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Samsung SM961 MZVPW256HEGL

The Samsung SM961 MZVPW256HEGL is a M.2 22x80 SSD with a rated capacity of 256 GB. It relies on the modern PCIe 3.0 x4 (NVMe 1.2) interface for data transfer. The drive is based on 2-bit MLC memory paired with Samsung's very own Polaris controller.

Performance

The rated sequential read and write rates are at 3100 MB/s and 1400 MB/s, respectively. The drive managed to hit the latter (not the former though) in our independent testing with CrystalDiskMark 3. Thus the SSD is a good fit for any and all tasks including content creation and gaming.

Notebookcheck says:

... its performance was phenomenal - Aorus X7 v7 Laptop Review | August 2017

... While 256 GB is plenty for an Ultrabook, it can be considered the bare minimum for a gaming machine - Asus GX501VS Laptop Review | August 2017

Power consumption

The drive is able to consume as much as 5.9 W according to Samsung which is in line with the generally high consumption of most NVMe SSDs.

TypeSSD
SizeM.2 2280
Capacity256 GB
InterfaceNVMe
Announced20.06.2016

Benchmarks

AS SSD - Copy Game
min: 560     avg: 732     median: 738.5 (12%)     max: 892 MB/s
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Copy Program
min: 292.4     avg: 330.1     median: 322.4 (12%)     max: 383.3 MB/s
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Copy ISO
min: 1504     avg: 1674     median: 1698.5 (15%)     max: 1795 MB/s
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Score Total
min: 3668     avg: 3851     median: 3871 (24%)     max: 3995 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Score Write
min: 1021     avg: 1170     median: 1183 (16%)     max: 1293 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Score Read
min: 1795     avg: 1811     median: 1810.5 (29%)     max: 1829 Points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Access Time Write *
min: 0.03     avg: 0     median: 0 (0%)     max: 0.032 ms
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Access Time Read *
min: 0.039     avg: 0.1     median: 0.1 (0%)     max: 0.059 ms
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - 4K-64 Write
min: 791     avg: 921     median: 929 (16%)     max: 1035 MB/s
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - 4K-64 Read
min: 1485     avg: 1514     median: 1516.5 (30%)     max: 1538 MB/s
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - 4K Write
min: 117.3     avg: 121.7     median: 122.4 (24%)     max: 124.7 MB/s
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - 4K Read
min: 48.35     avg: 49.5     median: 49.4 (16%)     max: 51 MB/s
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Sequential Write
min: 1067     avg: 1273     median: 1308 (12%)     max: 1409 MB/s
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AS SSD - Sequential Read
min: 2382     avg: 2477     median: 2418.5 (19%)     max: 2690 MB/s
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 4K QD32 Write
min: 480.6     avg: 511     median: 513 (48%)     max: 539 MB/s
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 4K QD32 Read
min: 576     avg: 605     median: 603 (47%)     max: 636 MB/s
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 4K Write
min: 141.7     avg: 146.1     median: 148.2 (5%)     max: 148.4 MB/s
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 4K Read
min: 54     avg: 55.3     median: 55.4 (1%)     max: 56.6 MB/s
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 512K Write
min: 1283     avg: 1293     median: 1283 (14%)     max: 1312 MB/s
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - 512K Read
min: 432.6     avg: 439.6     median: 439.4 (9%)     max: 446.9 MB/s
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - Sequential Write
min: 1459     avg: 1501     median: 1504 (14%)     max: 1541 MB/s
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 3.0 - Sequential Read
min: 1971     avg: 2100     median: 2065 (25%)     max: 2263 MB/s
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5/6 Write 4K
152.7 MB/s (14%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5/6 Read 4K
48.8 MB/s (1%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5 Write Seq
1013 MB/s (5%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5 Read Seq
1120 MB/s (13%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5/6 Write 4K Q32T1
498.1 MB/s (16%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5/6 Read 4K Q32T1
574 MB/s (9%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5/6 Write Seq Q32T1
1507 MB/s (10%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 - CDM 5/6 Read Seq Q32T1
3327 MB/s (18%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
PCMark 8 - PCMark 8 Storage v2
5054 Points (99%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
- Range of benchmark values
red legend - Average benchmark values
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Add one or more devices and compare

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v1.33
log 17. 16:47:53

#0 ran 0s before starting gpusingle class +0s ... 0s

#1 no ids found in url (should be separated by "_") +0s ... 0s

#2 not redirecting to Ajax server +0s ... 0s

#3 did not recreate cache, as it is less than 5 days old! Created at Wed, 16 Jul 2025 20:40:31 +0200 +0.001s ... 0.001s

#4 composed specs +0.013s ... 0.014s

#5 did output specs +0s ... 0.014s

#6 getting avg benchmarks for device 2060 +0.002s ... 0.016s

#7 got single benchmarks 2060 +0.01s ... 0.026s

#8 got avg benchmarks for devices +0s ... 0.026s

#9 min, max, avg, median took s +1.259s ... 1.285s

#10 return log +0.001s ... 1.286s

Notebook reviews with Samsung SM961 MZVPW256HEGL

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MSI GS63VR 7RG Stealth Pro (i7-7700HQ, GTX 1070 Max-Q, Full HD) Laptop Review

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Intel Core i7-7820HK | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile | 17.30" | 3.4 kg

Gigabyte Aero 14-K7: Intel Core i7-7700HQ NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile, 14.00", 1.9 kg
  External Review » Gigabyte Aero 14-K7

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  External Review » Aorus X7 v7

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Klaus Hinum (Update: 2019-10-10)