Samsung 980 PRO NVMe SSD 2TB review: a PCIe 4.0 drive in a real storage workflow

Before you think about speed, look up one string of characters: 3B2QGXA7. That firmware version sat on some Samsung 980 PRO drives and was linked to a run of failures in the 2TB model. Everything else about this drive is good news by comparison, so I am starting with the part that could cost you your data.

I found plenty of test data and much less from ordinary owners, particularly about external enclosures, so I will flag that where it matters.

Product image from the Amazon listing.

The Firmware Problem

In early 2023, the PC builder Puget Systems reported abnormally high failure rates with this model. NASCompares quotes Puget saying the 2TB version stood out while the 500GB and 1TB drives “seemed unaffected”, and that it moved its 2TB builds to another brand. Guru3D reported that most cases involved 2TB drives, though smaller ones were not immune.

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The failure works like this. A drive can drop into read-only mode, which may stop the operating system from booting. The warning signs are in the drive’s health data: Guru3D says to watch for a media and integrity error value (0E) that is above zero, and an available spare value (03) below 100 percent. CrystalDiskInfo and Samsung Magician can show these on a PC.

Samsung’s fix is firmware 5B2QGXA7. Drives on 4B2QGXA7 or 5B2QGXA7 are reported to be safe from this issue. The update is preventive. ComputerBase says it cannot repair a drive already in read-only mode, and NASCompares says it does not reverse health already lost.

The sources disagree on one important point. Guru3D says that once the failure happens there is “no way to recover the data.” ComputerBase says the data is generally still readable, and that you should copy it off or clone the drive with third-party software. I can’t settle that. Plan as if Guru3D is right, and keep a backup.

Do this on day one: check the firmware version, and update it if needed before you put anything on the drive. New stock today should have moved past the old firmware, but I can’t promise what a given seller has on the shelf, and old units can sit in a warehouse. If the drive shows any error values when new, return it.

Fast Past the Cache, Which Is Rare

Now the good part. This is a TLC drive with DRAM, and it behaves very differently from cheap QLC drives under long writes.

Like most consumer SSDs, the 980 PRO takes incoming data into a fast cache first. Chimolog’s test of the 2TB model held about 3,800 MB/s until roughly 229 GB had been written, which matches the 222 GB cache it cites from Samsung’s datasheet. After that, speed averaged about 1,760 MB/s. Club386 copied a 250 GB folder to fill the cache, and recorded 1,624 MB/s at the 200 GB mark, while noting that most rivals fall below 1,000 MB/s once the cache is full. CDRLabs saw about 2,000 MB/s falling to about 1,600 MB/s.

Those tests differ in method, so the numbers do not line up exactly, but the shape does. The drive slows down after about 220 GB, and “slow” still means more than 1.5 GB/s. Some simple arithmetic: a 1 TB project copied from an equally fast source takes under nine minutes at those rates. A video editor moving a whole shoot does not have to plan around this.

It is not the best in its class, though. Chimolog found that it wrote about a third less data in 15 minutes than a Seagate FireCuda 530 2TB, and a little less than an SK Hynix Platinum P41. The headline figures of 7,000 MB/s read and 5,100 MB/s write are Samsung’s rated speeds. Legit Reviews measured 6,754 and 5,019 MB/s in its benchmark. Those need a PCIe 4.0 slot, and in an older PCIe 3.0 slot you will get far less, though the drive still works.

Product image from the Amazon listing.

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Heat Is the Other Half of Long Writes

The listing I am reviewing appears to be the bare drive, with no heatsink, and that matters. Chimolog ran a harsh five-minute test with no heatsink and no case airflow. NAND reached about 80°C, the controller about 83°C, and after about two minutes thermal throttling limited writes to about 1,460 MB/s. The site recommends a heatsink, either a separate one or the one on your motherboard, along with some airflow.

CDRLabs, on the other hand, saw peaks of only about 55°C with no noticeable throttling. Its setup was clearly gentler, and the difference shows how much cooling decides the result. Club386 says the heatsink version is worth it if your motherboard has no M.2 cooling. If yours has a metal cover over the slot, use it. In a laptop, a thin slot with no airflow is the hard case, and you should expect slower long writes.

Even the throttled figure of 1,460 MB/s is quick, so for most people poor cooling will cost some speed on long jobs and little else.

In an External Box on a Mac

To be clear about Macs first: this is not an internal upgrade for an Apple Silicon Mac. Those machines have no standard M.2 slot for it. For a Mac owner, the 980 PRO would live in an external enclosure.

That is where I run out of owner reports, so please read this as reasoning. A 10 Gbps USB enclosure tops out near 1 GB/s, which is below the speed this drive holds even after its cache is full. So over USB, you should see a steady speed from start to finish, with no cliff. That is a real advantage over budget drives. It also means you are paying for PCIe 4.0 speed that USB cannot use. A Thunderbolt enclosure gets closer to the drive’s ability, but it still falls well short of 7,000 MB/s.

Heat becomes the issue. A small enclosure may have less cooling than a desktop, so pick a metal one, since a drive that hits 80°C with no heatsink needs somewhere for that heat to go. Enclosures can have their own problems with chips and disconnects as well.

Firmware is the awkward bit. Samsung’s tools page lists a macOS version of Magician alongside the Windows one, plus a bootable ISO file for 980 PRO firmware, which it says works only via DOS from a bootable disc. I could not confirm that Magician on a Mac can update this drive inside an enclosure. If you have any access to a Windows PC with an M.2 slot, update the drive there first, before it goes into the box.

I also found no owner report of restoring a backup from this drive in an enclosure. A backup you have not tested is a hope, so try one restore while the data is still safe elsewhere.

Product image from the Amazon listing.

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Endurance and Warranty

CDRLabs lists 1,200 TB written for the 2TB model, with a five-year warranty. SSD-Tester’s page says 1,300 TB, so check Samsung’s current terms. Either way it is plenty. At 100 GB a day you would take more than 30 years to reach it. CDRLabs did note it is lower than the older 970 PRO’s rating. The controller is Samsung’s own Elpis, per SSD-Tester.

Worth Buying Once the Firmware Is Sorted

My opinion is that this is a very capable drive for people who write large files often: editors, photographers and anyone moving hundreds of gigabytes at a time on a PC with a PCIe 4.0 slot and proper cooling. Its behaviour past the cache is the real reason to buy it, and Club386 still called it “a formidable choice” on value in 2022.

The price should still decide it, because Samsung has since sold newer drives and this one competes with them. If you use it only in a USB enclosure, you can spend less and lose nothing you would notice. If you own a Mac with no way to update firmware, or you will not check your firmware at all, I would pick something else.

For a PC with good cooling and a checked firmware version, the Samsung 980 PRO NVMe SSD 2TB is a strong choice for heavy file work. This is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.