QLC Goes To 8TB: Samsung 870 QVO and Sabrent Rocket Q 8TB SSDs Reviewed
by Billy Tallis on December 4, 2020 8:00 AM ESTMixed Random Performance
Our test of mixed random reads and writes covers mixes varying from pure reads to pure writes at 10% increments. Each mix is tested for up to 1 minute or 32GB of data transferred. The test is conducted with a queue depth of 4, and is limited to a 64GB span of the drive. In between each mix, the drive is given idle time of up to one minute so that the overall duty cycle is 50%.
The 8TB Sabrent Rocket Q's performance on the mixed random IO test is much better than any of the other low-end NVMe drives; the DRAMless TLC drives are the slowest in this bunch, and the Intel 660p with its four-channel controller cannot keep up with the Rocket Q's 8-channel Phison E12. The 8TB Samsung 870 QVO is slower than most of the other SATA drives in this bunch, but still has a clear advantage over the 1TB model.
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| Power Efficiency in MB/s/W | Average Power in W | ||||||||
The high-end consumer NVMe drives and the Samsung 860 EVO TLC SATA drive top the power efficiency chart for the mixed random IO test. The Sabrent Rocket Q's efficiency is a significant step down from there, but still a bit better than any of the other low-end drives. The 8TB 870 QVO's efficiency score is worse than the 4TB model's, but clearly better than the 1TB model or either of the DRAMless TLC NVMe drives.
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Both of the 8TB QLC drives show fairly typical performance curves for the mixed random IO test: little or no performance drop when writes are first added to the mix, and then increasing performance that accelerates toward the end of the test as write caching becomes more effective. The 8TB 870 QVO doesn't show the signs of a filled SLC cache that we see from the 1TB model, and neither 8TB QLC drive shows the nearly-flat performance exhibited by the two DRAMless TLC drives.
Mixed Sequential Performance
Our test of mixed sequential reads and writes differs from the mixed random I/O test by performing 128kB sequential accesses rather than 4kB accesses at random locations, and the sequential test is conducted at queue depth 1. The range of mixes tested is the same, and the timing and limits on data transfers are also the same as above.
The Sabrent Rocket Q's performance on the mixed sequential IO test is competitive with the high-end consumer TLC drives, and far better than the other low-end NVMe options. The 8TB Samsung 870 QVO has distinctly lower performance than the smaller capacities, but isn't quite the worst overall performer.
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| Power Efficiency in MB/s/W | Average Power in W | ||||||||
The good performance of the Rocket Q on the mixed sequential IO test comes at the cost of worse power efficiency than the DRAMless TLC competition, but its efficiency scores are still decent. The 8TB 870 QVO's efficiency scores are worse than any of the other consumer SSDs in this bunch.
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As with several other synthetic tests in our suite, the mixed sequential IO test has the Sabrent Rocket Q showing rather variable performance, though fortunately without any severe drops. It performs a bit better during the more write-heavy half of the test.
The Samsung 870 QVO shows relatively flat and consistent performance throughout this test, but as is common for Samsung drives there's a bit of a decreasing performance trend during the read-heavy half of the test.
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Oxford Guy - Tuesday, December 8, 2020 - link
Samsung doing it isn’t shocking. It’s Samsung after all.Palorim12 - Monday, December 14, 2020 - link
idk if you remember when they did the change from TLC to 3-bit MLC, but I member. It was after all that stuff went down with the 840 EVO. Despite all TLC having this issue across all brands, Samsung was the first to push TLC, so when the slow down issue creeped up, Samsung got the brunt of the complaints, and ppl to this day will use that as a reason as why Samsung "sucks", despite the fact that the issue started creeping up on sandisk and other TLC drives that had entered the market much later after Samsung did. And by the time Samsung figured out the problem and fixed it, all the other manufacturers copied the fix and then really started pushing their own TLC products.And TBH, TLC products since then have been pretty good. I recommend 850 EVOs, and now 860 EVOs to all my friends who want to switch to SSDs but are worried about the price. I've only recommended 2-bit MLC drives to ppl who I know will hit the drive had with writes with the type of work they do.
at_clucks - Wednesday, December 9, 2020 - link
@shabby, other companies have done worse if you ask me, like switching from MLC to TLC mid way through a product's run. Good luck with identifying the exact type of NAND based on decoding a SN without having the decoder ring, especially when the product is still in the store's warehouse.phoenix_rizzen - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
Switching to a number would really simplify things.1LC
2LC
3LC
4LC
...
But since when has logic been part of marketing?
Billy Tallis - Monday, December 14, 2020 - link
I've already pretty much decided that if we ever get real products that store 5 bits per cell, I won't use any abbreviations that don't include the numeral 5. Stuff like 3bpc, 4bpc, 5bpc would make a lot more sense than current industry conventions.redzo - Tuesday, December 22, 2020 - link
This. It's been a long time since my last post at anand.Consumers have no idea of what they are purchasing. They are basically sheep.
QVO is nice if it is priced right. It should be priced way less.
I just purchased a 3d nand TLC 1TB for less than an intel/crucial/samsung qvo equivalent. This is not right. Manufacturers of NAND flash and product manufacturers are taking advantage of misinformed consumers.
More so. Most products are missing important specs like controller model, dramless or not, or even NAND type. This is just ridiculous.
dontlistentome - Saturday, December 5, 2020 - link
If you want MLC or TLC then buy it - they cost more because they cost more to make. I've just bought a 2TB SSD for the old man - paid the 15% or so extra for TLC over QLC.There's no conspiracy here or evil manufacturers. They do R&D then offer a product and see if consumers buy it. Almost all consumers, even those that claim not to be are driven pricipally by price, hence QLC being populat when the buyer looks at the ticket.
Oxford Guy - Sunday, December 6, 2020 - link
Economy of scale makes your comment fail.DigitalFreak - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
+1 for your mad rhyming skills.Kangal - Tuesday, December 8, 2020 - link
Lmao.But for real, I thought we would have hit 8TB Sata-SSDs like last year for around USD $650. Instead I'm seeing these still yet to launch proper, and priced around $1,000. It's definitely true the market isn't dominated as much by the consumers, as it is dominated by the actual suppliers.