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Samsung PM961 MZVLW256HEHP

Samsung PM961 MZVLW256HEHP Samsung PM961

The 256 GB Samsung PM961 also known as MZVLW256HEHP is an M.2 22x80 size NVMe SSD. We first tested the drive in 2017. In October 2019, MZVLW256HEHP was marked as EOL on Samsung's website. The product page is down as of November 2020.

A rebrand of Samsung 960 EVO series, the PM961 was designed to be sold to OEMs, mostly.

Performance

Four PCIe 3.0 lanes allow for a theoretical transfer rate of up to 3938 MB/s. The drive's real-world sequential read rate was supposed to be near 2800 MB/s with writes approaching 1100 MB/s according to Samsung. While the numbers were not achieved in our independent testing with CrystalDiskMark 3, the PM961 is still a very good SSD capable of handling the vast majority of tasks including gaming & content creation.

Here is our opinion on the product:

.... performs about the same as the 512 GB version - Samsung Notebook 9 Review from 2017

.... transfer speeds are significantly faster than they would be with a SATA interface - Lenovo Legion Y720 Laptop Review from 2017

TypeSSD
SizeM.2
Capacity256 GB
Interface

Benchmarks

AS SSD - Copy Game
min: 225.14     avg: 537     median: 451.9 (8%)     max: 1114.88 MB/s
+ 37 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Copy Program
min: 75.03     avg: 343     median: 291 (11%)     max: 780.01 MB/s
+ 37 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Copy ISO
min: 420.49     avg: 1004     median: 800.3 (22%)     max: 1912.43 MB/s
+ 37 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Score Total
min: 35     avg: 2565     median: 2575 (30%)     max: 4653 Points
+ 61 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Score Write
min: 48     avg: 587     median: 620 (14%)     max: 1029 Points
+ 61 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Score Read
min: 363     avg: 1378     median: 1363 (48%)     max: 2545 Points
+ 61 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Access Time Write *
min: 0.023     avg: 0.5     median: 0 (0%)     max: 4.15 ms
+ 61 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Access Time Read *
min: 0.04     avg: 0.1     median: 0.1 (0%)     max: 0.49 ms
+ 61 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - 4K-64 Write
min: 15.3     avg: 419     median: 391.3 (10%)     max: 1651.81 MB/s
+ 61 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - 4K-64 Read
min: 199.38     avg: 1112     median: 1084.6 (46%)     max: 2279.57 MB/s
+ 61 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - 4K Write
min: 1.16     avg: 91.6     median: 108 (1%)     max: 161.43 MB/s
+ 61 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - 4K Read
min: 20.72     avg: 45.1     median: 46.9 (18%)     max: 54.06 MB/s
+ 61 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Sequential Write
min: 223.08     avg: 960     median: 1138.9 (27%)     max: 1395 MB/s
+ 61 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Sequential Read
min: 768.44     avg: 2019     median: 2062.1 (37%)     max: 2834 MB/s
+ 61 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 4K QD32 Write
min: 94.87     avg: 384     median: 404.5 (53%)     max: 621.4 MB/s
+ 42 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 4K QD32 Read
min: 131.5     avg: 419     median: 426.1 (45%)     max: 650.4 MB/s
+ 42 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 4K Write
min: 46.63     avg: 127     median: 138.9 (16%)     max: 176.9 MB/s
+ 42 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 4K Read
min: 29.75     avg: 53     median: 55.8 (1%)     max: 62.63 MB/s
+ 42 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 512K Write
min: 337.86     avg: 781     median: 820.9 (19%)     max: 890.1 MB/s
+ 42 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 512K Read
min: 406     avg: 887     median: 855.9 (36%)     max: 1295 MB/s
+ 42 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - Sequential Write
min: 341.2     avg: 1136     median: 1205 (28%)     max: 1423.2 MB/s
+ 42 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - Sequential Read
min: 800     avg: 1627     median: 1631.5 (47%)     max: 2196 MB/s
+ 42 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5/6 Write 4K
min: 72.17     avg: 128     median: 132.4 (12%)     max: 195.1 MB/s
+ 45 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5/6 Read 4K
min: 22.23     avg: 42.4     median: 42.7 (1%)     max: 53.38 MB/s
+ 45 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5 Write Seq
min: 343.33     avg: 1099     median: 1167 (26%)     max: 1411.91 MB/s
+ 44 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5 Read Seq
min: 746.2     avg: 1373     median: 1371 (25%)     max: 2000 MB/s
+ 43 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5/6 Write 4K Q32T1
min: 101     avg: 398     median: 399.2 (23%)     max: 747.3 MB/s
+ 45 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5/6 Read 4K Q32T1
min: 133.9     avg: 403     median: 413.9 (26%)     max: 632.7 MB/s
+ 45 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5/6 Write Seq Q32T1
min: 344.3     avg: 1210     median: 1226 (22%)     max: 1429.4 MB/s
+ 45 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart