SATA3 vs. M.2/PCIe Interface (Completely new start post, all tests done in June 2017)
In November 2014 and December 2015 I had already done some benchmark comparison tests with my former Z97 system running (pre-)versions of Win10 on various SSDs with a different Storage Controller Interface. You can find the results >here< (November 2014) resp. within the 2nd post of this thread (December 2015).
Meanwhile I have an Intel Z170 Chipset system, got access to newer SSDs like the Samsung 960 EVO and use the well developed Win10 v1703 as Operating System. So it was time for a new benchmark comparison test with various SSDs as single Disk Drive and combined to a RAID0 array. These were my steps to make the test conditions as optimized and comparable as possible:
I started with a fresh install of Win10 x64 v1703, updated some drivers (e.g. the Intel Graphics and Ethernet ones) and installed all currently available Windows Updates.
As last step I cloned the complete backup image of the 220 GB sized OS partitions onto all my test candidates (after having wiped all previously existing partitions).
After having done all these preparations, the tests themselves were very easy. I was able to boot directly into the natively identical OS partition of all the different SSDs (except those, which were running in RAID mode) and to start my benchmark tests.
My question was: Which SSD connection (Intel SATA3 or M.2/PCIe), which Storage Controller interface protocol (AHCI/RAID/NVMe) will give my Z170 system the best performance?
These were the details of the single (not RAIDed) SSD test candidates:
512 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD running in AHCI mode (connected to the first Intel SATA3 port) tested SATA AHCI drivers: MS Win10 in-box STORAHCI and Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.2.8.1002 mod+signed by me (= best performant in previous tests)
256 GB Samsung SM951 SSD running in AHCI mode (connected to the first on-board M.2 port) tested (non-SATA) AHCI driver: MS Win10 in-box STORAHCI.SYS
256 GB Samsung SM951 SSD running in NVMe mode (connected to the first on-board M.2 port) tested NVMe drivers: MS Win10 in-box STORNVME.SYS and Samsung NVMe driver v2.2.0.1703 WHQL
256 GB Samsung 950 Pro SSD running in NVMe mode (connected to the first on-board M.2 port) tested NVMe drivers: MS Win10 in-box STORNVME.SYS and Samsung NVMe driver v2.2.0.1703 WHQL
400 GB Intel 750 PCIe SSD running in NVMe mode (connected to a PCIe slot using 4xPCIe 3.0 lanes) tested NVMe drivers: MS Win10 in-box STORNVME.SYS and Intel NVMe v3.0.0.1013 WHQL
250 GB Samsung 960 EVO SSD running in NVMe mode (connected to the first on-board M.2 port) tested NVMe drivers: MS Win10 in-box STORNVME.SYS and Samsung NVMe driver v2.2.0.1703 WHQL
All test combinations were tested twice and the best result was taken.
Here are the results I got:
Single 512 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD in AHCI mode:
a) using the generic MS AHCI driver:
b) using the Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.2.8.1002:
Single 256 GB Samsung SM951 M.2 SSD in AHCI mode:
Single 256 GB Samsung SM951 M.2 SSD in NVMe mode:
a) using the generic MS NVMe driver:
b) using the Samsung NVMe driver v2.2.0.1703 WHQL:
Single 256 GB Samsung 950 Pro M.2 SSD in NVMe mode:
a) using the generic MS NVMe driver:
b) using the Samsung NVMe driver v2.2.0.1703 WHQL:
Single 400 GB Intel 750 PCIe SSD in NVMe mode:
a) using the generic MS NVMe driver:
b) using the Intel NVMe driver v3.0.0.1013 WHQL:
Single 250 GB Samsung 960 EVO M.2 SSD in NVMe mode:
a) using the generic MS NVMe driver:
b) using the Intel NVMe driver v3.0.0.1013 WHQL:
To make it easier for you to compare the test results, here is a table with the best scores I got with each tested SSD:
Tested SSD
Connection
Best Driver
Best overall READ Scores
Best overall WRITE Scores
Best TOTAL Scores
My Ranking
512 GB Samsung 840 Pro
SATA AHCI mode
Intel RST(e) v13.2.8.1002
2.327 pts. (worst)
2.966 pts. (worst)
5.294 pts.
Rank 6
256 GB Samsung SM951-AHCI var.
M.2 AHCI mode
MS in-box STORAHCI
5.041 pts.
4.062 pts.
9.103 pts.
Rank 5
256 GB Samsung SM951-NVMe var.
M.2 NVMe mode
Samsung NVMe v2.2.0.1703
5.279 pts.
4.185 pts.
9.465 pts.
Rank 3
256 GB Samsung 950 Pro
M.2 NVMe mode
Samsung NVMe v2.2.0.1703
5.488 pts. (best)
3.637 pts.
9.125 pts.
Rank 4
400 GB Intel 750
PCIe NVMe mode
Intel NVMe v3.0.0.1013
4.482 pts.
6.950 pts.
11.433 pts.
Rank 2
256 GB Samsung 960 EVO
M.2 NVMe mode
Samsung NVMe v2.2.0.1703
5.001 pts.
8.280 pts. (best)
13.282 pts.
Rank 1
Evaluation of the test results:
All tested NVMe SSDs performed better than the AHCI ones (the bad WRITE scores of the Samsung 950 Pro seems to be a problem of my specific SSD).
PCIe/M.2 connected SSDs are much better performant than the SATA connected ones.
Absolutely test winner was the Samsung 960 EVO, which gave my system an outstanding WRITE performance and the by far best OVERALL performance.
The silver medal goes to the Intel 750 PCIe SSD, which showed much better WRITE scores than the other test candidates (except the Samsung 960 EVO).
The benchmark results of all test candidates were quite different, but I am unsure, if a "standard user" will recognize the differences during his daily work. Remember: These are just synthetic benchmark results, which just show the performance ability of the test candidates. The effective and noticeable performance while working depends on what the user is doing with his PC.
Maybe these special SSD performance comparison tests and their results are useful for you. If there should be any interest and I have the required time, I will additionally test 2 SSD pairs, which are combined to a RAID array (2x256 GB Samsung 840 Pro SATA SSDs and 2x250 GB Samsung 960 EVO NVMe SSDs).
SATA3 vs. M.2/PCIe Interface (last updated at 12/07/2015)
In November 2014 I had already done some benchmark tests with my Z97 system using similar sized Samsung SSDs, which were running in AHCI resp. RAID0 mode and were connected either to Intel SATA3 ports or to an M.2 Ultra port (you can find the test results >here<). Since I recently got access to the most popular M.2 and PCIe connected SSDs, I have re-done some benchmark comparison tests including these brandnew AHCI or NVMe supporting SSDs in December 2015.
My question was: Which SSD connection (Intel SATA3/M.2/PCIe) and which Storage Controller interface protocol (AHCI/RAID/NVMe) will give my Z97 system the best performance?
Under similar conditions I did a clean install of Win10 x64 v1511 (November 2015 Edition) onto the different System Drives (drive C:), optimized them and measured their performance. These were the details of the test candidates:
512 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD running in AHCI mode (connected to an Intel SATA3 port) SATA driver: Intel RST(e) AHCI driver v13.2.4.1000 WHQL
2x256 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSDs running as RAID0 array (connected to Intel SATA3 ports) SATA driver: Intel RST(e) RAID driver v13.2.4.1000 WHQL
512 GB Samsung XP941 M.2 SSD running in AHCI mode (connected to the M.2 Ultra port using 4 PCI lanes, bootable without any problem) AHCI driver: generic Win10 MS AHCI driver named STORAHCI
256 GB Samsung SM951 M.2 SSD running in AHCI mode (connected to the M.2 Ultra port using 4 PCI lanes, bootable without any problem) AHCI driver: generic Win10 MS AHCI driver named STORAHCI
256 GB Samsung SM951 M.2 SSD running in NVMe mode (connected to the M.2 Ultra port using 4 PCI lanes, bootable without any problem) NVMe driver: Samsung NVMe driver v1.4.7.16 WHQL
256 GB Samsung 950 Pro M.2 SSD running in NVMe mode (connected to the M.2 Ultra port using 4 PCI lanes, bootable at second try) NVMe driver: Samsung NVMe driver v1.4.7.16 WHQL
400 GB Intel 750 PCIe SSD running in NVMe mode (connected to a PCIe 3.0 slot using 4 PCI lanes, bootable without any problem) NVMe driver: Intel NVMe v1.3.0.1007 WHQL
Here are the results I got:
Single 512 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD in AHCI mode:
2x256 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSDs in RAID mode as RAID0 array:
Single 512 GB Samsung XP941 M.2 PCIe SSD in AHCI mode:
Single 256 GB Samsung SM951 M.2 SSD in AHCI mode:
Single 256 GB Samsung SM951 M.2 SSD in NVMe mode:
Single 256 GB Samsung 950 Pro M.2 SSD in NVMe mode:
Single 400 GB Intel 750 PCIe SSD in NVMe mode:
Evaluation of the test results:
Due to the very different READ and WRITE results of the test candidates there is no absolute performance champion.
It was the Intel 750 PCIe SSD running in NVMe mode, which gave my Z97 system the best overall benchmark results and by far the best WRITE scores. Note: Besides the price the only disadvantage of this SSD is the prolonged boot time (the initialisation took ca. 2-3 seconds more than the others).
Although it only achieved the second place regarding the overall scores, my personal favorite under all these extremely fast SSDs is the Samsung SM951 NVMe. It ran very stable and showed for me the best balance between READ and WRITE speeds.
Regarding the READ performance the winner was the Samsung 950 Pro SSD. Note: For unknown reasons I had big problems to boot into this SSD (even after having disabed the "Fast Boot" option). At each boot or reboot the system freezed, but at second try I succeeded. Since I suspect a BIOS issue of my mainboard, I have already contacted the ASRock Support.
Even the single 512 GB Samsng 840 Pro SSD running in AHCI mode, which gave me the "worst" benchmark results of all test candidates, was running very good and absolutely fast.
The benchmark results of all test candidates were quite different, but I am unsure, if a "standard user" will recognize the differences during his daily work. Remember: These are just synthetic benchmark results, which just show the performance ability of the test candidates. The effective and noticeable performance while working depends on what the user is doing with his PC.
Maybe these special SSD performance comparison tests and their results are useful for you.
To start this new Thread I propose to compare Intel 750 PCIe v3.0 card 400 GB NVME mode to Samsung SM951 M.2 card 512 GB AHCHI mode running W10 x64 on a ASUS Sabertooth X99 machine. Hardware:
Thanks for having started this thread and for having posted the recent benchmark results you got while running 2 brandnew and extremely performant SSDs. Unfortunately the presented informations and scores are only visible after a click onto the pictures. This makes it difficult to compare the benchmark results of the 2 SSDs. It would be fine, if you could enlarge the pictures and sort them in a way, that the results of both SSDs can easily be compared.
Here are my own benchmark results:
256 GB Samsung SM951 M.2 Ultra SSD running on my Z97 system in AHCI mode (OS: Win10 x64):
400 GB Intel 750 PCIe SSD running on my Z97 system in NVMe mode (OS: Win10 x64):
Happy to see some test who have consideration for IOPS ! Some people always looking for bandwidth but in certain operation IOPS are VERY VERY important. For example, Digital Audio Workstation used for scoring (Film OST) with very heavy bank and multilayer instruments NEED very high IOPS than very high bandwidth. I must admit it’s a particular use, but it’s seems to be a lack in a lot of SSD Test !
@Fernando , The SM951/i750 benchmark comparison posted have been done on a non optimized machine, it was only a first ‘taste’ of what kind of performance level these new devices can offer. I observed that some tools are not ready to detect i750 … (at the moment) and SM951 seems more ‘detected’ than i750. As you know, never use Magician v4.6 tool on a machine where SM951 is pluggeg in… You lost the warranty (and also the device… if you are not lucky).
Please, can you post a screen shoot of SMART infos (you can use SpeedFan, or HWINFO64) of your SM951 ?
Because there is no other driver available, which supports the Samsung AHCI Controller. Please keep in mind, that the Intel SATA AHCI Controller just manages the Intel SATA ports, but not the PCIe lanes and the M.2 ports.
@Fernando , So, it seems according HWINFO64 S.M.A.R.T. infos your SM951 is in good health and was not ‘perturbed’ when you had launch Magicianv4.6…, mine was killed and I got a new one. By the way CrystalDiskInfo, Speccy, SIV64, SpeedFan, GuruHDD, etc… detect properly SM951 and report well the SMART infos. i750 NVMe PCIe v3.0 SMART infos is only reported via Intel SSD ToolBox v3.3.1 (this is the minimum…)
@Fernando , Can you explain why ANVIL bench report on i750 device is about 9% better on your machine than I have benched on mine ? The both machine are modern and run both W10 x64.
Would be very interesting to know how fast those drives would be if they could only operate in fallback mode on the same board via PCIe AHCI instead of NVMe…
Can you explain, what "Fallback Mode" is? One of our 2 tested SSDs is the Samsung SM951, which is able to use at least 4 PCIe 3.0 lanes in AHCI mode. The other test canditate was the Intel 750, which is using the NVMe protocol.
Since I recently got access to a Samsung SM951 NVMe SSD, I have done some benchmark tests with my ASRock Z97 Extreme6 system running Win10 x64.
At least I was able to compare the performance of the following 4 SSDs:
512 GB Samsung XP941 M.2 SSD (supporting 4 x PCIe 2.0 lanes with the AHCI protocol)
256 GB Samsung SM951 AHCI M.2 SSD (using 4 x PCIe 3.0 lanes with the AHCI protocol)
256 GB Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 SSD (using 4 x PCIe 3.0 lanes with the NVMe protocol) and
400 GB Intel 750 PCIe SSD (using 4 x PCIe 3.0 lanes with the NVMe protocol)
Here are the results:
Samsung XP941 (512 GB variant):
Samsung SM951 AHCI (256 GB variant):
Samsung SM951 NVMe (256 GB variant):
Intel 750 NVMe (400 GB variant):
Evaluation of the benchmark results:
All tested SSDs showed an extremely good performance, if you just look at the benchmark scores. The question is, whether the user will realize this performance gain while doing his daily work.
Although the Intel 750 gave my system the absolutely best overall scores, there is no explicit performance winner: The Samsung SM951 NVMe was the champion while READING, whereas the Intel 750 NVMe was the winner while WRITING.
Additional findings:
Measured Boot Times:
Samsung XP941 AHCI: 3,7 Sec
Samsung SM951 AHCI: 3,9 Sec
Samsung SM951 NVMe: 3,9 Sec
Intel 750 PCIe NVMe: 5,4 Sec (Update: 4,3 Sec after having flashed the latest Intel 750 SSD Firmware)
Evaluation: The measured boot time of the Intel 750 NVMe SSD was much lower than I expected and found in reviews about this specific SSD.
Write Caching Settings Contrary to all other tested SSDs it was impossible to enable the Write Caching and to disable the write-cache buffer flushing while running the Intel 750 NVMe SSD.
@Fernando , If I compare your results with mine I see significant differences that I don’t understand: 1) the default values settings policies properties for SM951 512 GB NVMe (secondary media) gives this very poor and abnormal ANVIL score (and it is also true for any other benchmark tools):
2) to get acceptable SM951 512GB NVMe (secondary media) performance results I have had to modify default values settings policies properties such as:
and get this ANVIL score:
3) Can you explain me why the Current Link Speed is set (down) to 5 Gb/s and not 8 GB/s ?
@Fernando , You wrote Point No 8 was for AHCI protocol only. So, it is also true for NVMe protocol ?
For SM951 NVMe model HWINFO details displays a Current Link Speed = 5 Gb/s. The Maximum Link Speed is 8 Gb/s. So, why the Current Link Speed value is negotiated lower than the Maximum value ? What values do you have on your side ?
With the SM951 AHCI model the Current Link Speed = Maximum Link Speed = 8 Gb/s !!
