Review Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series: 256 GB

Samsung claims to be the only manufacturer which produces all the necessary parts for its SSDs. NAND memory, Firmware, Controller and DRAM cache are all developed by Samsung. This supposedly improves the quality, performance and price of the final device. Of course, Samsung is doing the same for the SSD 840 Pro series, which is aimed at tech enthusiasts and IT professionals. This series takes its place in the high-end SSD category.

The new 840 series uses a different controller than the SSD 830 series: the new controller is named MDX. The controller is comprised of 3 ARM-Cortex-R4 cores running at 300 MHz. The cache amounts to 512 MB LPDDR2-1066 (256 MB LPDDR2-800 in the SSD 830 series). The important Toggle 2.0 NAND memory chips (400 MB/s) are also new and produced in the 21 nm format (830 series is equipped with 27 nm Toggle 1.0 NAND - 133 MB/s). Despite the "Pro" tag, the 840 Pro series does not use any capacitors which would allow files to be transferred from the cache to the NAND chips if a blackout occurred.

At launch, Samsung will offer 4 versions of the 2.5" 7 mm 840 Pro (recommended retail price and in brackets the cheapest street prices - from 10.12.2012):

• 64 GB - 99.90 Euros (99.90) (~$129)
• 128 GB - 149 Euros (124.05) (~$192, ~$160)
• 256 GB - 269 Euros (219.97) (~$348, ~$284)
• 512 GB - 579 Euros (478.42) (~$749, ~$619)

For now, an mSATA version of the drive is only being produced as OEM (PM840?).

For our tests, we used a precursor model of the 256 GB drive. As for the 830 series, the new series will offer upgrade kits which include a drive holder, a USB 2.0 cable and software. Samsung has created new software for the 840 series so it is simple to replace the current hard drive/SSD with a new Samsung SSD. The software is named "Samsung Data Migration" and, in a short test, it impressed us by cloning the HDD while Windows was running.

Samsung is also working on new Magician software, which will offer additional features such as the number of written bytes, integrity scan, etc. A version of the Magician software is planned for 2013 for Apple Mac OS X.

In comparison to the current SSDs which use the Sandforce SF-2000 controllers, the performance of the Samsung 840 series is not dependent on the compressibility of files. Interestingly, the write speeds are not as constant as those of our SSD 830 sample. The diagram of the Intel SSD 520 clearly shows how dependent the Sandforce controller is on compressible files to achieve the maximum write rate (read rates are slightly dependent).

We let the IOMix profile run on the entire SSD for 60 minutes to perform a stress test. This should test the performance drop in filled SSDs which have been at load for longer periods of time. SSDs with more "Over-Provisioning" should have an advantage.

The 840 series performs very well. They start lower than the 830 series but can leave them behind with an average 49 MB/s (840 Pro) and 52 MB/s (840) (830 - 38 MB/s). The Intel 520 series remains in the lead with its 200 MB/s and loses slightly in the IOMix test.

In our practical test, we used a good old stopwatch to measure the performance of the SSD as a system disk. There is little difference between modern SSDs when booting into Windows 7 or even at the desktop. The boot times of the Samsung SSD 470, 830, 840 and 840 Pro are all around 28 to 30 seconds. Even the OCZ Octane, the Vertex 4 and the Intel SSD 520 have times within this region. As such, it is not possible to pick a clear winner.

This is not the case when copying the files of the game, Supreme Commander - Forged Alliance. The directory is 7.29 GB and contains 2,101 files. The Samsung SSD 840 Pro takes second place (slightly behind the SSD 830) in duplicating this folder on the SSD. The copying requires 43 to 45 seconds and is slightly slower than the constant 42 seconds of the 830. The Vertex 4 manages it in 46 seconds, but could take up to 64 seconds. As such, we give the Intel 520 the higher rank as it copies the folder in a relatively constant 48 seconds. The older 470 has a clear disadvantage due to the SATA-2 interface and requires 75 seconds (average).

In the AS SSD copy benchmark, the 840 Pro cannot deliver a constant result. However, in the best case, it leaves the competition far behind.

While starting the single-player mode of Battlefield 3, all modern SSDs require 19-20 seconds. Even the older SSD 470 requires only a second more. In comparison, a traditional Toshiba MK6461GSYN 640 GB 7200 rpm notebook HDD takes 72 seconds.

The power consumption of the SSDs is tested using two multimeters (current and voltage of a 5V wire) on our desktop PC, which we used previously to run benchmarks. According to Samsung, the idle power consumption is drastically reduced thanks to DMPI support. Despite the Regedit patch, this feature cannot be activated on the desktop. However, on notebooks, this feature should always be available. Our colleagues at TomsHardware ran a test on an older SATA-2 notebook platform and could confirm the manufacturer's claim of 0.04 W. Even in our test without DMPI, the idle power consumption of our test model is far better than that of the Intel competition.

At load, the Intel 520 can beat the 840 Pro and impresses us with the lowest power consumption while writing.

For a practical test, we installed modern SSDs in the precursor model of the Asus N56VM as the system drive, so as to measure the affect on the battery life. In the first battery life test, we used Battery Eater Reader to measure the max battery life of the notebook. In contrast to our usual testing procedure, the WLAN was on. For the second test, we ran the program profile IOMix in IOMeter on a small partition (<10 GB). This tested the battery life while the SSD is at load.

In comparison to the older 830, both 840 models are quite impressive. While idle, they place at the same great level (note: we used a brand-new 830, which has also undergone some optimizations). At IO load the 840 Pro can take a clear lead over the normal 840 and the 830. Both Intel models are beaten by a slight amount in the tests. We would like to mention that the Intel SSD 520 and the Samsung SSD 830 both achieve a slightly higher IOMix performance than the new 840.

The Samsung SSD 840 Pro is a high-end SSD which proves its worth in synthetic benchmarks and power usage.

The drive creates new records in the AS SSD and CrystalDiskMark benchmarks and places ahead of fast competitors like the Intel SSD 520 and OCZ Vertex 4.

The 840 Pro takes first place in PCMark 7. The first small weaknesses are found in the IOMeter profiles: IOMix and Workstation. It seems that the Intel and OCZ competition were optimized better for these scenarios.

In our practical tests, we once again noticed that the differences in performance at the top of the ladder are barely noticeable during use. While starting Windows 7 or Battlefield 3 even older SATA-2 SSDs could keep up.

The Samsung 840 Pro scores well in the power consumption and battery life sections. Even on the desktop, without DMPI support, the idle power usage is very good, and in comparison to the 830, the new model has received some improvements in read and write speeds. The 840 Pro puts the icing on the cake by delivering great run times in our notebook test.

The software delivered by Samsung is usually quite extensive and well-designed. It is even better than the software of competitors, like the OCZ SSDs. The question of reliability lies in the air as this is a new SSD. The SSD 830 has a great reputation and we expect the same of the 840 series. Careful buyers should wait a few months, so as to avoid any potential nasty surprises.

While we are talking about the SSD 830: it is available for extremely low prices (Oct. 2012) and will certainly be one of the biggest competitors of the 840 series, especially as the performance difference is barely noticeable in everyday use.