Our SSD analysis today is perhaps the most detailed typical SSD report we have published to date, and so it should be. Actually, the word ‘typical’ doesn’t quite fit as the Samsung 840 EVO SSD, that I am now using as my mainstream system drive, is pushing over 1GB/s sequential speeds and an unbelievable 685MB/s low 4K random write performance. If you think this might be magic, you would be right and this magic is within the reach of every Samsung 840 EVO purchase, performance not even closely matched prior to this release.
The magic of the Samsung 840 EVO SSD comes in the form of caching, initially with their proprietary TurboWrite Technology and then later with installation of their RAPID Technology through Samsung Magician software. To be brutally honest, I have never been a fan of caching when it came to SSDs. Sure NVELO pulled some great things off with Dataplex where they were able to bump HDD speeds up to that of the SSD when used as a caching medium, but for the most part, caching in the HDD hybrid/SSD arena just didn’t cut it. Today might be a new day.
REPORT PROGRESSION
Perhaps our biggest dilemma, with respect to the Samsung 840 EVO SSD, was whether to encompass it within one report or several. There is really that much to discuss. Our end result is a page by page progression of the EVO bringing you through such things as the Introduction and Features, SSD Components, Test Protocol, Performance and TurboWrite Explanation, Standard Benchmarks, RAPID Technology Explanation, Enhanced Benchmarks and then our Report Summary and Final Thoughts. If you find yourself seeking a specific piece of information, simply thumb through the pages until you find the heading that you seek.
PACKAGE CONTENTS AND PRICING
The Samsung 840 EVO SSD is a SATA 3 [6Gbps] solid state drive that is backwards compatible to SATA 2 and comes with a three year warranty. It is a 7mm thick form factor that can be purchased as a standalone SSD, or with notebook or desktop migration kits. It will be available in capacities of 120, 250, 500, 750GB and 1TB and MSRP is $109, $189, $369, $529 and $649 with migration kits typically adding $10-$15 to the price.
Check Samsung EVO SSD Pricing at Amazon!
POWER CONSUMPTION
Power management of SSDs seems to be of interest to many consumers as of late and Samsung has done their best to ensure great battery life through a typical power rating of 11mW and idle at 45mW for the 840 EVO. Considering that laptop SSDs are idle for 95% of the time, idle power consumption is key as it, not only extends battery life but also, reduces heat as well. In idle time, the Samsung 840 EVO uses 11 times less power than a hard drive.
It’s fair to say the Samsung SSD 840 and Samsung SSD 840 Pro ranges caused something of a stir when they arrived earlier this year. Offering class-leading speeds and competitive pricing, both instantly shot to the top of the charts, with the 840 Pro being the choice for heavy duty work and the 840 the top mainstream option.
Now Samsung is back with a new addition to the 840 range in the shape of the Samsung SSD 840 Evo. This replaces the non-Pro 840, offering greater capacities and higher transfer speeds, with particularly high gains for the low capacity drives. However, it still leaves the 840 Pro as the premium product in the 840 series.
The reason for this is, if you recall from our review of the SSD 840 and SSD 840 Pro, the principle difference between those two drives is that the 840 uses 3-bit NAND cells [TLC], whereas the SSD Pro uses 2-bit NAND [MLC]. This extra bit allows the former drive to store twice as much information in the same amount of space but also brings with it greater complexity, which is why the drive is slower [and has a shorter lifespan too]. The new Evo line uses this same type of NAND but by utilising a raft of new tricks it has markedly improved performance.
Before we look deeper at those changes, the first thing to note about the SSD 840 Evo is that it uses NAND manufactured on a new smaller process, moving from 21nm to 19nm. That may not sound like a huge difference but it has allowed Samsung to offer the Evo range in sizes up to 1TB, doubling the previous highest capacity in the 840 series. This alone is cause to sit up and pay attention as, along with the Crucial 960GB M500, this means we are finally seeing SSDs get to the point where they can become not just a boot drive but a full system drive, at least if your media collection isn’t too large.
There is a downside to a smaller manufacturing process, though, which is that as the process shrinks so the lifespan of the NAND is reduced. This is due to the oxide layers that trap electrons in the NAND also becoming smaller, and it’s these layers that wear out overtime. However, Samsung has put a great deal of effort into reducing the impact of this, to the point where the Evo drives still come with a three year warranty like the 840 before [the Pro has a five year warranty].
This also explains the rounded-number capacities of the drives, with 120GB rather than 128GB and 250GB rather than 256GB, etc. This is down to a higher proportion of NAND being set aside for wear levelling and other housekeeping duties, as compared to the Samsung SSD 840 Pro, for instance, which is actually rated as a 128GB drive.
Moreover, recent torture tests on the existing 840 series showed that it could survive 3,152 write cycles totalling 745TB of data before errors occurred. Taking into account an average user write amplification factor [the difference between the write commands sent to the SSD and the actual number of writes executed internally by the SSD] of 3 and assuming an overly-high average of 30GB of writes per day, this means the drive would last 24 years. Although this may be reduced slightly by the reduction in manufacturing process geometry it is still likely the average drive will outlast any typical system build.
So, thanks to this new NAND, the Samsung SSD 840 Evo range is available in sizes of 120GB, 250GB, 500Gb, 750GB and 1TB. As you'd expect, performance drops the lower the capacity of the drive but what's notable is how much less it drops compared to previous generation drives. This is where the real trickery of the Samsung SSD 840 Evo range comes in...
Is Samsung 840 EVO good?
The Bottom Line. Whether you're a regular user or even an enthusiast, the Samsung 840 EVO [500GB] has the best price/performance ratio of any internal solid-state drive [SSD] you can buy today.
How fast is Samsung 840 SSD 120GB?
In terms of processing strength, it offers sequential read speeds up to 530MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 130MB/s.
Is Samsung EVO SSD good?
TechRadar VerdictThe Samsung 870 Evo is a fantastic SATA SSD, but it's competing for a place on a computer budget that can be much better filled by PCIe SSDs that prove better in almost every way without even bumping up the price.
How fast is Samsung EVO 840?
The 840 EVO is rated for sequential read speeds of up to 540 MB/s and 410 MB/s write; random IOPS reach up to 94K for reads and 35K for writes.