The Samsung 840/840 Pro SSD thread

[Hexley]

I noticed that no thread for Samsung 840/840 Pro has been made so here it is.

Share with us your experience with this newest SSD of Samsung for 2012.

I was thinking of going with a 256GB OCZ Vector but I may go with Samsung.

===============================


A request!

Kindly post the following info

1) Screen grab of BlackMagic Design's Disk Speed Test of your original HDD (before) and Samsung 840/840 Pro SSD (after)

2) Hardware overview from "System Information" namely
- Screen Size and Model Year
- Model Identifier
- Processor Name
- Processor Speed
- Memory
- Bus Speed
- Serial-ATA's Link Speed & Negotiated Link Speed
- TRIM: On/Off
- OS X version

4) Info on the Samsung SSD.
- Capacity
- 840 or 840 Pro
- Disk bay installed: Main or Superdrive bay
- Firmware version

3) Other noteable modifications like RAID 0, battery life (with HDD and with SSD) etc.

 

[jomirrivera]

I noticed that no thread for Samsung 840/840 Pro has been made so here it is.

Share with us your experience with this newest SSD of Samsung for 2012.

I was thinking of going with a 256GB OCZ Vector but I may go with Samsung.

I would like to hear some experience with those ssd's too.

 

[MikeSantor]

My pro arrives from newegg tomorrow. Ill post back.

 

[jomirrivera]

My pro arrives from newegg tomorrow. Ill post back.

How much?

 

[Luigiss]

my battery life after samsung 840 250 gb ^.^

now i use my macbook pro for 7:30 with 50% brig. and bluetooth + wifi


WOW

 

[AirThis]

I just love the official Samsung YouTube clip (for the 840) with Overly attached girlfriend. It's so offbeat and nerdy.

 

[Justinhub2003]

I have a 500GB Samsung 840 SSD.

So far (10 days or so) its been amazing!

My previous SSD was a 256GB Crucial M4 and it was nice but this was a good upgrade to it.

My reads are the same and my writes are 70MBPS faster.


I haven't had any instabilities or hang ups at all.

I think its a great drive and Samsung SSD's are usually very very reliable.

I had first bought a Crucial m4 512GB to upgrade my M4 256gb and it failed on the 3rd day of ownership. So I returned and got the Samsung 840 for 369$ on sale.

 

[Hexley]

I just love the official Samsung YouTube clip (for the 840) with Overly attached girlfriend. It's so offbeat and nerdy.

https://www.google.ch/url?sa=t&sour..._oGgCw&usg=AFQjCNFdwa5CBmKAsoF2wxWopgTbIPVODQ

I seriously have a big crush on that girl. Makes me want to buy two of these 256GB 840 Pros now.

She has a sense of humor and when she does blink she's pretty hot.

----------

How do you update the firmware if any firmware needs to be updated? Also please share with us screen grabs of your benchmark results with the 840 and M4.

I have a 500GB Samsung 840 SSD.

So far (10 days or so) its been amazing!

My previous SSD was a 256GB Crucial M4 and it was nice but this was a good upgrade to it.

My reads are the same and my writes are 70MBPS faster.


I haven't had any instabilities or hang ups at all.

I think its a great drive and Samsung SSD's are usually very very reliable.

I had first bought a Crucial m4 512GB to upgrade my M4 256gb and it failed on the 3rd day of ownership. So I returned and got the Samsung 840 for 369$ on sale.

 

[shmonkus]

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

 

[Rhinoevans]

I just purchased the 830, and slipped it into my i7 Sony. Love it, although Sata II

I want the Pro, but really like the price of the non Pro Samsung SSD.

I just purchased the new cMBP, so for now all is new. Currently in Saudi Arabia and will be home in Feb, hoping the prices will have dropped a bit, else, a 256 Pro or the 840 500G.

Would love to hear some feedback on the Samsung 840.

 

[Hexley]

A request!

Kindly post the following info

1) Screen grab of BlackMagic Design's Disk Speed Test of your original HDD (before) and Samsung 840/840 Pro SSD (after)

2) Hardware overview from "System Information" namely
- Screen Size and Model Year
- Model Identifier
- Processor Name
- Processor Speed
- Memory
- Bus Speed
- Serial-ATA's Link Speed & Negotiated Link Speed
- TRIM: On/Off
- OS X version

4) Info on the Samsung SSD.
- Capacity
- 840 or 840 Pro
- Disk bay installed: Main or Superdrive bay
- Firmware version

3) Other noteable modifications like RAID 0, battery life (with HDD and with SSD) etc.

----------

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

Could you share with us screen grabs of BlackMagic Design's Disk Speed Test of your original HDD (before) and Samsung 840/840 Pro SSD (after).

This is my target SSD. Also if you have the time kindly add the following info below?

2) Hardware overview from "System Information" namely
- Screen Size and Model Year
- Model Identifier
- Processor Name
- Processor Speed
- Memory
- Bus Speed
- Serial-ATA's Link Speed & Negotiated Link Speed
- TRIM: On/Off
- OS X version

4) Info on the Samsung SSD.
- Capacity
- 840 or 840 Pro
- Disk bay installed: Main or Superdrive bay
- Firmware version

3) Other noteable modifications like RAID 0, battery life (with HDD and with SSD) etc.

 

[shmonkus]

A request!

Kindly post the following info

1) Screen grab of BlackMagic Design's Disk Speed Test of your original HDD (before) and Samsung 840/840 Pro SSD (after)

2) Hardware overview from "System Information" namely
- Screen Size and Model Year
- Model Identifier
- Processor Name
- Processor Speed
- Memory
- Bus Speed
- Serial-ATA's Link Speed & Negotiated Link Speed
- TRIM: On/Off
- OS X version

4) Info on the Samsung SSD.
- Capacity
- 840 or 840 Pro
- Disk bay installed: Main or Superdrive bay
- Firmware version

3) Other noteable modifications like RAID 0, battery life (with HDD and with SSD) etc.

----------



Could you share with us screen grabs of BlackMagic Design's Disk Speed Test of your original HDD (before) and Samsung 840/840 Pro SSD (after).

This is my target SSD. Also if you have the time kindly add the following info below?

2) Hardware overview from "System Information" namely
- Screen Size and Model Year
- Model Identifier
- Processor Name
- Processor Speed
- Memory
- Bus Speed
- Serial-ATA's Link Speed & Negotiated Link Speed
- TRIM: On/Off
- OS X version

4) Info on the Samsung SSD.
- Capacity
- 840 or 840 Pro
- Disk bay installed: Main or Superdrive bay
- Firmware version

3) Other noteable modifications like RAID 0, battery life (with HDD and with SSD) etc.

Here you go. I have mine configured so that only the OS and apps are on the ssd, TRIM is running thanks to the TRIm enabler app with negotiated link of 6Gbps, and I have the stock 500gb drive in the optibay slot set up as my home drive.

System: late 2011 MacBook Pro 15"
2.2GHz i7
8gb ram
OSX Mountain lion.

Battery life is the same (ish) as its running a second hard drive instead of an unused SuperDrive.

Ill post a speed test of the original HDD when I can, but I'm pretty certain the speeds were between 80-120mbps read/write.

 

[Justinhub2003]

Mac: Early 2011 13" MacBook Pro: 2.3ghz Core i5 Cpu, 16GB of Ram, 500Gb Samsung 840.

This computer has had 5 drives in it so far in the 18 months I've had it.
the standard 5400 drive
the Momentux XT
The Crucial M4 256Gb
The Crucial M4 512Gb (failed after 3 days)
And now the Samsung 840 500Gb

Here is a comparison of my Momentus Xt Vs M4 Vs 840:

 

[Tenashus1]

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?

 

[DIMEZ]

why is the 840 500 cheaper than the 830 512??

 

[Hexley]

Anymore new benchmarks? If anyone have the following Macs this would be most helpful to me.

MacBookPro8,1 Late 2011 MacBook Pro 13-inch
MacBookPro7,1 Mid 2010 MacBook Pro 13-inch
MacBookPro5,1 Late 2008 MacBook Pro 15-inch
MacBookPro4,1 Early 2008 MacBook Pro 15-inch
iMac7,1______ Mid 2007 iMac 20-inch
MacBookPro1,1 Early 2006 MacBook Pro 15-inch

 

[richnyc]

why is the 840 500 cheaper than the 830 512??

TLC vc. MLC technology.

For more info: Understanding TLC NAND

 

[shmonkus]

Anymore new benchmarks? If anyone have the following Macs this would be most helpful to me.

MacBookPro8,1 Late 2011 MacBook Pro 13-inch
MacBookPro7,1 Mid 2010 MacBook Pro 13-inch
MacBookPro5,1 Late 2008 MacBook Pro 15-inch
MacBookPro4,1 Early 2008 MacBook Pro 15-inch
iMac7,1______ Mid 2007 iMac 20-inch
MacBookPro1,1 Early 2006 MacBook Pro 15-inch

You're being quite thorough I see.

What's more important to you, performance or storage space?

The 840 pro is literally unrivalled at the moment, plus they are very reliable drives.

If you went for the 840 pro, you'd be getting the reliability that is renowned by samsung, plus a sick-fast drive!

 

[Hexley]

You're being quite thorough I see.

What's more important to you, performance or storage space?

The 840 pro is literally unrivalled at the moment, plus they are very reliable drives.

If you went for the 840 pro, you'd be getting the reliability that is renowned by samsung, plus a sick-fast drive!

Can't I have both?

Kidding aside the performance figures of the 840 Pro is amazing. What troubles me is the lopsided write/read throughput.

I just wish write/read was pegged at 500MB/s with single digit difference instead of 467.3MB/s and 515.3MB/s.

I saw one ssd that can do 490MB/s for write/read with the final digit varying over so slightly.

I could be wrong with the lopsided figures could be a good thing. What's more ideal faster write or read? If equal write/read better for ssd? I know some memory cards are faster in reading than in writing.

 

[shmonkus]

Can't I have both?

Kidding aside the performance figures of the 840 Pro is amazing. What troubles me is the lopsided write/read throughput.

I just wish write/read was pegged at 500MB/s with single digit difference instead of 467.3MB/s and 515.3MB/s.

I saw one ssd that can do 490MB/s for write/read with the final digit varying over so slightly.

I could be wrong with the lopsided figures could be a good thing. What's more ideal faster write or read? If equal write/read better for ssd? I know some memory cards are faster in reading than in writing.

Personally read speed is more important to me, because the bulk of my writing is done to a mechanical drive which has pretty poor write speeds but I have the capacity for my data and the ssd for caching / OS and apps so I get the best of both worlds in that respect, without massively breaking the bank.

However this setup isn't for everyone; if you have large files you regularly work with, perhaps invest in the larger drive

 

[Hexley]

Personally read speed is more important to me, because the bulk of my writing is done to a mechanical drive which has pretty poor write speeds but I have the capacity for my data and the ssd for caching / OS and apps so I get the best of both worlds in that respect, without massively breaking the bank.

However this setup isn't for everyone; if you have large files you regularly work with, perhaps invest in the larger drive

You have a point. The setup I have in mind is like this. I will be working with 1080p video and thousands of RAW files.

MacBookPro8,1 Late 2011 MacBook Pro 13-inch Core i7
16GB DDR3-1600
Optical bay: 256GB Samsung 840 Pro +
Main bay: 12.5mm tall 1TB HDD 5200RPM (DIY Fusion)

MacBookPro7,1 Mid 2010 MacBook Pro 13-inch Core 2 Duo
8GB DDR3-1600
Main bay: 256GB Samsung 840 Pro +
Optical bay: 9.5mm tall 750GB HDD 5400RPM (DIY Fusion)

 

[Justinhub2003]

I chose the Samsung 840 500Gb SSD because:


*It was cheaper
*Offered more space for the money
*Was faster than my Crucial M4
*Samsung is a reliable SSD brand.

Sure the 840 is TLC nand which has a shorter lifespan. But a 500Gb 840 under normal usage going to last at least 10-12 years. I dont know about you but I dont plan on keeping anything technology related more than a 10-12 years. I'd be happy if it lasted 5 years personally as I would probably upgraded well before then.

Read speeds are more important to me. Because that is the speed you feel when you using the machine. When I boot my system, its the read speeds that make it a quick process. When I launch my Illustrator or Photoshop apps, its the read that makes this happen quick.

And for the 500GB 840, the read speeds aren't anything thing to scoff at. I currently get around 320mbps Read. Which is faster than my Crucial M4 which was around 250mbps.

I used a 256Gb drive for 7 months and finally got to the point where I was feeling cramped by its smaller space. I bought a Sony NEX camera that shoots in raw and the files were huge and I didnt want to store them on an external so I decided to make the move to the 840.

I think its a great buy.

 

[gianlucadr]

And what about Trim? All of you enabled Trim? What about the performance of the garbage collection? Is it better than the 830?

 

[BlaqkAudio]

I chose the Samsung 840 500Gb SSD because:


*It was cheaper
*Offered more space for the money
*Was faster than my Crucial M4
*Samsung is a reliable SSD brand.

Sure the 840 is MLC nand which has a shorter lifespan. But a 500Gb 840 under normal usage going to last at least 10-12 years. I dont know about you but I dont plan on keeping anything technology related more than a 10-12 years. I'd be happy if it lasted 5 years personally as I would probably upgraded well before then.

Read speeds are more important to me. Because that is the speed you feel when you using the machine. When I boot my system, its the read speeds that make it a quick process. When I launch my Illustrator or Photoshop apps, its the read that makes this happen quick.

And for the 500GB 840, the read speeds aren't anything thing to scoff at. I currently get around 320mbps Read. Which is faster than my Crucial M4 which was around 250mbps.

I used a 256Gb drive for 7 months and finally got to the point where I was feeling cramped by its smaller space. I bought a Sony NEX camera that shoots in raw and the files were huge and I didnt want to store them on an external so I decided to make the move to the 840.

I think its a great buy.

Quick correction: The 840 is TLC. 840 Pro is MLC. But the advantage the 840 has over the 830 is lower power consumption and faster read/write.

 

[Justinhub2003]

Quick correction: The 840 is TLC. 840 Pro is MLC. But the advantage the 840 has over the 830 is lower power consumption and faster read/write.

Gah I edited it. I mistyped.

----------

And what about Trim? All of you enabled Trim? What about the performance of the garbage collection? Is it better than the 830?

I enabled Trim. Though I wont be sure if this is a good thing or bad thing until down the road.


But as of Right now enabling Trim has been fine for me but I also did it as soon as I installed the drive.