboWrite writes to static first and empties static first (FIFO), if I recall correctly.

Static SLC is dedicated (usually) but it's still made from the native TLC. Often it's made from the best flash in terms of data retention, which would be the top layers of 3D NAND. However, poor quality flash can also use it for blocks that would be bad if run in TLC mode in order to improve yields. It's possible this is why some drives with Samsung TLC - even a variant of the SX8200 Pro - have static-only SLC; this flash was back stock.

In any case, yes, dynamic SLC can have additive wear. Intel's patent estimates it at 0.4 impactive but states they usually count it as a full PEC. Actually, I know Phison (at least) will invalidate a dynamic SLC block, convert to TLC, then erase it, to prevent double erasure as dynamic shares a WL zone with native flash (static has its own zone). But I don't need to get too technical here unless anybody cares.

The MP600 uses the Phison E16 controller with 96L Kioxia TLC (BiCS4) if I'm not mistaken. This could have endurance in the 1500-3000 PEC range (rated). Samsung's 92L TLC (first variant of the 970 EVO Plus) will almost assuredly survive more writes. This has to do with the architecture (V-NAND is replacement gate or gate-last, BiCS is CTF BiCS) and quality control. TBW is pretty meaningless, and actually Phison accounts for write amplification from dynamic SLC caching (full-drive on the E16!) in their health calculation AFAIK. "All else being equal" comes to mind here because there are other factors depending on workload.

Static SLC can wear out, too, but generally there's a balancing factor such that both zones (static vs. dynamic & native) wear at the same rate. However, static SLC can mean less overprovisioning, although typically OP is more important early in the lifespan (for WL and less WAF) while later it's best to rely on more spare/ECC/parity. However, for consumer workloads, it's usually not meaningful, and the static SLC portion probably increases overall endurance.

MTBF doesn't matter. As for a heatsink: it's often said NAND likes it hot. It will program faster with less structural cell damage at higher temperatures, but this can be misleading due to many factors. Swing/cross temp, dwell time, and more. Also heat reduces data retention which can require more writes (refresh). Impact on consumer flash (which tends to be rated only up to 70C) is minimal.

 

[knowledge2121]

So out of the two, which one would you buy ? It seems like the 970 evo plus has the better endurance...

Any recommendations in the same price range ?

 

[Maxxify]

Samsung's flash has the best endurance and their drives are rated the best in reliability. I'm not a fanboy, just stating the facts. Personally I use a Crucial P5 Plus which should also prove quite reliable, although the controller has a bit more going on than most. WD's drives (SN850) are also excellent, although I'm not sold on BiCS4's long-term endurance. The newer 970 EVO Plus uses the Elpis with 128L flash, I don't think endurance is significantly impacted there; the 980 PRO has the same hardware but is faster. Otherwise I could recommend the SK hynix Platinum P41, newly out. I would certainly avoid the E16 as that controller is error-prone. The E18 is better and reliability with 176L TLC on some models is probably good, but not as good in my opinion.

 

[USAFRet]

600TBW vs 1800TBW is totally irrelevant for normal consumer use.

Unlikely you would see 25% of that 600TBW in a decade of use.

 

[mdd1963]

970 EVO Plus for the win! (Savings would have to be more than $5-$10 on a 1 TB model, probably $30, to get me to switch!)

 

[knowledge2121]

Samsung's flash has the best endurance and their drives are rated the best in reliability. I'm not a fanboy, just stating the facts. Personally I use a Crucial P5 Plus which should also prove quite reliable, although the controller has a bit more going on than most. WD's drives (SN850) are also excellent, although I'm not sold on BiCS4's long-term endurance. The newer 970 EVO Plus uses the Elpis with 128L flash, I don't think endurance is significantly impacted there; the 980 PRO has the same hardware but is faster. Otherwise I could recommend the SK hynix Platinum P41, newly out. I would certainly avoid the E16 as that controller is error-prone. The E18 is better and reliability with 176L TLC on some models is probably good, but not as good in my opinion.

Between 970 evo plus 1tb and Crucial p5 plus 1tb , which one has the better endurance?

 

[USAFRet]

Between 970 evo plus 1tb and Crucial p5 plus 1tb , which one has the better endurance?

In normal consumer use, irrelevant.