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Samsung’s SSD 850 EVO 4 TB Now Available from Major Retailers
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Samsung’s SSD 850 EVO 4 TB Now Available from Major Retailers

Samsung quietly added its 4 TB 850 EVO SSD model to the product to the lineup back in May (according to its own datasheet) without making any formal announcements. Earlier this month the company lifted the embargo on reviews of the product (you can read ours here) and began to ship the high-capacity SSD to its partners. By now, all the major retailers already either have the product in stock, or are taking pre-orders with ETA about a week from today, at a US MSRP of $1499.

The Samsung SSD 850 EVO 4 TB (MZ-75E4T0) comes in a 2.5”/7 mm form-factor with SATA interface and is based on the company’s TLC V-NAND memory (3D, 32-layers). The 850 EVO 4 TB drive is based on the MHX controller and is equipped with 4 GB of LPDDR3 cache (previously we were told we knew about the MHX ASIC supported 2GB max, which is interesting). Like the rest members of the 850 EVO family, the 4 TB model fully supports 256-bit full disk encryption that is compatible with the TCG/Opal 2.0 and IEEE1667 specifications, which is important for workstation users.

Samsung SSD 850 EVO Specifications
Capacity 120 GB 250 GB 500 GB 1 TB 2 TB 4 TB
Controller MGX MEX MHX
NAND Samsung 32-layer 128 Gbit TLC V-NAND
DRAM 256 MB 512 MB 1 GB 2 GB 4 GB
Sequential Read 540 MB/s
Sequential Write 520 MB/s
4KB Random Read 94K IOPS 97K IOPS 98K IOPS
4KB Random Write 88K IOPS 88K IOPS 90K IOPS
DevSleep Power  2 mW 2 mW 2 mW 4 mW 5 mW 10 mW
Slumber Power  50mW 60mW unknown
Active Power (Read/Write) Max 3.7W / 4.4W 3.7W / 4.7W 3.1W / 3.6W
Encryption AES-256, TCG Opal 2.0, IEEE-1667 (eDrive)
Endurance 75 TB 150 TB 300 TB
Warranty Five years

As for performance, the Samsung 850 EVO 4 TB drive resembles other higher-end models in the 850 EVO family. The manufacturer declares maximum sequential read speed of 540 MB/s as well as maximum sequential write speed of 520 MB/s for the SSD. As for random performance, the drive delivers a top speed of 98,000/90,000 4K random read/write IOPS. Maximum power consumption of the drive is 3.1 W/3.6 W during active read/write operations, which is also in line with the rest of the high-end 850 EVO SSDs.

Right now, virtually all the biggest retailers in the world already have the Samsung 850 EVO 4 TB in stock, or, at least, list the drive and take pre-orders. We could say that the highest-capacity consumer-class SSD is now widely available, however, we should note that in many stores the first batch was sold out immediately and some only have several units left.

Samsung SSD 850 EVO 4 TB (MZ-75E4T0B) Availability
As of 7/22 9am
Retailer Country Local Price Price in USD In Stock
Amazon U.S. $1,499 $1,499 July 31, 2016
B&H Photo Video U.S. $1,499 $1,499 Ships in 7-10 days
CDW U.S. $1,648 $1,648 Yes
Fry’s Electronics U.S. $1,499 $1,499 August 1, 2016
Newegg U.S. $1,499 $1,499 July 31, 2016
NCIX Canada CAD $1,920 $1,468 Ships in 1-2 weeks
 
Amazon UK U.K. £1,200 $1,570 July 30, 2016
Overclockers UK U.K. £1,200 $1,570 6 in stock
Scan U.K. £1,283 $1,680 Yes
 
Amazon DE Germany €1,299 $1,413 1 in stock
Amazon ES Spain €1,605 $1,768 Yes
Amazon FR France €1,502 $1,654 6 in stock
Alternate Austria €1,399 $1,541 July 28, 2016
BA Computer Austria €1,391 $1,532 July 29, 2016
Bora Computer Germany €1,379 $1,519 5 in stock
CaseKing Germany €1,480 $1,630 Yes
 
CineMagic Denmark 10,782 kr $1,596 Yes
Komplett Sweden 13,799 kr $1,598 Incoming
Misco Sweden 11,382 kr $1,318 Yes

The Samsung EVO SSD with 4 TB capacity has MSRP of $1,499 in the US, and the high price indicates that this remains a prosumer play at this point. At $1,499, the price is over two times higher than the 2 TB 850 EVO model ($675.76 at Newegg), indicating a higher cost per GB in exchange for density. Ultimately the product will likely find its buyer among those who need a large amount of solid-state storage (in 2.5″/7mm form-factor).

Other Options, Mainly for Enterprise

Typically SSDs of such capacity are designed for servers and datacenters and come with professional grade features which makes them even more expensive. For example, the SanDisk Optimus Max 4 TB (SAS) is available for $2,685 at Amazon and for $2,718 at Ebay. Likewise, Samsung’s own enterprise-grade PM863 3.84 TB SSD (SATA) has suggested price of $2,200, whereas its faster PM1633 3.84 TB (SAS) brother is sold for $3,092. Moreover, if you go to companies like Fixstars or Foremay, they build special-purpose SSDs for various non-PC applications. These products typically aren’t even quoted for pricing, because they can feature different configurations and the order quantity affects the pricing, along with any support deal.

Nonetheless, when it comes to performance, capacity, endurance and price, the sky is the limit for solid-state storage. Multiple companies (including Samsung and Fixstars) now offer 2.5” SSDs with over 10 TB capacity and there are specialized solutions (such as those from HPE) that can easily cost $10,000 and north. In short, $1,499 may not be that expensive for a consumer drive.

SAPPHIRE Announces NITRO+ Radeon RX 480
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SAPPHIRE Announces NITRO+ Radeon RX 480

This morning SAPPHIRE is announcing their latest card in the NITRO+ family, the NITRO+ Radeon RX 480. Some key features of SAPPHIRE’s new NITRO+ RX 480 cards include higher clock speeds, an improved cooler with a back plate included, and software fan health monitoring. Along with this we’ll also get RGB lighting and power delivery that is improved over what we saw on the reference RX 480.

The cooler is improved from SAPPHIREs last generation with two 95mm dual-ball bearing fans. Meaning longer fan life and potentially quieter operation. In fact, SAPPHIRE isn’t content simply improving the quality of their fans. They also are including a feature called “Fan Check” in their upcoming SAPPHIRE TriXX 3.0. Fan Check allows users to check the health of their fans and if an issue is detected they can contact customer support for a replacement fan. Thanks to quick swap fans the user can replace just the fan with a single screw, no more need to return a whole card for a dead fan, and no more need to disassemble a card to remove the fan. I think this sounds like a neat feature, but considering the use of dual ball bearing fans and that the fans shut off when temperatures are under 52 degrees Celsius, I won’t be surprised if the number of users needing replacements is rather low.

It has occured to me that you can’t throw a dart without hitting an RGB LED card anymore. Regardless it does come in handy when color coordinating a build. Along with having the usual option to control the RGB lighting through SAPPHIRE’s utility, there is also a hardware controlled red button on the back of the card which will let one work through the various included modes such as fan speed or GPU temperature modes.

Radeon RX 480 Specification Comparison
  SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 480 8GB SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 480 4GB AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB
Boost Clock 1342MHz 1306MHz 1266MHz
Memory Clock 8Gbps GDDR5 7Gbps GDDR5 8Gbps GDDR5 7Gbps GDDR5
VRAM 8GB 4GB 8GB 4GB
Launch Date Next Week 6/29/2016
Launch Price $269 $219 $239 $199

We will be seeing factory overclocks from both the 8GB and 4GB versions of this card. While base clocks are presumably higher they were not shared, though the boost clocks come out to 6% and about 3% over AMD’s reference cards respectively. The memory clocks are right in line with the reference Radeon RX 480 8GB and 4GB cards.

For those that enjoy running on overclocked hardware the NITRO+ Radeon RX 480 includes a NITRO Boost dual bios switch that further increases the boost clock and power limit for some extra performance. To help feed overclocking endeavors the card also comes with an 8-pin power connector and a new model of their own Black Diamond Chokes which they profess drop coil temperatures by another 15%.

Amusingly, with the increasing growth in VR this generation having multiple HDMI outputs is becoming a highlighted feature all around. Following suit, we can find dual HDMI on the business end of the NITRO+ Radeon RX 480 sharing space with two DisplayPort connectors and a DVI-D port.

Finally, for pricing the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 480 will be listed at $269 for the 8GB card and $219 for the 4GB model, a $30 and $20 premium over the reference models, respectively. So far the NITRO+ RX 480 appears to be a robustly built card with all the bells and whistles we’re seeing this generation including RGB lighting, fan shutoff, and warranty fan replacement while they were at it. Exact release dates have not yet been revealed, but those interested in these cards will find them available from etailers next week.

SAPPHIRE Announces NITRO+ Radeon RX 480
  • Comments are Closed

SAPPHIRE Announces NITRO+ Radeon RX 480

This morning SAPPHIRE is announcing their latest card in the NITRO+ family, the NITRO+ Radeon RX 480. Some key features of SAPPHIRE’s new NITRO+ RX 480 cards include higher clock speeds, an improved cooler with a back plate included, and software fan health monitoring. Along with this we’ll also get RGB lighting and power delivery that is improved over what we saw on the reference RX 480.

The cooler is improved from SAPPHIREs last generation with two 95mm dual-ball bearing fans. Meaning longer fan life and potentially quieter operation. In fact, SAPPHIRE isn’t content simply improving the quality of their fans. They also are including a feature called “Fan Check” in their upcoming SAPPHIRE TriXX 3.0. Fan Check allows users to check the health of their fans and if an issue is detected they can contact customer support for a replacement fan. Thanks to quick swap fans the user can replace just the fan with a single screw, no more need to return a whole card for a dead fan, and no more need to disassemble a card to remove the fan. I think this sounds like a neat feature, but considering the use of dual ball bearing fans and that the fans shut off when temperatures are under 52 degrees Celsius, I won’t be surprised if the number of users needing replacements is rather low.

It has occured to me that you can’t throw a dart without hitting an RGB LED card anymore. Regardless it does come in handy when color coordinating a build. Along with having the usual option to control the RGB lighting through SAPPHIRE’s utility, there is also a hardware controlled red button on the back of the card which will let one work through the various included modes such as fan speed or GPU temperature modes.

Radeon RX 480 Specification Comparison
  SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 480 8GB SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 480 4GB AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB
Boost Clock 1342MHz 1306MHz 1266MHz
Memory Clock 8Gbps GDDR5 7Gbps GDDR5 8Gbps GDDR5 7Gbps GDDR5
VRAM 8GB 4GB 8GB 4GB
Launch Date Next Week 6/29/2016
Launch Price $269 $219 $239 $199

We will be seeing factory overclocks from both the 8GB and 4GB versions of this card. While base clocks are presumably higher they were not shared, though the boost clocks come out to 6% and about 3% over AMD’s reference cards respectively. The memory clocks are right in line with the reference Radeon RX 480 8GB and 4GB cards.

For those that enjoy running on overclocked hardware the NITRO+ Radeon RX 480 includes a NITRO Boost dual bios switch that further increases the boost clock and power limit for some extra performance. To help feed overclocking endeavors the card also comes with an 8-pin power connector and a new model of their own Black Diamond Chokes which they profess drop coil temperatures by another 15%.

Amusingly, with the increasing growth in VR this generation having multiple HDMI outputs is becoming a highlighted feature all around. Following suit, we can find dual HDMI on the business end of the NITRO+ Radeon RX 480 sharing space with two DisplayPort connectors and a DVI-D port.

Finally, for pricing the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 480 will be listed at $269 for the 8GB card and $219 for the 4GB model, a $30 and $20 premium over the reference models, respectively. So far the NITRO+ RX 480 appears to be a robustly built card with all the bells and whistles we’re seeing this generation including RGB lighting, fan shutoff, and warranty fan replacement while they were at it. Exact release dates have not yet been revealed, but those interested in these cards will find them available from etailers next week.