Internals, Testing Methodology and System Setup
Internals:
Opening an 840 EVO requires the removal of 3 pentalobe screws, two of which are hidden behind the drive label:
Once open we see the goods:
Samsung have opted for a 1.8" PCB, just as they did back with the 470 Series. While the 470 had 16 flash packages crammed within its smaller PCB, the 840 EVO enjoys much more free space.
The full 1TB is contained within only 8 flash packages, meaning Samsung is stacking those 19nm 128Gb dies 8-high within each package. It also means that if they choose to expand this to a full 2.5mm PCB design, Samsung could easily take this model to a 2TB (or higher) capacity point within a 2.5 inch package. Here's a final close-in shot of the new controller:
Testing Methodology
Our tests are a mix of synthetic and real-world benchmarks. PCMark, IOMeter, HDTach, HDTune, Yapt and our custom File Copy test round out the selection to cover just about all bases. If you have any questions about our tests just drop into the Storage Forum and we'll help you out!
Test System Setup
We currently employ a pair of testbeds. Our trusty Z68 SandyBridge testbed sits along side a newer ASUS P8Z77-V Pro/Thunderbolt.Results between both boards have been +/- 2% of each other – well within the best data scatter of a typical benchmark.
PC Perspective would like to thank ASUS, Corsair, and Kingston for supplying some of the components of our test rigs.
| Hard Drive Test System Setup | |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-2500K |
| Motherboard | Asus P8Z68-V Pro |
| Memory | Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR3-2133 CL9 |
| Hard Drive | G.Skill 32GB SLC SSD |
| Sound Card | N/A |
| Video Card | Intel® HD Graphics 3000 |
| Video Drivers | Intel |
| Power Supply | Corsair CMPSU-650TX |
| DirectX Version | DX9.0c |
| Operating System | Windows 7 X64 |
- PCMark05
- Yapt
- IOMeter
- HDTach
- HDTune
- PCPer File Copy Test
- Write Caching Test
Thank you for the quick
Thank you for the quick review sir. Personally I would call this a no question automatic upgrade for a new PC build. I’m interested to hear your thoughts on where this stacks up in the grand scheme of things.
If the pricing holds (and
If the pricing holds (and that's a big IF since I have yet to see sub-$1/GB pricing hold), the EVO will become my default recommendation for everything but the most demanding enterprise use.
Then let us hope with fingers
Then let us hope with fingers crossed that the price roughly holds (within 10 – 20 dollars). Much appreciated sir.
I didn’t see in the article
I didn’t see in the article when these would be available- did I miss it, or are they not saying yet?
No hard date, but I’d imagine
No hard date, but I'd imagine as quickly as they can get them out there.
Great review.
As someone who
Great review.
As someone who is about to jump onto the SSD train;
1)It looks like several SSD makers are releasing new products now/very soon (so is it better to wait?)
2)I personally like the Corsair lineup, anyone heard anything if they are exiting the market?, seems like their SSD market is getting scarce.
, Thanks
Allyn Malventano: The last
Allyn Malventano: The last line of the article says “…Samsung 840 ECO…” instead of EVO.
Otherwise, love the article and insight!
LOL PCMO5? What the hell? and
LOL PCMO5? What the hell? and Iometer 2006? ROFLSAUCE! Its like I ran into an ’80’s website. Does your SSD wear parachute pants too?
If a tool works to accurately
If a tool works to accurately assess a product, why does it have to be made very recently?
An older product is also well understood and allows accurate comparisons to previous products that also tested with the same tools.
^ this.
^ this.
Is there any benefit these
Is there any benefit these days (performance or stability) to having one SSD for OS, another for programs and a third for data? Back in the day I used to have the OS on its own partition or even different drive, so it wouldn’t get all fragged up. I currently have a 120GB OCZ Vertex3 for OS, 1TB Samsung Spinpoint for progs and 500GB WD Black for data and trying to eliminate spinning drives for new build.
Hey Allyn, thanks for the
Hey Allyn, thanks for the great review. It looks like the bug you caught to get this review out may have been worth it, and I hope that you get well soon! How well do you think these drives will perform in a RAID-0 setup with say an Intel controller on either Ivybridge or Haswell systems?
They should be just fine, so
They should be just fine, so long as the partition is correctly aligned (not an issue for Vista and newer). There may be a slight performance hit due to TRIM not passing through to a RAID-0 (which is still a mixed bag as far as it actually working), but it should be minimal impact for regular usage.
I think in the case of
I think in the case of workloads with very little writing like a file server, the 840 EVO and similar SSDs could be an interesting replacement for something like this: http://accessories.ap.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=400-20233
With a significantly lower $/GB and better read performance.
Is there a concern that the
Is there a concern that the flash in the turbowrite buffer is going to die early? or does it get load balanced around the drive? I was sort of expecting the buffer to actually be SLC, but if it is just making TLC operate as SLC is that functionally equivalent to it being SLC?
Allyn Malventano
What is the
Allyn Malventano
What is the update on the 840 EVO problems?
http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/2g1jfi/seems_that_the_samsung_840_evo_is_notorious_for/
Thanks
If they don’t fix the problem you should downgrade the review to Bronze or worse. 🙂
I bought this drive on PCPERs recommendation and now I’m pissed.
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