Samsung 960 (NVMe) 500 GB vs Samsung PM9A1 (OEM) 512 GB
Short answer: which is best?
Samsung 960 (NVMe) 500 GB is 30.3 % stronger than Samsung PM9A1 (OEM) 512 GB. Samsung 960 (NVMe) 500 GB ranks #27 of 54 measured system drives at WhatFPS (8,833 Drive score over 7 verified runs). Samsung PM9A1 (OEM) 512 GB ranks #42 of 54 measured system drives at WhatFPS (6,778 Drive score over 5 verified runs). The numbers are measured in 12 verified WhatFPS runs — not estimated, not self-reported.
Measured comparison
| Metric | Samsung 960 (NVMe) 500 GB | Samsung PM9A1 (OEM) 512 GB |
|---|---|---|
| Drive score (the drive's own performance: sequential read + 4K IOPS) | 8,833 | 6,778 |
| Best rig (GAMING — whole PC) | 21,848 | 6,746 |
| Sequential read | 1,945 MB/s | 1,427 MB/s |
| 4K IOPS | 13,422 | 10,030 |
| 4K latency, median (lower is better) | 69 µs | 91 µs |
| Type | NVMe SSD | NVMe SSD |
| Size | 500 GB | 512 GB |
What the numbers mean
The drive score is the system drive's measured performance in the rigs it sat in — sequential read and 4K IOPS, unbuffered. PCIe generation, fill level and driver affect it. GAMING is the whole rig's score. We show both and never mix them.
All numbers come from our benchmark suite, the same test on every PC, written in Rust with no middleware. The methodology is open at https://whatfps.com/metodik
All measurements for Samsung 960 (NVMe) 500 GB · All measurements for Samsung PM9A1 (OEM) 512 GB