Samsung PM981 OEM SSD

[GotNoRice]

Does anyone have any experience with this OEM NVMe SSD? I'm trying to figure out if it would compare favorably to a Samsung 850 Pro SATA SSD of similar size. I know that it uses TLC whereas the 850 Pro uses MLC, but the PM981 is a bit newer and also NVMe.

 

[BlueLineSwinger]

Broadly, the PM981 is the same as the original retail Evo 970 (non "Plus" model, equivalent there would be the PM981a). It should perform and behave basically the same. There are a lot of reviews of both versions out there.

My guess (not looking up the spec pages) is that the MLC of the 850 Pro will have higher endurance than the PM981's TLC. Otherwise, normal NVMe/SATA comparisons apply. The NVMe of the latter will top the SATA of the former in benchmarks. Real-life, you're unlikely to notice any difference between the two unless you're beating on them in specific ways that general computing/gaming just don't.

(Anecdotal: My XPS 13 has a PM981a in it. It's fine. It also doesn't really feel any faster than the 860 Evo I have in my desktop PC.)