What’s the difference between the SK hynix Gold P31 and Samsung 980 Pro?

If you are looking for a M.2 2280 solid state drive, then you may have found the Gold P31 and 980 Pro during your search. You can check out this comparison guide to see what the main differences are between these SK hynix and Samsung SSDs.

Quick Summary

The Samsung 980 Pro Solid State Drive is substantially faster than the SK hynix Gold P31 Solid State Drive at maximum sequential reading, maximum sequential writing, maximum random reading and maximum random writing.

On the other hand, the Gold P31 does have better endurance than the 980 Pro.

So, if you want the best speeds, then the Samsung 980 Pro is the clear winner. If you don’t mind sacrificing speed for better endurance, then you might want to pick up the Gold P31 instead.

You can also see how the P31 compares to the standard 980 with this guide.

P31 vs. 980 Pro Comparison Chart

You can take a look at Seeking Tech’s comparison table for the Gold P31 and 980 Pro below.

Capacity Options

The 980 Pro offers a 250 GB and 2 TB capacity options while the Gold P31 doesn’t.

You can find a breakdown of the available capacities for both of these storage products below:

SK hynix Gold P31:

• 500 GB
• 1 TB

Samsung 980 Pro:

• 250 GB
• 500 GB
• 1 TB
• 2 TB

Model Numbers

You can find the model numbers assigned to each capacity of both internal SSDs below:

• 500 GB SK hynix Gold P31: SHGP31-500GM-2
• 1 TB SK hynix Gold P31: SHGP31-1000GM-2

• 250 GB Samsung 980 Pro: MZ-V8P250B
• 500 GB Samsung 980 Pro: MZ-V8P500B
• 1 TB Samsung 980 Pro: MZ-V8P1T0B
• 2 TB Samsung 980 Pro: MZ-V8P2T0B

Form Factor

For the form factor, the Gold P31 and 980 Pro are both M.2 2280 solid state drives.

Interface

As for the interface, the SK hynix Gold P31 utilizes PCIe Gen 3.0 x4, NVMe 1.3 while the Samsung 980 Pro utilizes PCIe Gen 4.0 x4, NVMe 1.3c.

Maximum Sequential Read Speed

When you compare the same capacities, the 500 GB Samsung 980 Pro is 3400 MB per second faster, or 97.14% faster, than the 500 GB SK hynix Gold P31 at maximum sequential reading.

The 1 TB Samsung 980 Pro is also 3500 MB per second, or 100% faster, than the 1 TB SK hynix Gold P31.

You can check out the maximum sequential read speed specs below:

• 500 GB SK hynix Gold P31: Up to 3500 MB per second
• 1 TB SK hynix Gold P31: Up to 3500 MB per second

• 250 GB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 6400 MB per second
• 500 GB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 6900 MB per second
• 1 TB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 7000 MB per second
• 2 TB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 7000 MB per second

Maximum Sequential Write Speed

The 500 GB Samsung 980 Pro is 1900 MB per second faster, or 61.29% faster, than 500 GB SK hynix Gold P31 at maximum sequential writing.

The 1 TB Samsung 980 Pro is 1800 MB per second faster, or 56.25% faster, than the 1 TB SK hynix Gold P31.

You can find the maximum sequential write speeds below:

• 500 GB SK hynix Gold P31: Up to 3100 MB per second
• 1 TB SK hynix Gold P31: Up to 3200 MB per second

• 250 GB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 2700 MB per second
• 500 GB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 5000 MB per second
• 1 TB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 5000 MB per second
• 2 TB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 5100 MB per second

Maximum Random Read Speed

For maximum random reading, the 500 GB Samsung 980 Pro is 230K IOPS faster, or 40.35% faster, than the 500 GB SK hynix Gold P31.

The 1 TB Samsung 980 Pro is also 430K IOPS faster, or 75.44% faster, than the 1 TB SK hynix Gold P31.

You can take a look at the maximum random read speed specifications below:

• 500 GB SK hynix Gold P31: Up to 570K IOPS
• 1 TB SK hynix Gold P31: Up to 570K IOPS

• 250 GB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 500K IOPS
• 500 GB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 800K IOPS
• 1 TB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 1000K IOPS
• 2 TB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 1000K IOPS

Maximum Random Write Speed

When it comes to random writing, the 500 GB and 1 TB capacities of the Samsung 980 Pro are 400K IOPS faster, or 66.67% faster, than the 500 GB and 1 TB capacities of the SK hynix Gold P31.

You can check out the maximum random write speeds below:

• 500 GB SK hynix Gold P31: Up to 600K IOPS
• 1 TB SK hynix Gold P31: Up to 600K IOPS

• 250 GB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 600K IOPS
• 500 GB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 1000K IOPS
• 1 TB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 1000K IOPS
• 2 TB Samsung 980 Pro: Up to 1000K IOPS

Endurance

As for endurance, you should be able to write more data with the SK hynix Gold P31 SSD when compared to the Samsung 980 Pro.

You can take a look at the endurance Terabytes Written specs for these storage drives below:

• 500 GB SK hynix Gold P31: 500 TBW
• 1 TB SK hynix Gold P31: 750 TBW

• 250 GB Samsung 980 Pro: 150 TBW
• 500 GB Samsung 980 Pro: 300 TBW
• 1 TB 980 Samsung Pro: 600 TBW
• 2 TB 980 Samsung Pro: 1200 TBW

Reliability

The two internal SSDs in this comparison have the same reliability rating of 1,500,000 hours Mean Time Between Failures.

Warranty

The SK hynix Gold P31 Solid State Drive and Samsung 980 Pro Solid State Drive each comes with a 5-year warranty.

Resources:

• https://ssd.skhynix.com/GoldP31_en.html
• https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/980-pro-pcie-4-0-nvme-ssd-1tb-mz-v8p1t0b-am/