Samsung 256GB SSD Benchmark Results **UPDATED**

[jb56]

Pretty sure I bought one from the same seller you are describing (Vienna, Virginia). The ad showed them all in a tray. And he still has some more left. But when it arrived, there was a tiny little scratch next to one of the screw holes and the drive already had 3 partitions on it. So it definitely didn't come straight from Samsung. I, of course, wanted a perfect condition, brand new drive in the original wrapper. It's possible he ordered them in bulk from someone else who obtained them from various computers. But I'm happy with the buy. I didn't bother with purchasing the warranty. Just a slight gamble, I hope. It's a super drive.

No I didn't purchase the warranty either. Big regret now. So your getting good performance with no system hangs? I'm seeing the beach ball on a regular basis for 15 to 60 seconds or more at a time. This is very frustrating after paying big bucks for the damn thing.

 

[drew0020]

No I didn't purchase the warranty either. Big regret now. So your getting good performance with no system hangs? I'm seeing the beach ball on a regular basis for 15 to 60 seconds or more at a time. This is very frustrating after paying big bucks for the damn thing.

Contact the seller and see if you can work it out. If that doesnt work (assuming you used Paypal) then you should be covered through them. File a complaint. Things will work out! Good luck and let us know.

PS: The only SSD I would buy is Intel right now, but I know the size is small at 80GB. I would not want to be an early adopter on any of these new ones. Give it a few more months and things should improve

 

[poppap]

If it says "0VBD1" on the label that means it came from Dell.. since Samsung did not retail the drive yet..
The one I got from eBay is believed to be from the same seller... It came in a UPS box.. You may have hit the jackpot and got the bad drive..


Regarding SMART I really think you got the defective since mine 2 drives, one has 100+ and another has 400+ hours both have 0 in CRC error..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

Would you mind showing this page so that we can compare?

 

[jb56]

If it says "0VBD1" on the label that means it came from Dell.. since Samsung did not retail the drive yet..
The one I got from eBay is believed to be from the same seller... It came in a UPS box.. You may have hit the jackpot and got the bad drive..


Regarding SMART I really think you got the defective since mine 2 drives, one has 100+ and another has 400+ hours both have 0 in CRC error..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

Would you mind showing this page so that we can compare?

Pop, I've tried to post my screen but I have yet to figure out how to get it on here. How did you post your windows of the Smart Utility. I followed the attachment instructions but it's not getting here. The main difference I see is the UDMA CRC error count. It's now up to 1998. Well I guess it did work but not the way yours displayed.

 

[poppap]

Pop, I've tried to post my screen but I have yet to figure out how to get it on here. How did you post your windows of the Smart Utility. I followed the attachment instructions but it's not getting here. The main difference I see is the UDMA CRC error count. It's now up to 1998. Well I guess it did work but not the way yours displayed.

I think it did not show up because of PDF.. If it is JPG or PNG it should show the thumbnail..

Anyway, There may be something wrong with the connection or connectors?
Would you be able to check the CRC error of the old HDD?
If your old HDD has high CRC errors too that may mean something is wrong with your MBP instead..
But if not, then it definitely the SSD..

Ultra DMA CRC error rate
Low value of this attribute typically indicates that something is wrong with the connectors and/or cables. Disk-to-host transfers are protected by CRC error detection code when Ultra-DMA 66 or 100 is used. So if the data gets garbled between the disk and the host machine, the receiving controller senses this and the retransmission is initiated. Such a situation is called "UDMA CRC error". Once the problem is rectified (typically by replacing a cable), the attribute value returns to the normal levels pretty quick.

 

[jb56]

I think it did not show up because of PDF.. If it is JPG or PNG it should show the thumbnail..

Anyway, There may be something wrong with the connection or connectors?
Would you be able to check the CRC error of the old HDD?
If your old HDD has high CRC errors too that may mean something is wrong with your MBP instead..
But if not, then it definitely the SSD..

I do have a way to check. I will hook it up to a SATA dock I have and run the Smart Utility and see what it says. Report back soon. Thanks.

 

[poppap]

I do have a way to check. I will hook it up to a SATA dock I have and run the Smart Utility and see what it says. Report back soon. Thanks.

But then it would be the CRC value for the communication via the SATA dock instead of the Internal SATA connector.. You may need to put the SSD in the dock to boot from and put the HDD in the HDD bay and look at the CRC..

 

[jb56]

But then it would be the CRC value for the communication via the SATA dock instead of the Internal SATA connector.. You may need to put the SSD in the dock to boot from and put the HDD in the HDD bay and look at the CRC..

Yup it wouldn't work in the SATA dock. I popped the original HDD back in and ran Smart Utility. Result " 0 CRC error's." I've tried attaching below hope it works. So does this mean that I have a faulty drive? The error's just keep climbing.

http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164030&stc=1&d=1237924291

 

[plesset]

Just for reference I ran a test to compare the Intel drive to the Samsung. Here are the results

 

[poppap]

Yup it wouldn't work in the SATA dock. I popped the original HDD back in and ran Smart Utility. Result " 0 CRC error's." I've tried attaching below hope it works. So does this mean that I have a faulty drive? The error's just keep climbing.

http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164030&stc=1&d=1237924291

I think that is the case.. You should request replacement or refund..

 

[jb56]

I think that is the case.. You should request replacement or refund..

Well I pulled the Samsung out tonight and put my old HDD back in. Must say it's nice to have a stable system again without all the spinning balls.

I sent an email off to the vendor from eBay. Heard back within about 1.5 hours. He said to send it back and he would gladly replace the drive. That was very nice and must say pleased me a bunch.

Now I just hope this next one acts the way it should.

I will post an update when it returns.

 

[poppap]

Well I pulled the Samsung out tonight and put my old HDD back in. Must say it's nice to have a stable system again without all the spinning balls.

I sent an email off to the vendor from eBay. Heard back within about 1.5 hours. He said to send it back and he would gladly replace the drive. That was very nice and must say pleased me a bunch.

Now I just hope this next one acts the way it should.

I will post an update when it returns.

Good luck!! I believe I got mine from the same seller and I have no problem with it at all..

 

[kc888]

poppap,

when you did the xbench tests for both single SSD and SSD RAID, did you run the test when booted on a different drive? or did you run the test when booted on the SSD itself?

because I obtained very slow results when using SSD as OS drive than using a firewire 800 external drive.

My results below:

1. Test the SSD when booted on an external firewire 800 HD.

A. 2x256GB Samsung SSD

Results 208.08
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.6 (9G55)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,1
Drive Type KC SSD RAID
Disk Test 208.08
Sequential 255.32
Uncached Write 435.19 267.20 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 291.40 164.87 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 117.74 34.46 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 692.69 348.14 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 175.59
Uncached Write 52.57 5.56 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 377.31 120.79 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 2566.24 18.19 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 1394.89 258.83 MB/sec [256K blocks]

B. Single SSD

Results 139.49
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.6 (9G55)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,1
Drive Type SAMSUNG SSD PM800 Series 2.5" 256GB
Disk Test 139.49
Sequential 244.85
Uncached Write 320.73 196.92 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 307.27 173.85 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 130.15 38.09 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 438.42 220.35 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 97.53
Uncached Write 27.64 2.93 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 288.63 92.40 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 2731.65 19.36 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 994.90 184.61 MB/sec [256K blocks]

2. Test the SSD when booted on the SSD#1 and testing SSD#1

Results 79.10
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.6 (9G55)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,1
Drive Type SAMSUNG SSD PM800 Series 2.5" 256GB
Disk Test 79.10
Sequential 115.92
Uncached Write 84.09 51.63 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 114.79 64.95 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 90.25 26.41 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 354.24 178.04 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 60.03
Uncached Write 17.39 1.84 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 136.80 43.79 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1531.40 10.85 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 866.94 160.87 MB/sec [256K blocks]

3. Test the SSD when booted on the SSD1 and testing SSD#2

Results 130.85
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.6 (9G55)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,1
Drive Type SAMSUNG SSD PM800 Series 2.5" 256GB
Disk Test 130.85
Sequential 190.71
Uncached Write 315.10 193.46 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 251.79 142.46 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 89.98 26.33 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 368.20 185.05 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 99.59
Uncached Write 28.51 3.02 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 289.10 92.55 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1752.75 12.42 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 948.36 175.98 MB/sec [256K blocks]

By the way my SSD#1 got like 204 power on hours... and SSD#2 only at 49, I bought them the same time from ebay...

SSD#2 shows 10 errors @ 21 Hours in Smart Utility. What does that mean?

One last thing, would kremer4, poppad and other that got the Samsung SSD please post their firmware version? I am not sure if it makes the speed different as sascha said the 'real' SSD will only be out in April... My firmware version checked using Smart Utility is VBM15D1Q.

Thanks in advance!

 

[poppap]

I think your number looks right...
I always boot from another partition to test..

You can see on page 3 that the speed drops a lot after you use it for a while.

I'm not sure about the error you have.

I have the exact same firmware version.

 

[Industro]

Samsung SSD directly from Dell?

Hey poppap and Jb56,

Like you both, I ordered my Samsung 256GB SSD from the same seller on eBay. I am having the same problems as Jb56 (crc errors, freezing, etc.) so I am in the process of exchanging it with the seller (who seems to be accomodating).

If my new SSD doesn't function perfectly, I'm going to attempt to get my money back from the eBay seller and buy directly from Dell.

My question is...

poppap - you mentioned you obtained your second Samsung 256GB SSD directly from "Dell." How did you do this? Did you order a Dell XPS Laptop and pull the drive? I can't find anywhere on their site where you can buy the 256GB Samsung SSD.

Do you have a link?

Thanks,

Dan

 

[poppap]

Hey poppap and Jb56,
My question is...

poppap - you mentioned you obtained your second Samsung 256GB SSD directly from "Dell." How did you do this? Did you order a Dell XPS Laptop and pull the drive? I can't find anywhere on their site where you can buy the 256GB Samsung SSD.

Do you have a link?

Thanks,

Dan

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...oductdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=341-8981

The picture may not look like it but it is the Samsung 256GB..
I bought it when there was a 20% off coupon (expired) which make it $599+tax

 

[jtibbitt]

No I didn't purchase the warranty either. Big regret now. So your getting good performance with no system hangs? I'm seeing the beach ball on a regular basis for 15 to 60 seconds or more at a time. This is very frustrating after paying big bucks for the damn thing.

Have you tried reformatting and reinstalling OSX?

 

[jb56]

Have you tried reformatting and reinstalling OSX?

I reformatted and clean installed twice and still had constant freezes and ton's of CRC error's.

Using the drive for three days i had over 2,000 CRC error's. It was very aggravating.

Since I've already heard of two other's having this exact same problem with their drives I really wonder what is up. I'm not having a bunch of confidence in how this is going to end.

 

[bverstee]

Website dedicated to Ssd's

I read this thread with much interest! Finally some news about a ssd that is fast enough to compete with a regular harddisk.

I will add a link to this topic to my website: www.ssdworld.net.
I hope to supply lot's of information about all ssd's!

 

[sascha h-k]

something new about samsung's 256gb sd:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/03/17/review_storage_ssd_samsung_mmd0e56g5/

 

[Industro]

Got another Samsung SSD - more crc errors!

I returned my Samsung SSD to the guy on eBay that I originally got it from, and purchased a BRAND NEW factory sealed Samsung 256GB SSD directly from Dell (thanks for the link poppap!)

I ran SMART Utility on it after I installed the OS and it had "zero" power on hours, and "zero" CRC errors.

However, I've been using it for about an hour and I ran SMART Utility again... 7 CRC Errors!!!!

This drive is brand new, and the second I've tried.

I haven't experienced any weird random "freezing" yet, but I'm only an hour into it.

jb56 - have you received your replacement drive yet? Any improvement?

I really don't feel like trying a 3rd SSD. If I have freezing problems with this one I'm going to just switch back to my 7200 RPM HDD (again) and roll with that from now on.

How critical are CRC errors? Can they result in lost data, or does it just mean a bad checksum was detected and the drive compensated?

Anybody have "0" CRC Errors on their Samsung?

 

[jb56]

I returned my Samsung SSD to the guy on eBay that I originally got it from, and purchased a BRAND NEW factory sealed Samsung 256GB SSD directly from Dell (thanks for the link poppap!)

I ran SMART Utility on it after I installed the OS and it had "zero" power on hours, and "zero" CRC errors.

However, I've been using it for about an hour and I ran SMART Utility again... 7 CRC Errors!!!!

This drive is brand new, and the second I've tried.

I haven't experienced any weird random "freezing" yet, but I'm only an hour into it.

jb56 - have you received your replacement drive yet? Any improvement?

I really don't feel like trying a 3rd SSD. If I have freezing problems with this one I'm going to just switch back to my 7200 RPM HDD (again) and roll with that from now on.

How critical are CRC errors? Can they result in lost data, or does it just mean a bad checksum was detected and the drive compensated?

Anybody have "0" CRC Errors on their Samsung?

I haven't received my replacement from the eBay vendor yet but it's on the way. We'll see what happens when it arrives.

I don't know a lot about CRC error's but it appears that they aren't a good thing at all. I had tons of them on the last drive I returned. My current HDD has 0 error's after 800 hours of operation.

Pop was reporting zero error's on his two Samsung SSD's after 100 and 400 hours on them.

 

[Malcster]

I'll be installing my Samsung 256Gb SSD into my MBP tonight, as far as im aware its brand new (from overclockers.co.uk) i'll let you know if i run into any problems.. CRC or otherwise.. really hoping not!

 

[Industro]

Maybe 3rd time is a charm...

I'm expeting my 3rd Samsung SSD (second replacement) in the mail tomorrow.

My current replacement has 72 CRC errors after only 9 hours of use. What I really want to know is if these CRC errors are causing any data corruption??? If the SSD fails to read/write properly and detects a CRC checksum error, does it re-attempt the command, or is my data getting screwed up every time this drive errors?

After I install my 3rd SSD tomorrow night, if I get more CRC errors than I'm finished with these Samsungs (they obviously aren't ready for prime-time). My 7200 RPM HDD has "0" CRC errors after over 100 hours of use. The HDDs on my older computers have zero errors after several years of use. This is a serious problem.

One more try - then I'm finished with SSDs until Intel comes out with a 256GB model or OCZ releases their "Samsung Killer."

Anybody else with similar issues, insight, solutions, etc? Has anyone other than poppap installed a Samsung that has "0" errors?

 

[jb56]

I'm expeting my 3rd Samsung SSD (second replacement) in the mail tomorrow.

My current replacement has 72 CRC errors after only 9 hours of use. What I really want to know is if these CRC errors are causing any data corruption??? If the SSD fails to read/write properly and detects a CRC checksum error, does it re-attempt the command, or is my data getting screwed up every time this drive errors?

After I install my 3rd SSD tomorrow night, if I get more CRC errors than I'm finished with these Samsungs (they obviously aren't ready for prime-time). My 7200 RPM HDD has "0" CRC errors after over 100 hours of use. The HDDs on my older computers have zero errors after several years of use. This is a serious problem.

One more try - then I'm finished with SSDs until Intel comes out with a 256GB model or OCZ releases their "Samsung Killer."

Anybody else with similar issues, insight, solutions, etc? Has anyone other than poppap installed a Samsung that has "0" errors?

Bummer, I didn't want to hear that. I won't receive my replacement until next Monday and I'm fearful of the results. Funny I've read several reviews of late by folks that tested these drives and they rave about them. So what is the deal then with all the problems.

Was your system hanging on you as well. That was what I really noticed with mine was that I had the spinning beach ball all the time. Drove me nuts. I would repeatedly have to sit and wait for the damn thing to quit spinning so I could finish what I was doing.