Samsung EVO vs QVO

If you are looking to purchase a new SSD, you may have come across the Samsung EVO and QVO models. They are both great choices, but which of these consumer-level SSD’s is better for gaming? An SSD is particularly important for a gaming PC so it’s important to make the right choice.

In this article, we will be comparing both SSD ranges, to find out which is the better option. We will be taking a look at specifications such as connection, R/W speed, capacity, and load speed to help you with your decision.

The connection of your SSD is important because you will need to ensure that it is suitable for your PC build. The connection is what will physically connect the SSD card to the motherboard.

The two most common types of SSD used in gaming PC’s are SATA and NVMe.

SATA drives have a form factor of 2.5 inches and plug into the SATA port, in addition, they need a power supply connection. The NVMe drives use the M.2 port which can be found on the motherboard. It takes power from the motherboard and does not need a connection to your power supply.

Let’s take a look at the EVO and the QVO range to see which models are suitable for gaming pcs:

Evo:

• 860 EVO- SATA
• 860 EVO – SATA m.2

QVO:

• 860 QVO – SATA
• 870 QVO- SATA

There are four different types of SSD to choose between. Three of the four are standard SATA SSDs. However, the EVO 860 SATA m.2, is an SSD that will connect straight to the m.2 port on your motherboard, assuming you have one. You will do unless your motherboard is knocking on in years, but be sure to check either way.

The read and write speeds of your SSD are important, especially when it comes to gaming.

The read speed is a measurement of how fast files can be read sequentially and in a random fashion from the drive. The write speed measures how fast the drive can sequentially and randomly write files to the drive.

Let’s take a look at the read and write specs for these cards:

	860 EVO SATA	860 EVO SATA m.2	860 QVO	870 QVO
Sequential Read	Up to 550MB/s	Up to 550MB/s	Up to 550MB/s	Up to 560MB/s
Random Read (4KB, QD32)	Up to 98,000 IOPS	Up to 97,000 IOPS	Up to 97,000 IOPS	98,000 IOPS
Sequential Write	Up tp 520MB/s	Up tp 520MB/s	Up to 520MB/s	Up to 530MB/s
Random Write (4KB, QD32)	Up to 90,000 IOPS	Up to 88,000 IOPS	89,000 IOPS	Up to 88,000 IOPS

From comparing all of the SSD specs, they are all fairly similar, however, the 8060 EVA SATA m.2 does seem to have the lower specs of the four. The drive that has the best specs, is the 870 QVO.

We will be discussing how these speeds affect gaming at the end of the article.

SSD cards store data using flash memory, which is significantly faster than traditional spinning drives.

An SSD for gaming should have at least 500GB of storage. Having an SSD card with a significantly higher capacity will greatly benefit you, especially if you play larger, modern AAA games.

Let’s take a look at the capacity options for each Samsung model:

860 EVO SATA – 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
860 EVO SATA m.2 – 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB

860 QVO SATA – 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
870 QVO SATA – 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB

From these specifications, it is clear that the EVO has more options when it comes to capacity. However, from a gaming point of view, 250GB is far too low. The 500GB choices the EVO has to offer are a good starting point for those looking for a cheaper SSD. However, the drive will fill fairly quickly.

When looking at the 860 EVO SATA m.2, it does not have 4TB of space whereas the other three SSD’s do. The 870 QVO SATA has the best amount of capacity options.

When comparing the price of the 870 QVO with the 860 EVO SATA, the 870 is significantly cheaper for the same amount of capacity. However, the 8TB SSD is almost double the price of the 4TB.

The load speeds of your SSD card are important when it comes to gaming. If the load speeds of the SSD are particularly low, you can expect longer loading times and stuttering during gameplay.

The shorter the load time of your SSD, the smoother your overall gameplay will be. When you use an SSD as your boot drive, you will find that your PC will start far quicker. While using an SSD card regardless of its speeds will increase your overall loading speeds, the better the speed, the better your gameplay.

When comparing SATA SSD’s to NVMe, both are great. While you may see a smaller speed increase with the NVMe’s, the SATA’s are more than capable. They tend to be the cheaper option too.

When looking at these four SSD’s, the sequential speed is what you should be taking note of. The 870 QVO performed the best with 560MB/s. The other three SSD performed at 550MB/s. While this is only a small difference, it is significant.

The sequential write speed is where the 870 QVO also performs the best with 530MB/s in comparison to 520MB/s for the other models. Overall, if you want the best possible load speeds for your gaming PC the 870 QVO is a great choice.

When looking at the Samsung EVO and QVO models, they are all very similar with minor differences in specifications. However, the Samsung 870 QVO is certainly the best SSD card when it comes to gaming.

Its read and write speeds are faster in comparison to the other three models, it provides the most options when it comes to capacity, and it is the newer and more future proof SSD.

In addition to this, it is reasonably priced. While all of these cards are suitable to use for gaming, we would recommend choosing a capacity of 1TB for larger storage overall.