Samsumg 840 Pro or Intel 520?

I understand some of what I've been reading up on, but not all. My choice of drives is based primarily on ease of installation and reliability...coming from a mechanical HDD,I don't necessarily need the fastest. It's going to be used for OS and all programs, keeping my old drive for files.

I was set to purchase an Intel 520 120GB SSD for my two year old Vostro 460, and ran across the Sandforce issue. Hard for me to decipher whether Intel has ironed it out in drives they are now shipping, but decided to take a look at the Samsung 840 Pro as well. Any reason not to just go with the Samsung? Any handy utility goodies or special apps Intel gives you that Samsung doesn't? Prices are pretty comparable.

 

If compatibility is your main concern - keep trying different drive/controller/nand/firmware combinations until you find the magic mix for your Dell.

The reason to not buy a 'current' Samsung 840 Pro?

Real world performance is barely above a 2 year old M4... And, you get the privilege to pay substantially more for that honour too.

I would really recommend an SSD with 240/256GB capacity in any case - and up to 512GB for the M4 models and 'only' consider the 480/960GB capacities of the M500's.



The following post may also help you (indirectly...) too.

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...rage/718208-asus-ux32vd-db71.html#post9195364


If you have updated your BIOS (and all other firmware upgradeable components on the notebook) to the latest available, are running at least a clean install of Win7x64 SP1 or Win8x64 PRO (highly recommended for SSD's) and are still having issues - then consider a new platform to take advantage of the SSD's available - for the performance and the compatibility aspects too.

Good luck.

 

Neither. I would purchase a Samsung 830 Series SSD over both, or perhaps the new Crucial M500.

 

Only need a 120GB drive. My 500 GB with everything, including all my music and photos, is only up to 110 GB, so exclucing those makes much above 120 a waste. Also, was looking at the 5 year warranty both drives offer. I don't run any games on this computer, and don't need bleeding edge speed, but to make it worth it, something noticeably faster than a 7200rpm HDD. A clean install of Windows is all I would do ;-).

 

I see you didn't read the other thread I suggested.

120/128GB SSD's and smaller (and 240GB M500's AND smaller) are in the 'not worth buying' category.


Why?

1) The controller's channels are not fully/optimally used.

2) The nand is not optimally interleaved.

3) The small capacity makes a modern Windows 7/8 install (with some programs and data) take the capacity used to the limit - at the time of purchase (not very forward thinking...) - not to mention that the small capacity does not leave any 'extra' to leave for Over Provisioning (OP) to enhance the performance and reliability of the nand, sustained, over time by reducing the Write Amplification (WA) and the detrimental effects (to the nand's health) of GC (garbage collection).



Will small SSD's work? Sure. Will they slow down/die faster than larger drives with extra OP'ing? Sure. Will they slow down to effectively slower than HDD levels. Yes.


If you know that you'll replace the system when the performance plummets - go ahead and enjoy the 120/128GB capacity for a few weeks/months.

If you want the system to be worth something and still be usable when you'll eventually want to upgrade - spend a little more now, do a proper clean install once and enjoy the system until you want to upgrade it - at the 'SSD' performance level you expect, for the life of the system.


Good luck.

 

I just read the link you provided, thank you;-). I'm not at the computer I'm upgrading to double check the size Windows + programs are taking up, but seems to me it was under 35GB. I know there will be more added over time, but not a lot. Do I need 80GB of headroom?

I totally believe in your idea of spend a little more now to last a while and be worth the trouble, but money is a little tight right at the moment so I have to do some serious prioritizing. Is the 128 noticeably slower than the 256+ sizes? The sustained sequential write speeds for the Samsung 840 256GB are listed at 130GB/sec faster than the 128GB version, with most other stats listed very similar, but it's $100 more.

I don't install many new programs so I don't see getting past 50 or 60 GB of total HD capacity usage for a long time. How much extra capacity will the drive need for OP? Like I said, I don't pretend to understand all the technical aspects of this, so thank you for the help.

 

First, if you are on a tight budget - saving for a little longer is the wisest thing to do.

Second, yes. I really believe that with today's SSD's we do need that much additional 'headroom'.


For OP - I have settled on 30% of the actual available to Windows 8 x64 Pro - meaning for a 120GB 'nominal' capacity SSD:

120 x 1000 x 1000 x 1000 = 120,000,000,000

120,000,000,000 / 1024 / 1024 / 1024 = ~111GB (true capacity in GB).

111 x 0.70 = 78GB total usable space available.

From this: Windows needs around 25GB free... which leaves 53GB available to the user for the O/S, Programs and data he/she needs.


If we consider the 240GB capacity models:

The SSD gives us ~223GB (true capacity in GB).

Which gives us 156GB total usable space available.

Which less the 25GB 'free' space for Windows - leaves us with ~131GB available to the user...


So we get ~78GB more 'usable' capacity in addition to better nand/controller channel configuration with the bigger capacities. Definitely worth the 'small', one time $100 price difference over the expected lifetime of the system.



See:
AnandTech | The Crucial/Micron M500 Review (960GB, 480GB, 240GB, 120GB)

Take a look at the above link and note the 120GB capacity write speeds especially - this kind of 'performance' on a new SSD (it will get much worse with use...) is within reach of some HDD already...


See:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013...yper_gold_128gb_slc_ssd_review/8#.UZEU2iTna00


Another look at 120GB capacity 'performance' levels. All seem to be at the bottom of the pack...


Save your money, and jump into the deep end of the SSD pond - you won't break your head diving in - and the experience is much more enjoyable than simply wading and just getting your feet wet.


Good luck.