With the release of the M.2 and SATA Express interfaces now reaching the market to deal with the saturation of the SATA 3.0 interface, one would expect that new high performance drives would be released with them but Samsung is releasing its new 850 Pro SSD using the same SATA interface as previous models. The drive is very different though not because of the interface but because of the V-NAND memory chips. These are the first real commercial use of 3D transistors that layer transistors for space rather than spreading them out in an ever widening chip.

With the performance of current SSD drives such as the Samsung 840 EVO and Intel 730 already reaching some incredible speeds on the SATA interface, how much better could the drive really be? Well, according to in-depth reviews from and , actually quite good. The result is the fastest SSD drive currently available on the SATA interface. But performance is just one factor.

Pricing is also a major consideration for buyer’s and Samsung is certainly not making the drives affordable compared to their past 840 EVO. For instance, NewEgg is currently taking preorders for the new drive. The drive is priced at $230. In contrast, the is just $150. That’s a 60% increase in the cost of the drive for a performance improvement far less than the cost. Most users probably won’t notice the difference between the two drives in day to day use.

Should you consider getting the Samsung 850 Pro drives when they are available later in the month? If you want the absolute highest performance out of your computer, there is no doubt that it is the fastest drive available. On the other hand, you can get a much higher capacity drive that offers still very solid performance for roughly the same cost.