Samsung to launch cheapest 8TB SSD, but using a controversial technology
Samsung will soon give us another good reason to get rid of hard disk drives one and for all with the launch of the Samsung 870 QVO. This new SSD is the follow up to the 860 QVO, currently one of the cheapest large capacity SSDs (per unit storage) on the market.
The semiconductor giant is expected to launch at least two (and probably four) SSDs between 1TB and 8TB. Our sister site Tom’s Hardware reported the latter will sell for $900 – only marginally more expensive per terabyte than the absolute cheapest 1TB SSDs around.
The parts were briefly listed on Amazon US for pre-order, but have since been taken down. Of particular interest to us is the 8TB MZ-77Q8T0B/AM, which will go on sale in August. If you need more capacity, it’s often worth looking at plugging two of these drives into a RAID array (if you have the space).
To reach this highly competitive price point, Samsung opted for QLC 3D V-NAND technology, which usually means lower endurance (write wear) and performance, especially as the SSD reaches full capacity.
For this reason, QLC-based SSDs also usually have a shorter warranty compared to similar products. For what it’s worth, the Samsung 870 QVO’s warranty will likely be around three years.
Samsung usually mitigates some of the issues associated with QLC using a feature called Intelligent TurboWrite, which accelerates write speeds and maintains long-term performance with a larger variable buffer.
The previous iteration, the 860 QVO, is faster than solid state drives from Micron and Crucial in sequential and random read and write speeds, and also offers a written warranty of 720TB.
1TB is the sweet spot as far as solid state drives are concerned and the launch of the 870QVO will coincide with the steep rise in price we’ve seen for that capacity (they used to be routinely available for around $80).
