Samsung 850 Pro SSD Review: 3D Vertical NAND Hits Desktop Storage
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After winning an award last year for its 840 EVO, Samsung is ready to follow up with another high-end offering. The company's 850 Pro SSD merges the EVO's familiar MEX controller with 3D V-NAND. Does the combination justify an upgrade, or should you wait?
Samsung 850 Pro SSD Review: 3D Vertical NAND Hits Desktop Storage : Read more
Samsung 850 Pro SSD Review: 3D Vertical NAND Hits Desktop Storage : Read more
More about : samsung 850 pro ssd review vertical nand hits desktop storage
MoulaZX
June 30, 2014 8:34:55 PM
Related resources
Quote:
I 'just' ordered 2x Samsung EVO 120GB a few hours ago, then I stumbled onto this article. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Every freaking time I run into this, be it Storage, CPU, or GPU.... -_-I don't know if this really changes anything for you. Two EVOs are still going to be better than one 850 Pro in [most] every way. But I understand the sentiment!
Christopher Ryan
Score
2
tomfreak
June 30, 2014 9:12:39 PM
10tacle
June 30, 2014 9:52:06 PM
helper800
June 30, 2014 9:54:39 PM
razor512
June 30, 2014 9:56:27 PM
BestJinjo
July 1, 2014 2:05:08 AM
Looking forward to future generations of 3D Vertical Nand on M.2 / M.2 Ultra interface. Too bad SATA 3 is all maxed out and the next generation standards are not yet mainstream for the masses which is holding back SSD performance. As far as this drive goes, it's only slightly faster than MX100 but costs double. I don't think it's worth it. MX100 512GB sounds like a perfect stop-gap until M.2/SATAe drives arrive with 1-1.5TB/sec throughput. Perhaps Samsung will give us 95% of the performance for a fraction of the price in the 850 EVO.
Score
-1
MoulaZX
July 1, 2014 4:49:30 AM
Quote:
Quote:
I 'just' ordered 2x Samsung EVO 120GB a few hours ago, then I stumbled onto this article. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Every freaking time I run into this, be it Storage, CPU, or GPU.... -_-I don't know if this really changes anything for you. Two EVOs are still going to be better than one 850 Pro in [most] every way. But I understand the sentiment!
Christopher Ryan
Not quite. One is for my Desktop, the other is for my Father's Desktop.
For my Desktop, I'll be stepping up from 2x OCZ Vertex 2 60GB in RAID 0. Hope it'll be worth it...
Score
0
MoulaZX
July 1, 2014 5:00:31 AM
Quote:
Quote:
I 'just' ordered 2x Samsung EVO 120GB a few hours ago, then I stumbled onto this article. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Every freaking time I run into this, be it Storage, CPU, or GPU.... -_-I don't know if this really changes anything for you. Two EVOs are still going to be better than one 850 Pro in [most] every way. But I understand the sentiment!
Christopher Ryan
Not quite. One is for my Desktop, the other is for my Father's Desktop.
For my Desktop, I'll be stepping up from 2x OCZ Vertex 2 60GB in RAID 0. Hope it'll be worth it...
Score
0
cpy
July 1, 2014 5:19:30 AM
crawlgsx
July 1, 2014 6:14:18 AM
Quote:
Hmm, what's next for SATA? SATA4? SATA 3.2 (SATA Express) doesn't look like a long term solution. PCI-E is fine, but SATA is still so convenient.I disagree. SATA Express melds the convenience of SATA and pcie performance. With NVMe and Gen 3 PCIe, I think there WILL be much to like.
Christopher Ryan
Score
3
RedJaron
July 1, 2014 8:21:01 AM
arneberg
July 1, 2014 8:21:32 AM
xenol
July 1, 2014 8:23:10 AM
Part of me doesn't care about bandwidth. I've had Windows 7 load up much faster (as in the throbber didn't get to finish) on a laptop with a SATA 3Gbps interface than a desktop using the 6Gbps interface. And most of the time file accesses are small, but many.
I'd rather start seeing IOPS crank up to RAM levels.
I'd rather start seeing IOPS crank up to RAM levels.
Score
1
The main reason not to go to SATA 4 and double the throughput rate again is not a signalling issue. SATA was designed for rotating magnetic media. There are limitations that are removed in the rising standards, although the next generation of storage will probably find those brilliant improvements to be a bottleneck!
Score
0
I like the look of this drive, but it's not quite enough to get me to upgrade from my 840 Pro/ 840 EVO combo, especially at those prices. The warranty is a nice feature, though. This drive looks like the best we can ever expect from SATA3.
I have a board that has a 2 lane M.2 PCIe slot. Once I see a drive that performs as well or better than this in that form factor at 500-512GB, I'll go for that, and no sooner.
I have a board that has a 2 lane M.2 PCIe slot. Once I see a drive that performs as well or better than this in that form factor at 500-512GB, I'll go for that, and no sooner.
Score
0
coolitic
July 1, 2014 2:30:30 PM
rantoc
July 1, 2014 6:58:35 PM
mapesdhs
July 2, 2014 9:58:05 AM
MoulaZX writes:
> For my Desktop, I'll be stepping up from 2x OCZ Vertex 2 60GB in RAID 0.
> Hope it'll be worth it...
What model is your motherboard? If your system is just SATA2, the EVO may
or may not be quicker, kinda depends. I did loads of RAID0 tests using various
numbers of Vertex2E 120GB drives (tad quicker than the 60GB, but relevant
nonetheless). See:
http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/misc/ssd_tests.txt
Compared to a single 840 250GB or Vector 128GB, the 2xV2E/120 RAID0 was
quicker for sequential I/O, slower for 4K random read, 2X faster for 4K random
write, roughly the same for 4K/64-thread read/write (AS-SSD), faster for CDM
512K read, and slower for CDM 512K write (ignore the ATTO results, they're a
bit whacko anyway).
Alas I didn't have time to run the real-world app-start/load tests on the RAID0
configs, and I've not yet run the same tests with a SATA3 setup. Useful data
for users of older SATA2 systems though I hope, and here's some extra data
testing a Vector 256GB with various types of SATA2/3 so you can compare to
the Vector's SATA2 results above (note that the Vector shows up fairly well
in the 850 Pro review, so it's a good model for this sort of general testing):
http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/misc/sata_vector_tests.txt
Overall, I think you'll be happy with the EVOs, though TBH I'm surprised you
didn't go for a couple of MX100 256GB units; I would have I think. Mind you,
for reliability I'd probably change my mind at the last minute & buy Samsungs.
Ian.
> For my Desktop, I'll be stepping up from 2x OCZ Vertex 2 60GB in RAID 0.
> Hope it'll be worth it...
What model is your motherboard? If your system is just SATA2, the EVO may
or may not be quicker, kinda depends. I did loads of RAID0 tests using various
numbers of Vertex2E 120GB drives (tad quicker than the 60GB, but relevant
nonetheless). See:
http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/misc/ssd_tests.txt
Compared to a single 840 250GB or Vector 128GB, the 2xV2E/120 RAID0 was
quicker for sequential I/O, slower for 4K random read, 2X faster for 4K random
write, roughly the same for 4K/64-thread read/write (AS-SSD), faster for CDM
512K read, and slower for CDM 512K write (ignore the ATTO results, they're a
bit whacko anyway).
Alas I didn't have time to run the real-world app-start/load tests on the RAID0
configs, and I've not yet run the same tests with a SATA3 setup. Useful data
for users of older SATA2 systems though I hope, and here's some extra data
testing a Vector 256GB with various types of SATA2/3 so you can compare to
the Vector's SATA2 results above (note that the Vector shows up fairly well
in the 850 Pro review, so it's a good model for this sort of general testing):
http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/misc/sata_vector_tests.txt
Overall, I think you'll be happy with the EVOs, though TBH I'm surprised you
didn't go for a couple of MX100 256GB units; I would have I think. Mind you,
for reliability I'd probably change my mind at the last minute & buy Samsungs.
Ian.
Score
1
BestJinjo said:
Looking forward to future generations of 3D Vertical Nand on M.2 / M.2 Ultra interface. Too bad SATA 3 is all maxed out and the next generation standards are not yet mainstream for the masses which is holding back SSD performance. As far as this drive goes, it's only slightly faster than MX100 but costs double. I don't think it's worth it. MX100 512GB sounds like a perfect stop-gap until M.2/SATAe drives arrive with 1-1.5TB/sec throughput. Perhaps Samsung will give us 95% of the performance for a fraction of the price in the 850 EVO. Price/performance are not the only factors to consider here. You have much greater write endurance with the 850 as well as being much better in performance consistency & latency. Those factors alone might convince you to use these in servers instead of some 15k SAS drives. I wouldn't consider the Crucial MX100 for a server, but I would consider the Samsung 850 Pro.
Score
1
Toddskins
July 3, 2014 2:00:57 AM
I think that most of you who are nay-saying, completely miss the point. For one, the "out the gate" price on the 850 is typical of all business leaders competing for pole position. The price helps to reaffirm it as the superior product. Then, the price begins to drop into the reach of the masses. It's normal. Next, not being happy about the newest invention because it seems to be throttled by the SATA 3 protocol is silly. There is ALWAYS a mismatch between current uses, existing technology, and technologies on the drawing board. Nobody stops developing because the other has not caught up yet.
If I had some to invest, I'd be buying Samsung stock right now.
Good Job SAMSUNG! Hear, hear!
If I had some to invest, I'd be buying Samsung stock right now.
Good Job SAMSUNG! Hear, hear!
Score
0
cmartin011
July 4, 2014 9:13:01 AM
mapesdhs
July 4, 2014 9:35:55 AM
That's why I keep saying Intel should update the 'mainstream' chipset to have 32 lanes,
not the woeful 16 it has atm, and then move whatever happens after X99 upwards to 80
or something, so 6/8/10/etc.-core top-end systems can have full x16/x16/x16/x16
CF/SLI/Gcompute without the need for PLEX chips or somesuch, in both cases leaving
plenty of lanes left over to provide all the new storage connections without having to mess
around with lane allocations and port choices. Are you listening, Intel? Make it good, I'll buy it.
Ian.
not the woeful 16 it has atm, and then move whatever happens after X99 upwards to 80
or something, so 6/8/10/etc.-core top-end systems can have full x16/x16/x16/x16
CF/SLI/Gcompute without the need for PLEX chips or somesuch, in both cases leaving
plenty of lanes left over to provide all the new storage connections without having to mess
around with lane allocations and port choices. Are you listening, Intel? Make it good, I'll buy it.
Ian.
Score
2
Quote:
I think that most of you who are nay-saying, completely miss the point. For one, the "out the gate" price on the 850 is typical of all business leaders competing for pole position. The price helps to reaffirm it as the superior product. Then, the price begins to drop into the reach of the masses. It's normal. Next, not being happy about the newest invention because it seems to be throttled by the SATA 3 protocol is silly. There is ALWAYS a mismatch between current uses, existing technology, and technologies on the drawing board. Nobody stops developing because the other has not caught up yet.If I had some to invest, I'd be buying Samsung stock right now.
Good Job SAMSUNG! Hear, hear!
I think Samsung probably has the best margins in the business, but I also believe that the new 3D NAND is still in its early production phases. One day, all the flash that Samsung crams in its consumer electronics devices will most likely be V-NAND. But for now, it makes sense to use what little flash can be made in SSDs.
And yeah, that means slapping a fairly high sticker on it. Most people do not need this drive, and for those I say look to Crucial or the EVO, or any of the other mainstream solutions.
Don't get disheartened because SATA III still holds these drives back. First, it's not just SATA but AHCI, and second, the AHCI-based PCIe solutions (including the XP941) aren't much better than one 850 Pro.
Regards,
Christoper Ryan
Score
0
wolverine96
July 6, 2014 7:56:44 PM
Brogan
July 10, 2014 6:11:13 PM
wolverine96
July 10, 2014 7:37:04 PM
I'm not so sure the price will go up after release. It might a little bit, but I doubt by more than 10%. More than likely, due to market forces developing right now, we're likely to see these drop by 15-20% over the next 6 months. Other manufacturers are developing their technology and production techniques as well. We're going to have competing drives at lower prices pretty soon, and that will force prices down. It's a good time to be needing SSDs.
Unfortunately for me, I have two of the higher end drives already. The upgrades available would give me less than a 5% boost. These are great drives, but they're just not for me right now. If my 840 Pro or 840 EVO go out, then I'll buy an 850 Pro.
Unfortunately for me, I have two of the higher end drives already. The upgrades available would give me less than a 5% boost. These are great drives, but they're just not for me right now. If my 840 Pro or 840 EVO go out, then I'll buy an 850 Pro.
Score
0
Draven35
July 20, 2014 4:47:40 AM
Shooterz
July 25, 2014 2:42:01 AM
Brogan
July 25, 2014 10:04:43 PM
Shooterz said:
I need help connecting the wires that connect to the mother board connect to the hard drive and connect to the disc drive correctly for a Dell computer towerPost a question on the main forum under the storage category giving more detail about your difficulty and I'm sure you will get an answer in minutes.
Score
0
at00
August 13, 2014 1:41:26 PM
fwupow
August 20, 2014 9:38:27 PM
Bought one today from Amazon, They charged me 119.99 at the time. I'm gonna put it in my desktop PC. I've never had an SSD before. I was sold on the V-Nand and the performance. I also don't like buying old technology when something newer and better has come out. I'm not a power-user, but can your PC ever power-up fast enough? Mine is OFF most of the time, but when I need to use it, I want it ON now! Everyday I have to put up with the misery of computers that sit there doing Lord-Only-Knows-What after I've pressed, clicked or entered something. The ultimate achievement in electronic devices is to build something that is instantly responsive. The user experience has actually deteriorated in some areas like web-surfing, where there are some many auto-play videos and ads that page load times get ridiculous. Well, anyhow, I can't wait to install this thing and discover how fast my PC goes from dead-cold OFF to apps open and ready. If it's drastically faster, then it's worth 120 bucks.
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0
4COM
August 25, 2014 6:59:12 AM
!