860 Qvo vs 860 Evo

Solid State Drives (SSDs) are a very important component of any PC. To us here at WePC, they are essential especially for a PC or laptop that will be used for the purpose of gaming. SSD allows your laptop to run far quicker even when you are battling it out on the most intense first-person shooter game or competing professionally in an esports tournament.

In the past, HDDs were used instead of SSDs, and whilst they were just fine, for the high-intensity games of today and the multiple things we want our computers to do, an SSD is far more beneficial. When used in gaming laptops and PCs, SSDs can reduce load times drastically. Even the most casual gamer will benefit from this as they can stop the dreaded lag from happening on games.

It can also help in open-world games which are more prone to ‘hitching’ which is the term given to stuttering in a game. This is because SSDs tend to have excellent levels of speed in their data transfer speed. Some SSDs can even manage speeds up to and over 400 MBps. This is very impressive when considering the fact that HDDs can only reach speeds of 170MBps. 

One of the world’s leading names for all things tech is, of course, Samsung. They are also no stranger to the world of SSDs. They have numerous versions of SSDs to choose from, with all of them being designed with different uses in mind.

For this article, we will be looking at just two of them. Going head to head is the 860 Qvo and the 860 Evo. they sound similar, they look similar, they even have some similar capabilities, but there are also some very stark differences between them.

We have decided to let the two of them battle it out for you to see which of them is better suited to your needs. We will be looking at their specifications, their features, their performance, and importantly the pricing. The focus will be on seeing how they compare on the same thing – gaming! 

To compare them we have spent hours researching each of the models, looking at the specifications of each on Samsung’s website in detail, and reading reviews from other customers to see how each of them fare.

The process is a detailed one, but that is only to ensure that you have as much information as possible so that you can really get a feel for them without having to physically see the difference by buying them both.

Of course, they come in a variety of sizes, but for the sake of this article, we have chosen to look at the 1TB versions for each of them as these tend to be the most popular sizes. 

Are you currently building a laptop or PC for personal use? Perhaps the focus will be on gaming? Maybe you are just considering the ways in which you need to go about building a PC and putting together a list of components you may be interested in including.

Whatever the case may be, and whatever may have brought you here, this is the perfect article for you if you are looking for the perfect SSD for your PC building journey and are considering a Samsung model. This article will prove very useful giving you detailed information about two of these very popular models. 

So without further ado, we are going to get right into the article.

The best way to tackle the specifications for both the 860 Qvo and 860 Evo is to look at them both separately. You will see that they have some similarities, such as their interface and sequential read/write times.

However, there are also some differences between them. The differences between the two models will be more prominent when we look at their features. The 860 Evo was released first in January of 2018, and then the Qvo was released the following November. 

860 Qvo 

Interface: SATA 6 GB/s, and it is also compatible with SATA 3 GB/s and 1.5

Capacity: Available in 1, 2, and 4 TB 

Controller: Samsung MJX

NAND Flash Memory: Samsung V-NAND 4-bit MLC (QLC)

DRAM Cache Memory: 1, 2, and 4 GB LPDDR4

Sequential read: 550 MBps 

Sequential write: 520 MBps 

Total bytes written : 360TB, 720TB, and 1.44PB

Warranty period : 3 years 

Data security: AES 256 bits Full Disk Encryption TCG/Opal V2.0 Encrypted Drive (IEEE1667)

Release date: November 2018 

860 Evo

Interface: SATA 6 GB/s, and it is also compatible with SATA 3 GB/s and 1.5

Capacity: Available in 250 GB, 500 GB and 1, 2, and 4 TB 

Controller: Samsung MJX

NAND Flash Memory: Samsung V-NAND 3-bit MLC (TLC)

DRAM Cache Memory: 512 MB, 1, 2, and 4 GB LPDD4

Sequential read: 550 MBps 

Sequential write: 520 MBps 

Total bytes written : 150 TB, 300 TB, 600 TB, 1.2 PB and 2.4 PB

Warranty period: 5 years 

Data security: AES 256 bits Full Disk Encryption TCG/Opal V2.0 Encrypted Drive (IEEE1667)

Release date: January 2018 

To discuss the features in each of the models, we thought the best thing to do would be to handle them separately. This way it will be more understandable and you can see clearly the information you need for each one.

Because the model names are so similar, we did not want it to get confusing by talking about them altogether. 

Samsung 860 Qvo 

First up we will take a look at the features of the 860 Qvo. 

• Super fast boot up speeds each time, making your PC feel brand new even if you’ve had it for a while. The speeds are around 4x faster than a hard drive disk (HDD), and file transfer is around 10x faster!
• It has Intelligent Turbowrite which means that it can accelerate your writing speeds. As well as this, it can also help to maintain high performance over a long time period with a large variable buffer
• You will have more storage than ever before due to the 1TB capacity. Download all the games you could dream of and still have room for movies and photos without affecting your PCs speed. Great for everyday computing!
• It also comes with the Samsung Magician that monitors the performance and speeds of your SSD, ensuring it is up to standard and that the drive is kept healthy
  

Samsung 860 Evo

Next up we have the 860 Evo. The stand-out features of this are as follows:

• This model has very enhanced performance, even when managing heavy workloads like intense first-person shooter games and online gaming with it’s Intelligent Turbowrite Technology
• It has even better communication capabilities with your host system, allowing it to be faster and more fluid. It can also enhance Linux capabilities and generate higher speeds with the MJX controller
• It is made with gaming in mind, and so you can use it for your gaming laptops with the confidence that it is the ideal choice. 

It is the best choice out of the two by far for applications that have intense write-up needs or setups 

We are sure you can see by now that there is not really much of a competition between the two when it comes to using these SSDs for a gaming computer. The 860 Evo is designed for gaming. The Qvo on the other hand is not designed for the purpose of gaming.

It doesn’t mean it can’t be used, though. It just means that it may not give you the results you desire the most from an SSD. It is certainly a  great choice for everyday computing and performs to a very high standard for things such as photo augmentation and video editing.

If you are currently relying on HDD storage, and have never used an SSD before, then this 860 Qvo will certainly feel like a huge improvement as it will give you much more reliable and faster gaming capabilities.

However, if you are a professional gamer, or looking for an upgrade to an even better SSD, you may want to consider the other option.

This is, in our opinion (and certainly the opinion of many other serious gamers), the better choice of the two in terms of an SSD for a gaming PC. In fact, it is one of the highest-rated and best-selling SSDs on Amazon, setting it in good stead before you even try it out.

It was designed with gaming in mind, and when you load up your first game on there it is easy to see why. You will find almost immediately that games that once used to stutter and lag now run perfectly, even if you are doing other things on the PC at the same time.

It cuts loading times so that they are basically non-existent, loading up in seconds even for very intense games with lots of frames. Even if you have hundreds of games saved on this SSD, it still loads up as fast as if it were empty.

It also runs very quietly, if not completely silent. If you are a serious gamer, we really think that you should consider investing in one of these, whether it is for a PC you are building yourself, or to upgrade the SSD on your current one.

We bet by now you are desperate to get your hands on either the 860 Qvo or the 860 Evo.

Whether you want to try out the Qvo for your everyday computer needs or want the hardcore Evo to make your gaming experience the best it can be, the good news is both of them are very easy to get hold of.

They are both stocked on Amazon, as well as a number of other websites, and are both still being made by the manufacturer – Samsung. 

First, let’s talk about the Samsung 860 Qvo, which can be bought on Amazon. This is very modest pricing considering how high quality the SSD is.

Whilst it may not be your first choice for the purposes of gaming, it is still a very good choice for everyday computing, or perhaps if you are a casual gamer looking to upgrade from HDD. you will not be disappointed if you are just starting out with your gaming journey and have only experienced HDD so far. 

Next, we have the Samsung 860 Evo. like the Samsung 860 Qvo, this one is also readily available on Amazon. The 1TB, which is the one we have reviewed is usually priced at $199.99. That being said, at the time of writing, and throughout our research period, it has been on an offer. This is a huge bargain price and truly one that must not be missed if you are looking to upgrade to some high-speed, ultra-high-quality SSD for your gaming laptop, or building your own. 

With both of these models, you can get free delivery on Amazon too, making it even better value for money! 

Now that you have reached the end of the article we hope that you feel as informed as can be on the similarities and differences between the 860 Qvo and the 860 Evo.

We are sure that you can appreciate that, although at first glance they seem like two very similar SSDs, when you research them you can really see how they compare.

It was a head-to-head battle, and of course, as with all battles of this manner, there can only be one winner. For us, the Samsung 860 Evo takes the prize. It has the best features and specifications of the two for the purpose of gaming, as it has been designed specifically to meet that need.

If a faster gameplay is what you are looking for, we promise you you will not be disappointed with the Samsung 860 Evo.