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Samsung 870 EVO 4TB SATA SSD: features, specs and who it suits
A 4TB 2.5-inch SATA III internal SSD rated at 560/530 MB/s with up to 2,400 TBW and AES 256 encryption support. What the specs mean for upgrades.
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The Samsung 870 EVO 4TB is a 2.5-inch SATA III solid-state drive for desktops, laptops, network storage and video recording devices. It is a large-capacity drive in the standard shape of older laptop hard disks, so it can replace a spinning drive or add fast storage to a system that has a free SATA bay.
What the speed figures mean
Samsung rates sequential speeds at 560 MB/s for reads and 530 MB/s for writes. Those numbers sit near the ceiling of the SATA III interface, which is limited to about 600 MB/s. This is why the drive is described as maximizing the SATA limit: the interface, not the flash, is the cap. Drives on faster interfaces such as NVMe can exceed this, but they require a different slot.
The listing explains that write speeds rely on Intelligent TurboWrite, a buffer that absorbs writes quickly and keeps long-term performance up. Samsung's figures were measured on a test system with an Intel Core i7-7700K and Windows 10 Pro, with the SSD as a secondary drive, and the brand notes that results vary with firmware and hardware.
Endurance: TBW
TBW stands for terabytes written, the amount of data the drive is rated to take over its life. For the 870 EVO line, Samsung gives 150 TBW for 250GB, 300 for 500GB, 600 for 1TB, 1,200 for 2TB and 2,400 TBW for the 4TB model. The warranty runs five years or until the TBW figure is reached, whichever comes first. Most home users would take many years to write anywhere near 2,400 TB.
Security and ruggedness
The specifications list Class 0 AES 256-bit encryption with TCG/Opal v2.0 and Microsoft eDrive (IEEE 1667) support. Those are hardware encryption standards that work with compatible operating systems and management software, and they typically need to be enabled there. Samsung also lists shock resistance of 1,500 G at 0.5 ms, which describes how much impact the drive is rated to withstand.
Compatibility
Samsung says the drive was compatibility tested with major host systems and applications, including chipsets, motherboards, NAS devices and video recording devices. Named testing partners include AMD, MSI, Gigabyte, Synology, QNAP and Blackmagic Design. This is a SATA drive, so it needs a SATA port and a power connection; laptops and desktops that have only M.2 NVMe slots cannot use it directly.
Size
The listing gives dimensions of 3.9 x 2.8 x 0.3 inches (about 100 x 70 x 7 mm) and a weight of 0.1 lb. The thin profile suits most laptop bays and many desktop drive cages, though desktops sometimes need a 3.5-inch bracket.
What to check before you buy
- Interface. Make sure your device has a SATA connector, not only M.2 NVMe.
- Capacity. Confirm your operating system, BIOS and any NAS firmware support a 4TB drive.
- Mounting. Check that a 2.5-inch bay or a bracket is available.
- Cables. SATA data and power cables are not described as included.
- Migration. Plan how you will copy data across, and back up first.
- Encryption. Hardware encryption features only work if your system and software enable them.
The short version
- A 4TB 2.5-inch SATA III SSD from Samsung.
- Rated at 560/530 MB/s sequential read/write.
- Up to 2,400 TBW, with a five-year or TBW-limited warranty.
- Lists AES 256 encryption support and compatibility testing with NAS and recording devices.
- Needs a SATA connection rather than an M.2 slot.
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