The Samsung 960 EVO 500 GiB
Contents
On Figure 1, we see the Samsung 960 PRO 512 GiB. It comes as a single M.2 drive, with no adapter for a PCI Express slot.
Figure 1: the Samsung 960 PRO 512 GiB
On the bottom of the PCB (solder side,) there is no chip, seen in Figure 3. This sticker has a copper layer, that works as a small heatspreader.
Figure 2: bottom side
Removing the sticker, we see the component side of the PCB. There are four flash memory chips and the controller chip.
Figure 3: component side of the PCB
The controller chip used by the 960 PRO is the Samsung Polaris, seen in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Polaris controller chip
The Samsung V-NAND MCL flash memory chips are marked K9HKGY8. This “V” stands for vertical manufacturing, called “3D” for other manufacturers, where the semiconductor layers are stacked, unlike 2D (“planar”) chips.
Figure 5: flash memory chip
