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ugp

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2008
1,223
4
Inverness, Florida
I just ordered a 840 Pro 512GB from NewEgg last night. Hopefully it comes with the new Firmware already installed as I don't have access to a Windows Machine to update the Firmware.

From what I was comparing on benchmarks the 840 Pro beats the Mercury Extreme 6G in a lot of cases.

What I am unsure of doing at this point is with my Crucial m4 256GB SSD.

I am currently running the Crucial and the Stock 750GB HDD in my MBP. I can't decide if I want to replace the 750GB HDD with the Crucial m4.
 

jomirrivera

macrumors 6502
Mar 15, 2011
348
23
I just ordered a 840 Pro 512GB from NewEgg last night. Hopefully it comes with the new Firmware already installed as I don't have access to a Windows Machine to update the Firmware.

From what I was comparing on benchmarks the 840 Pro beats the Mercury Extreme 6G in a lot of cases.

What I am unsure of doing at this point is with my Crucial m4 256GB SSD.

I am currently running the Crucial and the Stock 750GB HDD in my MBP. I can't decide if I want to replace the 750GB HDD with the Crucial m4.

Do it and configure them in Raid = awesome speeds!
 

MikeSantor

macrumors regular
Jun 9, 2009
182
0
Chicago, Dirty South.
I just ordered a 840 Pro 512GB from NewEgg last night. Hopefully it comes with the new Firmware already installed as I don't have access to a Windows Machine to update the Firmware.

From what I was comparing on benchmarks the 840 Pro beats the Mercury Extreme 6G in a lot of cases.

What I am unsure of doing at this point is with my Crucial m4 256GB SSD.

I am currently running the Crucial and the Stock 750GB HDD in my MBP. I can't decide if I want to replace the 750GB HDD with the Crucial m4.

Do you know how to tell what firmware is on the SSD? I just got my 840 pro in from newegg yesterday. I could check and see and let you know what firmware it came with.
 

ugp

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2008
1,223
4
Inverness, Florida
Do you know how to tell what firmware is on the SSD? I just got my 840 pro in from newegg yesterday. I could check and see and let you know what firmware it came with.

3B0Q is the old one for PRO

From what I read the old Firmware Bug was only in Pre-Release version of the drive and were not made available to the public. All Retail drives ship with a different Firmware and should be fine.
 

xxjudgmentxx

macrumors member
Feb 22, 2011
77
0
WI
From what I read the old Firmware Bug was only in Pre-Release version of the drive and were not made available to the public. All Retail drives ship with a different Firmware and should be fine.

^ This.

Confirmed by Anandtech.
 

ugp

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2008
1,223
4
Inverness, Florida
Just got my Samsung 840 Pro today. Went with the 512GB Model. Drive is blazing fast with write speeds. Also upgraded to 16GB of RAM from OWC.

I decided to keep my old Crucial m4 256GB inside with the Data Doubler.

Benchmark Video i just uploaded to show off the speed.
 

Jann

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2012
2
0
Intel

I have a 256gb 840 pro, best purchase ever! I'm seeing 460mb/s write and 515mb/s read.

Also good news to hear that the issues that anandtech were seeing were as a result of an early firmware issue resolved with the release of the production firmware

Hi,

you went with samsung instead of waiting for the Intel 20nm SSDs that should be arriving....soon?

Thanks!
 

shmonkus

macrumors member
Feb 14, 2012
86
0
United Kingdom
Hi,

you went with samsung instead of waiting for the Intel 20nm SSDs that should be arriving....soon?

Thanks!

Yeah it was a personal choice, I got some flack from my colleagues but I stand by my choice :)

Not sure about 20nm yet, but we received a couple of intel 180gb ssd production units into our team this week, they look like they would comfortably fit in an rmbp but are destined for a couple of ultrabooks here. It's worth a look at the next gen intel ssd's but I doubt there will be much of a performance difference
 

Hexley

Suspended
Original poster
Jun 10, 2009
1,641
504
shmonkus thanks!

$309.99 with free shipping via Adorama. If I could, I'd buy three of these for my 3 Macs.

Comes out as $0.62/GB with the 2nd lowest idle state power consumption.

500GB 2.5" Samsung 840 Internal Solid State Drive,
530MB/s Read and 330MB/s Write Speed
SKU: SSG7TD500BW
MFR: MZ-7TD500BW
 
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qwerty123123

macrumors newbie
Apr 19, 2012
26
0
could anyone tell me how to buy the samsung 840 pro 128gb in canada? newegg doesnt sell it, amazon doesnt sell it and i dont know where to find one from a reliable online store.
 

richnyc

macrumors regular
Nov 8, 2012
180
1
NYC
shmonkus thanks!

$309.99 with free shipping via Adorama. If I could, I'd buy three of these for my 3 Macs.

Comes out as $0.62/GB with the 2nd lowest idle state power consumption.

500GB 2.5" Samsung 840 Internal Solid State Drive,
530MB/s Read and 330MB/s Write Speed
SKU: SSG7TD500BW
MFR: MZ-7TD500BW

That's a GREAT price... The only time I've seen it cheaper was on Amazon during Cyber Monday sale, for $299.
 

Hexley

Suspended
Original poster
Jun 10, 2009
1,641
504
Struggling a bit about Samsung 840 Pro 256gb vs. Samsung 840 500gb. I won't be doing anything intensive on the computer. The Pro is faster, but the 840 has more storage. Caught between the two. I seem inclined toward the more storage idea. What would you do?

I personally would go with the 500GB 840. My choices were initially the 840 Pro, OCZ Vector then was swayed to the M4 and now the 840.

500GB 840 at $310 is $0.62/GB. 256GB 840 Pro is $270 at $1.05/GB.

It has the 2nd lowest at-idle power consumption trailing the 840 Pro by a very narrow margin. This is important as your computer will be at-idle most of the time.

As you may have noticed people who owned a Crucial M4 upgraded to the 840. 512GB M4 is $385 at $0.75/GB while the 256GB M4 is $190 @ $0.74. If the 840 is not available in your area I'd get the M4.

If you are coming from any HDD any SSD will be faster. Any SSDs will consume less power than any HDD. This was how I was swayed to think that I will not notice the performance gap between the M4 and 840 Pro. I'm not saying the 840 Pro's not a worthy buy. If you want the best and you can buy the best then the 840 Pro's the way. I initially went for that didn't I?? ;)

Take note that we are a far a ways of saturating SATA 3Gb/s (300 MB/s) & SATA 6Gb/s (600 MB/s) write and read. So even if you got the top of the line SSD today you there will always be a drive in the future that will be faster for that particular SATA.

Now for the comparisons.

Included is a Hybrid Drive for comparison.

Write at SATA 6Gb/s (600 MB/s)
066.2MB/s - Seagate Momentus XT
314.1MB/s - 500GB 840
460.0MB/s - 256GB 840 Pro
262.8MB/s - 512GB M4
242.2MB/s - 256GB M4

Read at SATA 6Gb/s (600 MB/s)
076.3MB/s - Seagate Momentus XT
506.6MB/s - 500GB 840
515.0MB/s - 256GB 840 Pro
511.1MB/s - 512GB M4
472.0MB/s - 256GB M4

Source:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/16503046/
https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=383999&d=1355702348
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/16528913/

The 840 has 3 years warranty vs the 840 Pro's 5 years. I think of it this way. When the warranty expires after 3 years time SSDs will have double the capacity for half the prevailing price. So by then I can get a 1TB SSD for $155 at a write/read that may be better than a 840 Pro.

Alternatively 3 years from today you will be buying a whole new MBPro with Retina Display. Those comes standard with SSDs.
 
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LAFUNGA

macrumors newbie
Jan 23, 2012
14
0
Samsung SSD 840 pro

There are some bootable Iso for download on
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/samsungssd/downloads.html
Just scroll down "Samsung SSD Firmware Updates for Mac Users"

Will this completely re configure your mac? as it says it is a perishable update meaning you will have to re install a back up afterwards. Do you know if it will leave your mac in a position to restore? as in it won't mess things up so much that you can't boot up?
 

Tenashus1

macrumors 6502
Jul 27, 2011
468
253
I personally would go with the 500GB 840. My choices were initially the 840 Pro, OCZ Vector then was swayed to the M4 and now the 840.

500GB 840 at $310 is $0.62/GB. 256GB 840 Pro is $270 at $1.05/GB.

It has the 2nd lowest at-idle power consumption trailing the 840 Pro by a very narrow margin. This is important as your computer will be at-idle most of the time.

As you may have noticed people who owned a Crucial M4 upgraded to the 840. 512GB M4 is $385 at $0.75/GB while the 256GB M4 is $190 @ $0.74. If the 840 is not available in your area I'd get the M4.

If you are coming from any HDD any SSD will be faster. Any SSDs will consume less power than any HDD. This was how I was swayed to think that I will not notice the performance gap between the M4 and 840 Pro. I'm not saying the 840 Pro's not a worthy buy. If you want the best and you can buy the best then the 840 Pro's the way. I initially went for that didn't I?? ;)

Take note that we are a far a ways of saturating SATA 3Gb/s (300 MB/s) & SATA 6Gb/s (600 MB/s) write and read. So even if you got the top of the line SSD today you there will always be a drive in the future that will be faster for that particular SATA.

Now for the comparisons.

Included is a Hybrid Drive for comparison.

Write at SATA 6Gb/s (600 MB/s)
066.2MB/s - Seagate Momentus XT
314.1MB/s - 500GB 840
460.0MB/s - 256GB 840 Pro
262.8MB/s - 512GB M4
242.2MB/s - 256GB M4

Read at SATA 6Gb/s (600 MB/s)
076.3MB/s - Seagate Momentus XT
506.6MB/s - 500GB 840
515.0MB/s - 256GB 840 Pro
511.1MB/s - 512GB M4
472.0MB/s - 256GB M4

Source:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/16503046/
https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=383999&d=1355702348
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/16528913/

The 840 has 3 years warranty vs the 840 Pro's 5 years. I think of it this way. When the warranty expires after 3 years time SSDs will have double the capacity for half the prevailing price. So by then I can get a 1TB SSD for $155 at a write/read that may be better than a 840 Pro.

Alternatively 3 years from today you will be buying a whole new MBPro with Retina Display. Those comes standard with SSDs.

It's just that reliability issue that bugs me with the 840 vs. 840 Pro. I wish I could know better about that. You know what I mean? Some reviews say that reliability should not be an issue for the average consumer. Just not sure.
 
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Hexley

Suspended
Original poster
Jun 10, 2009
1,641
504
It's just that reliability issue that bugs me with the 840 vs. 840 Pro. I wish I could know better about that. You know what I mean?

That is what Time Machine is for. :D

Alternatively I have yet to read of any catastrophic failures on this forum or anywhere else.

And it's Samsung! Even Apple's using the older 830 on their Macs.
 
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Jann

macrumors newbie
Dec 19, 2012
2
0
Ordered

Yeah it was a personal choice, I got some flack from my colleagues but I stand by my choice :)

Not sure about 20nm yet, but we received a couple of intel 180gb ssd production units into our team this week, they look like they would comfortably fit in an rmbp but are destined for a couple of ultrabooks here. It's worth a look at the next gen intel ssd's but I doubt there will be much of a performance difference

Dear shmonkus,

per your (and others here) recommendation:

Order Summary
Qty 1

SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820147193


It is on its way.

THEREFORE: any issues, concerns, problems, spinning beach balls, missing assignments or unwelcome plots twists in "The Walking Dead", "Game of Thrones", and "Dexter" are hereby and forever due to this recommendation of yours, and I shall hold you to it.

Will be doing clean install tomorrow.....thank you!!

J
 

bill phillips

macrumors regular
Dec 8, 2012
221
0
heres my samsung 840 pro ssd macbook pro 15 inch 2012, 2.3 mhz ml 10.8.2, 16 gb ram
 

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