Samsung's superfast 970 Pro and Evo NVMe SSDs will be available soon

If you're a hardcore gamer or someone who edits 4K video and 3D graphics, you may be excited by this news: Samsung is releasing a couple of new NVMe SSDs (solid state drives) -- the 970 Pro and 970 Evo -- that are based on the compact M.2 design.

M.2 is a new interface that uses the PCI Express (PCIe) standard, one that was once reserved only for video cards, to connect to a computer's main board. This interface allows for much higher bandwidth compared to that of the traditional 2.5-inch SATA design (the 970 Pro and Evo can take advantage of the latest PCIe Gen3 x4 lane interface).

To use an M.2 drive, your computer needs to have an M.2 slot or, for existing desktops , you'll need a PCIe adapter.

Samsung says the 970 PRO enables sequential read speed of up to 3,500 MB/s and sequential write speed of up to 2,700 MB/s1, while the EVO features sequential read speed of up to 3,500 MB/s and sequential write speed of up to 2,500 MB/s2. Those numbers represent a 30 percent boost over the previous generation.

The 970 Evo will be offered in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, while the 970 PRO will come in 512GB and 1TB capacities. Both will be available for purchase on May 7.