The Samsung 840/840 Pro SSD thread

Finally ended up getting the Samsung 840 Evo 250GB for my mid-2010 MBP today.

Did a clean install of Mavericks and WOW I just can't believe this speed and performance, it's like I just bought a new 2014 MBP. Everything is super quick. Shutdown ~6 seconds, startup ~15 sec

Is there any thing else I should do to "configure" the SSD for optimal performance? Right now I am just transferring my important files back onto the MBP from my portable HDD.

Should I be shutting down my computer after use? I rarely shutdown..always just close the lid and let it sleep as I have so many tabs open that I don't want to close. Does it affect the SSD in any way if I don't shutdown?

kess143 said:

Does it affect the SSD in any way if I don't shutdown?

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No.

I am amazed at how rejuvenating having an SSD is on a MacBook. Whereas before, with my mechanical HDD, I felt I would upgrade immediately to a rMBP when they upgraded the GPUs and CPUs to Broadwell now I feel I can keep this mid 2012 for a good 5 or 6 years more.

Hi guys! I've just bought a 840 EVO, also waiting for my Data Doubler for my 750GB HDD to arrive in the mail soon. I wonder if I should create a Fusion Drive or just run it as 2 separate partition? I am looking to run Boot Camp to run a few games, what will happen to the Boot Camp partition, will it run on solely on the SSD, HDD or will it get the benefit of the Fusion Drive as well?

Edit: Also, do you enable TRIM like normal on a fusion drive using software like TRIM Enabler?

leo.andres.21 said:

Hi guys! I've just bought a 840 EVO, also waiting for my Data Doubler for my 750GB HDD to arrive in the mail soon. I wonder if I should create a Fusion Drive or just run it as 2 separate partition? I am looking to run Boot Camp to run a few games, what will happen to the Boot Camp partition, will it run on solely on the SSD, HDD or will it get the benefit of the Fusion Drive as well?

Edit: Also, do you enable TRIM like normal on a fusion drive using software like TRIM Enabler?

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It really depends on how you wwant to organise things.

Bootcamp runs *only* from the HDD if you set up a Fusion drive.

TRIM has nothing to do with Fusion, so you can do it as you prefer.

Any thoughts on these speeds on a mid-2010 MBP with 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo and 8GB DDR3 1067 RAM? Are they consistent with what other people are getting? This is on a clean install of Mavericks with only 1 partition. I replaced the old HDD with this Samsung 840 Evo 250gb. Is there any way I can get the full 500 Mb/s speeds that this SSD has to offer?

Any opinions on sticking a 256 GB Samsung 840 Pro in a 2008 Macbook (not Pro), the unibody one they only made for a little while?

The machine has the 2.0 GHz processor and has been upgraded to 4 GB of RAM and a 500 GB hard drive, however, my wife does not use the capacity (only 80 GB) and I've noticed the computer spends a lot of time making hard drive grinding noises and pausing.

I'm weighing the benefits of taking the 256 GB 840 Pro out of my desktop PC and putting it straight into her Mac vs putting in a 160 GB Intel SSD 320 from another desktop PC. SATA in the Intel is only 3 Gb/s and so is the interface on the Macbook, but the 840 Pro is still faster even while bottlenecked, hence my dilemma.

It's running 10.9; does this need the TRIM enabler still or will TRIM finally "just work"?

EDIT: Crap... I just noticed this is on the Macbook Pro forum (found this thread via Google). Sorry everyone. Opinions still welcome though, heh.

evilspoons said:

Any opinions on sticking a 256 GB Samsung 840 Pro in a 2008 Macbook (not Pro), the unibody one they only made for a little while?

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I added an Intel SX-25M (I think that was its name) to my late-2006 MBP, and it clearly made a difference. It was faster in many aspects, than my 2011 iMac, before I added an SSD to that one also.

Absolutely worth it, but I recommend finding a used drive, to save money, as you won't be getting any benefit from the higher speeds of modern SSDs.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8570/...o-read-performance-bug-coming-on-october-15th

840 Evo owners check this and the article that preceded it.

So, since last week AnandTech reports on issue with Samsung firmware.
I'm planning to replace hdd with ssd on my Mac. I'm pretty convinced to Samsung SSD 840 Evo.
They have very good performance in many tests and they are very popular. Bugs are in every, every single software. That's why I not bother about this bug. I still prefer to use popular SSD, and because it's popular people will report bugs, so SSD will be better and better than some "good in reviews but not tested by users" SSD.

The only thing I'm afraid of is updating firmware. Samsung Magician software is available only on Windows. There is *.iso file for Mac users but did anyone tried to update firmware?
Do you know where I can find some guide how to do this?

sainsburys said:

The only thing I'm afraid of is updating firmware. Samsung Magician software is available only on Windows. There is *.iso file for Mac users but did anyone tried to update firmware?
Do you know where I can find some guide how to do this?

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I've done it before - you basically have to burn the iso file to a DVD (not a CD it seems) and boot from it. It runs, sometimes says it failed, but finished anyway. I usually keep a Time Machine backup, so I take my chances, but haven't had any issues other than the wasted DVDs. Since we bought a couple of these for machines at work, I may just "borrow" the update DVDs I make for my own machine when the time comes.

Samsung's update site provides a guide:

http://www.samsung.com/global/busin...e_Utility_User_Manual_English_for_Mac_v10.pdf

ecschwarz thank you for your detailed reply. Instructions are doable but...how can I accomplish point 6 from "Starting the Samsung SSD Firmware Update Utility"


Upon successful completion, you will be asked to Power Cycle the drive. The confirmation message "Confirm After Power Cycle [Y/N]" is displayed. Follow the steps below:..

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Mmm...is it possible to finish update without this step or SSD will be dead? Do I really need to unscrew Mac and disconnect SSD?
How did you proceeded on that?

sainsburys said:

ecschwarz thank you for your detailed reply. Instructions are doable but...how can I accomplish point 6 from "Starting the Samsung SSD Firmware Update Utility"

Mmm...is it possible to finish update without this step or SSD will be dead? Do I really need to unscrew Mac and disconnect SSD?
How did you proceeded on that?

Click to expand...

I must've missed that on those instructions (Samsung providing the PDF of instructions is a relatively new thing) - I never did a step like that, although from the way I interpret the instructions, it may not show up at all, and is an optional process.

What is power cycling?

"T'hain Esh Kelch"

I think it's device reboot.

But you have to do that anyway when booting back to OSX? What am I missing?

I upgraded my wifes 13" MBP (late 2011) with an 840 EVO and man it's crazy fast! I also maxed out her RAM w/ 8GB from crucial. She says it has new life. She uses it heavily with office programs, two browsers for school (one website doesn't support and vise versa). mail app, iTunes all work perfect.

I'll keep an eye on the firmware update.

Would it be beneficial for me to get the same model on my Mid 2009 15" MBP? I chose the 840 EVO because it was on sale at bestbuy for $129. Not sure how long it will be that price?

I put an older SSD into my 2006 MBP, and even that was a major difference. It was faster then my 2011 iMac in many aspects, before I also upgraded that to an SSD.

Always pick an SSD, no matter what.

When are these amateurs from Samsung going to do an OSX software magician? Its a joke there is a windows version but not an OSX version. Who the hell has a cd/dvd drive anymore?

bilpin said:

When are these amateurs from Samsung going to do an OSX software magician? Its a joke there is a windows version but not an OSX version. Who the hell has a cd/dvd drive anymore?

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Most people.

I have a 2011 macbook with no optical drive anymore (using a caddy to use SSD + HDD).

Did anyone have luck burning the .iso to a bootable USB drive somehow?

I guess I could pick up an external DVD drive, but would prefer not to. Definitely don't feel like disassembling my macbook again to swap the optical drive back in.

Some specific questions:

1. Is it possible to flash with a USB dvd-rom? It sounded like before that only internal ones / on the SATA ports could do it

2. Any possibility of doing this with a USB drive instead?

3. If I decide to install bootcamp, I assume I can just run the magician software. However, while that could flash the firmware, wouldn't the tool to "reset" all of the old data so it's fast again fail since it would be limited to that windows partition?

ls1dreams said:

2. Any possibility of doing this with a USB drive instead?

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That is actually a very good question. When Samsung comes out with the new update, I will try this approach, since it takes 5 minutes, and report back.