Samsung XP941 M.2 PCIe SSD Review (512GB) – New Ultra Standard Exceeds 140K PCMark Vantage Score

AS SSD BENCHMARK VER 1.6 – OPTIMIZED

Seeing as so many are becoming fans of CPU optimization, we thought we might include the results of AS SSD with the system optimized through alteration of the CPU C States, as described in our SSD Optimization Guide:

This method of testing seems to be becoming more common amongst reviewers and, I guess if one is looking for the absolute highest representation in performance, this certainly qualifies for the Samsung XP941 M.2 PCIe Gen 2 SSD.

REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS

If you are looking at the biggest and the baddest in ultrabook size SSD performance within the next year, the landscape seems to display the LSI SandForce ‘Codename Griffin‘ M.2 PCie SSD at 1.8GB/s, the XP941 at 1.1GB/s, and an anticipated Plextor release that should reach speeds of 740MB/s. That won’t keep others from joining the mix, as we also saw Phison display their new PS5006 M.2 PCIe SSD controller at Flash Memory Summit which lists performance of 1.5GB/s.  Staying with Phison for a second, products such as this could easily see their controller class bumping from mid-level to upper tier before long.

Other than the links provided here, M.2 SSDs will not be available in mass as a retail item for some time and that only makes sense, as there is next to no use whatsoever for M.2 retail sales at this time.  Our guess would be that it might even be several years before you see M.2 availability as you see it now with typical form factor SSDs and, even then, the landscape is still changing rapidly and will bring in new storage ideals. The Samsung XP941 marks a new day, however, and this is the first look at the fastest M.2 storage device in the world right now.

The Samsung XP941 was reported to achieve performance of 1170MB/s read and 970MB/s write and, for the most part reached those speeds, although falling just a bit short on IOPS with a high of 98574 which was just under 22000 lower than specifications. What hasn’t been seen in any literature yet is the absolutely fantastic PCMark Vantage performance of 119063 points in typical fashion, or 140455 when optimized.  Examining optimized results, we also saw AS SSD transfer speeds surpass the 1GB/s mark for the first time with a typical form factor SSD (single controller).  Samsung’s own SSD Magician Performance Tests show both read and write performance above 1GB/s:

Something we found particularly amusing was that the first time the XP941 was seen, albeit it in a customized form, was in the new MacBook Air where it reached speeds of just under 800MB/s.  Aren’t Samsung and Apple still arch rivals?  Actually, many would be very surprised as to just how much Samsung is present in their current Mac products.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Samsung XP941 M.2 PCIe SSD is an amazing representation of where we are going in ultrabook storage performance and will be seen in countless portables soon enough.  The XP941 is fast becoming the ‘new standard’ and Samsung’s inability to provide review samples to media demonstrates the demand that they are challenged with.  It is kind of hard not to be in awe of such technology when we think of just how small, yet powerful, it is.  A big thanks goes to Rod Bland and RamCity for their sending along their very first XP941 sample received and, considering that it made it across the Pacific within days, they are definitely a consideration for such purchases worldwide.