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The Samsung 830 SSD thread

hi, have just bought an 128Gb samsung 830 for my early 2011 MBP 15" and i'm having some thoughts on how to install it (because i''m a newbie in this area)

i am going to put my old HDD in the superdrive slot and the SSD in the spot of the original HDD, which from what i've read in this thread seems to be the best way to place them ?

now to the reinstall of mountain lion, i had a similar idea to what grossmisconduct had which is :

1.insert SSD in original HDD spot and move the HDD to the superdrive slot
2.Boot the computer from my old HDD
3.format the SSD
4.download and install ML on the SSD
5.make SSD boot drive
6.boot from SSD and completely wipe my old HDD
7. Have superfast OSX/app SSD and lots of space on my old disk :D

I would prefer if this way of doing it would work and if anyone have any thoughts on this way of doing things ?
 
Ajwersson said:
hi, have just bought an 128Gb samsung 830 for my early 2011 MBP 15" and i'm having some thoughts on how to install it (because i''m a newbie in this area)

i am going to put my old HDD in the superdrive slot and the SSD in the spot of the original HDD, which from what i've read in this thread seems to be the best way to place them ?

now to the reinstall of mountain lion, i had a similar idea to what grossmisconduct had which is :

1.insert SSD in original HDD spot and move the HDD to the superdrive slot
2.Boot the computer from my old HDD
3.format the SSD
4.download and install ML on the SSD
5.make SSD boot drive
6.boot from SSD and completely wipe my old HDD
7. Have superfast OSX/app SSD and lots of space on my old disk :D

I would prefer if this way of doing it would work and if anyone have any thoughts on this way of doing things ?
Click to expand...
Fine plan, except that you need a caddy to mount your HDD in the DVDs spot. Also, you can hold down command and R when you boot, and download ML directly, and thus do steps 2-6 at the same time.
 
Does anyone have the 512GB and know exactly how much usable space this thing has?

My current Seagate 500GB magnetic drive in disk utility reports 453GB used 46.85GB free.

I need to know this 512GB SSD is going to have a similar free space figure (46.85GB) reported in disk utility when I clone the disk.

Anyone gone any insight?
 
drayon said:
Does anyone have the 512GB and know exactly how much usable space this thing has?

My current Seagate 500GB magnetic drive in disk utility reports 453GB used 46.85GB free.

I need to know this 512GB SSD is going to have a similar free space figure (46.85GB) reported in disk utility when I clone the disk.

Anyone gone any insight?
Click to expand...
The manufacturer probably tells you the size in GiB hence 512, which it is then incorrect if they write 512GB on the box it came in. Disk Utility reports in GB hence 500, which is right, although it would still be 512 in GiB.
 
Battery capacity!!!

Hi,

I just installed a samsung 830 128 GB in my Macbook Pro (early 2011) about a week ago and yes, the overall performance is off the charts, blazing fast, BUT the battery capacity is down to around 75% off what it was before, if not worse.

Anyone have any ideas??

I'm running Mountain Lion and the latest firmware for the drive.
Also have TRIM enabled and I have tried a SMC reset, just for the sake of it.

Must say I'm disappointed. But then again I haven't seen anyone else experiencing this problem so maybe it's just my setup.
 
No not at all, and the workload is pretty much identical as to before.
 
Doesn't the Samsung 830 512GB have some kind of over provisioning where it takes a chuck of storage away an leaves space remaining deemed 'useable'? Is the Samsung similar to the Sandforce drives where they have 512GB of flash but useable space is only 480GB??
 
drayon said:
Doesn't the Samsung 830 512GB have some kind of over provisioning where it takes a chuck of storage away an leaves space remaining deemed 'useable'? Is the Samsung similar to the Sandforce drives where they have 512GB of flash but useable space is only 480GB??
Click to expand...

I don't think that's the case. It seems 128GB is the usable space on the drive.
Are you suggesting that could be the reason for decreased battery capacity??
 
EyS said:
Are you suggesting that could be the reason for decreased battery capacity??
Click to expand...
No, my questions have nothing to do with anyone else questions about battery.

I specifically wan't to know how much usable space a 512GB drive is going to provide. I fit all my stuff on a 500GB platter drive now with only about 30GB free. If it is the case where these Samsung SSD's use 7%+ storage for over provisioning then I won't fit all my data on these drives. I don't want be be buying one if I get it home format it and disk utility reports there is only 476GB free space.

See the specs of the drive on this page mentions user capacity is only 476.9 GB

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Samsung/830_Series_SSD_512_GB/
 
drayon said:
No, my questions have nothing to do with anyone else questions about battery.

I specifically wan't to know how much usable space a 512GB drive is going to provide. I fit all my stuff on a 500GB platter drive now with only about 30GB free. If it is the case where these Samsung SSD's use 7%+ storage for over provisioning then I won't fit all my data on these drives. I don't want be be buying one if I get it home format it and disk utility reports there is only 476GB free space.

See the specs of the drive on this page mentions user capacity is only 476.9 GB

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Samsung/830_Series_SSD_512_GB/
Click to expand...

I have the 256 GB variant, and Disk Utility reports the following:
Code: 
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *256.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh SSD           255.7 GB   disk0s2

~~~

   Device Identifier:        disk0
   Device Node:              /dev/disk0
   Part of Whole:            disk0
   Device / Media Name:      SAMSUNG SSD 830 Series Media

   Volume Name:              Not applicable (no file system)

   Mounted:                  Not applicable (no file system)

   File System:              None

   Content (IOContent):      GUID_partition_scheme
   OS Can Be Installed:      No
   Media Type:               Generic
   Protocol:                 SATA
   SMART Status:             Verified

   Total Size:               256.1 GB (256060514304 Bytes) (exactly 500118192 512-Byte-Blocks)
   Volume Free Space:        Not applicable (no file system)
   Device Block Size:        512 Bytes

   Read-Only Media:          No
   Read-Only Volume:         Not applicable (no file system)
   Ejectable:                No

   Whole:                    Yes
   Internal:                 Yes
   Solid State:              Yes
   OS 9 Drivers:             No
   Low Level Format:         Not supported
The 'Quick User Manual' states "The actual capacity may differ from that indicated on the product label depending on the drive formatting method, partitioning, and computer OS. (1MB-1,000,000 bytes/1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes)." Anand's review of the 830 has a table includes the size of the NAND, as well as the (expected) "User Capacity" for each drive in the series. While OS X reports 256 GB total size for my drive, I am not expecting anything more than 240 GiB.
 
TheAngryPenguin said:
The 'Quick User Manual' states "The actual capacity may differ from that indicated on the product label depending on the drive formatting method, partitioning, and computer OS. (1MB-1,000,000 bytes/1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes)." Anand's review of the 830 has a table includes the size of the NAND, as well as the (expected) "User Capacity" for each drive in the series. While OS X reports 256 GB total size for my drive, I am not expecting anything more than 240 GiB.
Click to expand...

If you buy 256GB, you get 256GB of usable space. If you buy 512GB, you get 512GB. The only confusion here is that Windows actually uses Gibibytes instead of Gigabytes, even though they use the GB abbreviation (which is wrong, it should be GiB). One Gibibyte is roughly 1.07GB (and 1GB = 0.93GiB), which means a 256GB SSD is reported as 238GB in Windows. The actual amount of bits is the same regardless of the OS, the way of calculating Giga is just slightly different.

OS X counts Giga as Giga, not Gibi, so 256GB drive will have 256GB of usable space.
 
is there a radical speed difference between the 128 to the 256? Is it noticible in real life situations? I plan buying the 128 but unsure yet.
 
I have a mid 2009 macbook pro 17 inch and was thinking of replacing my intel 330 series ssd with a samsung 830 series, so that i can get the 3 gb link. Do i need to do anything to the drive after i install it into my laptop? Like install new firmware? Also, how do update the sammy firmware with a mac?
 
andyjslin said:
I have a mid 2009 macbook pro 17 inch and was thinking of replacing my intel 330 series ssd with a samsung 830 series, so that i can get the 3 gb link. Do i need to do anything to the drive after i install it into my laptop? Like install new firmware? Also, how do update the sammy firmware with a mac?
Click to expand...

The firmware version on the drive I bought and installed today is 'CXM03B1Q' and this appears to have been released in back January and appears current. The firmware can only be updated via Windows.
 
Installed the 830 512GB and have been using over the past few days. Well, unlike most people out there on the interwebz, i'm not impressed with this drive at all. In fact it is downright disappointing after reading all the over the top hype. I've read everything from 'night/day difference' to 'blow me away'. Well based on that I think the performance sux. So it's probably the last time I listen to a bunch of overly excited kids.

File copy from partition to partition on same drive maxes out at 125MB/sec for 1GB+ video files. The magnetic disk it replaced did 70MB/sec. Copy large application from DMG image maxes out at 55MB/sec. Applications launch a little bit faster nothing snaps open. MS word docs still take forever, google earth takes forever, Toast takes too long still. I expected Finder 'Calculate all sizes' to be smoking fast but this as well not remarkable at all.

Granted the disk is connected to a 3 Gigabit bus, but i'm doubtful this is a limitation, since nothing I do with this disk gets anywhere close to maxing out the bus. The Trim app doesn't improve performance.

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,1
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.53 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 4.8 GT/s
Boot ROM Version: MBP61.0057.B0C
SMC Version (system): 1.57f17

Intel 5 Series Chipset:

Vendor: Intel
Product: 5 Series Chipset
Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.30 Supported
 
drayon said:
Installed the 830 512GB and have been using over the past few days. Well, unlike most people out there on the interwebz, i'm not impressed with this drive at all. In fact it is downright disappointing after reading all the over the top hype. I've read everything from 'night/day difference' to 'blow me away'. Well based on that I think the performance sux. So it's probably the last time I listen to a bunch of overly excited kids.

File copy from partition to partition on same drive maxes out at 125MB/sec for 1GB+ video files. The magnetic disk it replaced did 70MB/sec. Copy large application from DMG image maxes out at 55MB/sec. Applications launch a little bit faster nothing snaps open. MS word docs still take forever, google earth takes forever, Toast takes too long still. I expected Finder 'Calculate all sizes' to be smoking fast but this as well not remarkable at all.

Granted the disk is connected to a 3 Gigabit bus, but i'm doubtful this is a limitation, since nothing I do with this disk gets anywhere close to maxing out the bus. The Trim app doesn't improve performance.

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro6,1
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.53 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 4.8 GT/s
Boot ROM Version: MBP61.0057.B0C
SMC Version (system): 1.57f17

Intel 5 Series Chipset:

Vendor: Intel
Product: 5 Series Chipset
Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.30 Supported
Click to expand...

Something seem to off in your setup.. My wifes 2009 Macbook Pro is equipped with a Samsung 830 and it works very well!

Copying a 1 GB file (generated using random data from /dev/random with dd) to the same partition (only have one) ticks along in roughly 190-200 MB/s.

Xbench disk results (~40 GB free space):
Code: 
Results	383.93	
	System Info		
		Xbench Version		1.3
		System Version		10.8.2 (12C60)
		Physical RAM		4096 MB
		Model		MacBookPro5,5
		Drive Type		SAMSUNG SSD 830 Series
	Disk Test	383.93	
		Sequential	253.34	
			Uncached Write	337.04	206.94 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Write	296.25	167.62 MB/sec [256K blocks]
			Uncached Read	141.56	41.43 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Read	419.83	211.00 MB/sec [256K blocks]
		Random	792.31	
			Uncached Write	792.30	83.87 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Write	492.50	157.67 MB/sec [256K blocks]
			Uncached Read	1805.24	12.79 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Read	831.95	154.37 MB/sec [256K blocks]

And launching applications is pretty quick, terminal command for opening apps and getting time stamps after:
Code: 
$ time open -a Pixelmator
real	0m0.413s

$ time open -a Safari

real	0m0.617s

$ time open -a iPhoto
real	0m1.442s

$ $ time open -a Mail
real	0m0.858s

I believe your Core i5 should do it even quicker. Specs:
Code: 
    Hardware Overview:

      Model Name: MacBook Pro
      Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,5
      Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
      Processor Speed: 2,26 GHz
      Number of Processors: 1
      Total Number of Cores: 2
      L2 Cache: 3 MB
      Memory: 4 GB
 
to install the 256gb ssd, do you need the laptop kit? I bought just the regular ssd (one without the laptop kit) couple weeks ago and haven't gotten around to installing it yet.
 
crazydawg807 said:
to install the 256gb ssd, do you need the laptop kit? I bought just the regular ssd (one without the laptop kit) couple weeks ago and haven't gotten around to installing it yet.
Click to expand...

No, you don't need the laptop kit. Just open your MBP up, take the old drive out, take the screws out, put them in the SSD, pop the SSD into place and you're done.
 
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