Samsung 15" Series 9 NP900X4C with Ivy Bridge CPU

can i have some opinions:

would a older samsung ssd (470 series SATA II) be superior to the Sandisk U100?
i ask because i have a spare 64gb SSD of this type lying around the house.

 

What is better for a notebook? Magnesium or aluminium?

 

after looking at the new apple stuff, I think I'm just going to wait until sammy fixes their stuff. rather have inch series 9 with proper PLS/IPS and sammy SSD for same price/cheaper than apple.

 

Does that mean the X4D is silver, rather than the greyish-blue of the X4C?

 

I have to say that, even though I absolutely despise Apple's operating system and user interface (YUCK!), I broke down and bought the new IPad when it was released for the screen alone. I like it, but it's quirky and unsatisfying for anything other than surfing, reading and few other non-work (i.e. non-typing) things. Even though the new MBP is very tempting with the retina display, I just can't go that far.

Anxiously awaiting my NP900X4C-A03US on order from Amazon.

P.S. SAMSUNG - PLEASE TAKE NOTE SINCE I KNOW YOU FOLLOW THIS FORUM. I would have gladly have paid you a couple hundred dollars extra for a full 1080p screen. I would have paid even more for an equivalent to the retina display. Get it together boys!!!

 

Depends on the CrystalMark benchmark ratings.

My 2 year old Intel X-25M SATA II SSD in my Dell absolutely destroys the crap SSD in my Series 9. So much so, the S9 actually feels slower and less responsive despite double the RAM and a faster processor.

I am not sure how much longer I can tolerate it to be honest. The keyboard was my main concern, but I am coping ok with that. This SSD needs to be ran over by a truck, ground to dust then burned & replaced with something decent ASAP.

I'd say that is subjective.

Aluminium if you like the looks of eg: EliteBook, Mac, Series 9 or Magnesium if you prefer the looks of Dell Latitude, Lenovo ThinkPad etc.

Magnesium is lighter, very durable, doesn't attract finger prints and is scratch-resistant.

Aluminium arguably looks better, but is heavier, some surfaces can attract finger prints and is prone to scratching - watch out for watch straps on the palm rests!

 

Where are you seeing the information in the NP900X4D? Are you looking at a Korean site, something in the UK, or USA?

I was trying to figure that one out. LOL



Nevermind. It's on the Samsung USA website in the color I want. Praise the lord. FINALLY !!!

Gallery - Series 9 NP900X4D | Samsung Laptops

And it appears there is a NP900X4D-A02US coming in silver with 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, etc.

 

Wow there is now a NP900X4 D model? They shouldn't have just made a whole new letter change like that just for a case material and color change since a letter change represents a whole new generation. It should have been something like NP900X4C-A05US.

I wonder if the 13" will also get a magnesium body refresh.

 

Their whole model number system is crazy, it needs to be simplified. Not to mention that even CDW has no clue what's going on. They seem to think that the NP900X4C-A03US is discontinued, replaced by the NP900X4D. Yet they still show the NP900X4C-A01US and the NP900X4C-A02US.

 

Alright, I just spent the past couple of hours reading through this entire thread.

Question: Has anyone actually gotten their hands on a 900X3C? I think I am in the same boat as others in that I can live with the inferior screen on the X4B/X4C in order to get the extra real estate and additional/upgradable RAM. However, this is assuming that the X3C RAM isn't upgrabable.

I haven't seen anyone verify that the X3C has soldered in RAM like the X3B. If I am not mistaken, the X3A was upgradeable/swappable, so maybe there is hope yet for the X3C?

 

@atxguy

The ram is unfortunately not upgradable. We at the 13" forum have been clamoring for 8GB for months now. But I'm hoping the X3D will come soon with this option, otherwise might as well get a MBA.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/656442-13-3-samsung-np900x3c-ivy-bridge-cpu.html

 

Thanks for clarifying, go45cvi.

I think that seals it for me. I guess now it becomes a cost/benefit comparison between the 900X4C and whatever low price I can find the X4B going for.

 

Love mine, but strongly seconded!

 

I'm looking at NP900X4D-A02US. It's been there a week or so and might show up late June according to one supplier I contacted.

John

 

You might want to ask this question in the 900X3C thread instead so it doesn't go too off-topic.

Anyways, to answer your question, NP900X3C and NP900X3B are nearly identical in layouts, the only difference is that the X3C gets Ivy Bridge compared to Sandybridge in the X3B. Since dimensions and form factor is identical for everything else, then that also means memory is soldered on. When I disassembled my X3B, there is no possible they would fit in a dimm slot that would allow users to choose their own memory because this would add thickness to the motherboard. Soldering IC's directly on the motherboard saves space. Memory is not upgradable, so you'll have to live with whatever Samsung includes from the start. The SSD however, is upgradable.

 

Thanks, WhiteFireDragon. go45cvi made the same clarification.

Getting back to the 900X4C specifically, can someone clear up the matter of display outputs?

I remember someone posted an image of the left-side ports, and there was a mini displayport (see: http://images.amazon.com/images/G/0.../samsung-12q1-series9-15-profile-left-lg.jpg), but I believe that was chalked up to artist/engineer rendering and the port is not present on the units that were actually produced.

What port is present in place of mini displayport? Is it some proprietary connection for purpose of using VGA via dongle? I've looked at some close-ups of the side ports, but I am terrible at telling some of these ports apart.

I apologize if this has already been covered, but I do not recall seeing it anywhere, and for the life of me I cannot locate images that clearly identify/explain all the ports.

 

Sorry if this is answered somewhere else, I'm having a hard time wading through all the threads here... I am trying to remove the recovery partition to get the extra 23GB space (I have 900x4c - 128gb).

I removed the recovery partition fine.

But now I have my main partition, then hybernation partition, then 22GB unallocated. How do I get that unallocated expanded to my main partition? I'm a bit unclear on what the hybernation partition even does but assuming it helps with quickstart or otherwise makes the machine quicker I'm fine to leave that. I just need to move it to the end. How do I do this??

 

Go to the Samsung support site and get the User Guide. That explains each port.

John

 

Thanks for the tip, John. I am such a newbie.

 

@cglubish - someone posted this earlier, if it helps. having to do with the order of the partitions

 

Can anyone recommend a FAST replacement 128GB SSD in the UK please? Amazon list OCZ, Runcore & MyDigital. The Runcore seems the best but it's very expensive. Anyone know how the others compare to the appalling SanDisk?


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I'm thinking about putting my samsung PM830 mSATA 128gb up in the marketplace soon for about $200. This is the one that originally came with my S9 NP900X3B, so let me know if you want it before I put it up.

 

Maybe, will give it some thought but would prefer new I think. Thanks.


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In windows ordering matters so you can only expand a partition in one direction to an adjacent partition. You could monkey around with gparted if you like (at your own risk). I would just make a full system image (you should do this whatever you do) and reinstall windows though. Pretty sure if you delete the hybernation partition you can rebuild it with the fast start driver. Yes, that one is for the quick resume.

edit: nevermind, just delete the hibernation, expand and rebuild per samsungseries9

Why not just go to 256GB? There's plenty of these coming out right now. I understand the sandisk is garbage, but don't get too obsessed with performance numbers. YMMV, but at some point it is a game of diminishing returns (e.g. 40k 400MBs is fine).

Here's one, I think it's a much better deal than a $200 gently used 128GB (no offence whitedragon).

MyDigitalSSD 256GB 50mm BP3 Bullet Proof 3 mSATA 6G SSD | My Digital Discount

 

Wow that's actually a great deal. I was thinking of selling the samsung PM830 128gb that came with the notebook so I can upgrade to the same PM830 in 256gb, but if that mSATA you linked performs better, I might go with that one instead. How are the performance of that BP3 SSD compared to the PM830?

No worries, no offense taken.

 

Not sure what your budget is but you can get Samsung drives from Overclockers via the following links:

Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128N/EU) [MZ-7PC128N/EU]

Samsung 256GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC256N/EU) [MZ-7PC256N/EU]

They also include all the kit you need to transfer your data as per their demo on the UK website here:

256GB 2.5-inch SSD SATA III (Notebook) with Norton Ghostâ„¢ 15 - SAMSUNG UK - OVERVIEW

Cheers.

PS. Just noticed that the 256GB model is listed at only £15 more than the 128GB!

 

Not obsessed by ratings, it's the real world performance that's the problem - its SLOWER than my three year old Dell with 2 year old Intel SSD! And noticeably so.

I may go 256gb if they're not too expensive but having just shelled out over £1k for a new laptop I'm not overly keen on spending more on an upgrade quite so soon.

If I don't upgrade, I'd sooner use my old laptop because it is quicker.


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Those Samsung SSD links are 2.5" SSDs, the S9 uses smaller mSATA drives.

 

then you did quite well. crooked tree by darkhorse.

re: John->

I updated the blog to add the photo of the x4c's battery (I wanted both batteries in for comparison)

 

Even cheaper at ebuyer. Unfortunately, whatever the price, the Samsung 830 or anything similar will not fit in the X4C (or any other Series 9). You have to find a 50mm mSATA SSD. These devices are currently quite rare in the UK retail chain. Let me know what you can find. Crucial are now manufacturing these parts so maybe they will start coming through. Samsung had said that that all their production will go straight into computers.

Thanks. That's a significant amount of extra capacity. Have you done any battery rundown tests?

John

 

Ah, that'll explain the considerable price difference...

Seems the mSATA drives are a niche product at the moment as my favourite component retailers don't have much to choose from (Scan, Aria, Overclockers).

It's interesting to review the performance specs of the Sandisk vs some of the others, they rate their read/write quite highly but it appears real world performance does not match up.

 

Copying large files breezes through but compiling code or launching Event Viewer or other tools is as slow as a mechanical disk in my opinion. These are things I do all the time as a developer.


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The SSD review took a look at a 32GB from the same manufacturer with the same controller, gave it a thumbs up. He hasn't review this one, or anything else lately. Crucial should also have drives in the market very soon (up to 512GB!).

edit: Nevermind he did get it. Hasn't done the review yet. But he says the sandforce which is $320 for 256GB might actually be a high quality adata.

http://thessdreview.com/latest-buzz...s-high-performance-low-price-and-both-sata-3/

 

hi cowboycoder, i will be using my computer mainly for surfing the web.
is this the kind of task that will reveal the flaws of the sandisk u100 ?

 

I haven't noticed any particular slow-downs when surfing. On the contrary, the superior WIFI on the S9 actually makes things a bit snappier on that front.

It also depends where you're coming from. I had a top-of-the range SSD previously, so my expectations were very high from the start. If you're coming from a standard HDD, you'll find everything faster anyway.

Where I notice slow-downs in comparison to my Intel SSD is:

1) Launching SQL Management Studio (takes 8 seconds on the S9, takes 4 seconds on the Intel)

2) Launching The Event Viewer - takes 4-5 seconds on the S9, compared to about half a second on the Intel

3) Ditto opening Services

4) Compiling code in Visual Studio 2010

5) Boot up is interesting. It boots in 8 seconds dead on the S9 vs 15 seconds with the Intel, although the processor and RAM are also factors here, not to mention the optimisation software used by Samsung and Intel's IRST technology (I used vanilla AHCI with the Intel SSD). However, on the S9 once the Windows desktop has loaded everything seems very sluggish for another 15 seconds or so as the OS sorts itself out. On the Dell with the Intel disk, the OS is snappy and responsive the second the wallpaper is visible.

Despite a clean install, I still have 75+ processes running in Task Manager with the S9, whereas the Dell had only 45-ish. Looking at the services which are running, many seem to be doubled up - like four separate services for bluetooth for example. I need to disable what I never need to optimise this further - but it won't help with launching apps.

In benchmarking, the U100 has almost double the sequential read/write of the Intel, but this is only relevant to copying large files (hibernating the laptop for example - which may explain it's common choice as an SSD in Ultrabooks).

However, for everyday use it's the smaller 4k read/writes which are important and on this front it is approx 8 times slower than the Intel SSD (although still several times faster than a mechanical HDD).

As I say, it really depends on your usage and what you do with your system. I'm just ultra-picky and for me, it feels like trading in a three year old Porsche for a 1.6 Ford Focus (and a diesel one, at that!).

U100 aside, performance in other areas is very acceptable - even the ULV processor out-performs my previous Core 2 Duo (1.7GHz vs 2.53GHz).

 

I've got the U100 in my X3B and don't think the SSD will cause you problems in normal usage. Lack of RAM is the main cause of slow-downs on my X3B but the CPU (effectively 2GHz) is also slower than in my previous computer. Some compromise on performance is a side-effect of better portability.

@ Cowboycoder: Did you run any other storage benchmarks to get further opinions on the SSD performance. I suggest SiSoftware Sandra since you can compare your results with the online database.

John

 

@John

I can only find a handful of suitable mSata drives in the UK, excluding 256GB (I only need 120GB, and Runcore as they're well expensive):

MyDigital (not a brand I've heard of - anyone know how these perform?):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294

OCZ - these can be quite decent but this appears to be SATA II not SATA III:

OCZ Technology Nocti NOC-MSATA-120G 120 GB Internal Solid State Drive - WAE+

I think it may well pay to keep what I have for 3/4 months until more come into the market?

I didn't because after getting a WEI score of 5.6 and poor CrystalMark ratings, I re-installed the chipset driver and the Windows rating jumped to 7.4 and CrystalMark improved too.

I know these things are optimised for battery life but how do people find performance in general running on battery power?

I use mine on the 'Balanced' power plan. On battery it seems like everything is running at half power (I've checked power settings and they look fine).

As soon as I plug in, everything is much faster. I only ask because my Dell performed just as well on battery power as it did on the mains, when using 'Balanced' mode.

 

I just ordered the NP900x4c-A01CA from staples, free next day shipping. Looking forward to finally getting my hands on it. Although, if I end up loving it, I may have to return it and order it from the US, as in Canada they force me to have the bilingual keyboard, which I just can't get used to using. Also, they sell the A01CA for 1499, so two good reasons. I am probably an average user compared to some of the graphic designers and coders here, so I am interested to see what I think of the screen in comparison others thoughts.

 

HWiNFO will confirm, but I think that the CPU stays on 800MHz when running on battery. This hits the performance if you are doing any work but also stops a heavily load CPU draining the battery in an hour or two.

If you want more speed then try the High performance power option in Easy Settings or go into the Windows power options and try increasing the Maximum processor state under Processor power management. Mine is set to 50% under battery.

John

 

I would watch what is going on with HWiNFO64. It sounds like it is being throttled on battery.

 

Sorry these are just SATA drives; good value but not mSATA so they won't fit in the series 9.

I believe Micron/Crucial are releasing their great M4 SATA drive in mSATA form soon.

 

I see a lot of you are not so happy with their Sandisk SSD speed.

I did the Crystal DiskMark and got the attached results. Are these roughly what you also get? I can notice the low speed when using photoshop etc. so I am disappointed by Samsungs decision to use this SSD in their most premium device.

 

Yep pretty much. Although some SSD suppliers quote the figures in the top box, it's really the bottom two you need to worry about for 'snappy' performance.

By comparison, my Intel SSD has a figure nearer 48MB in those boxes and is considerably quicker.

 

Any idea if this is going to be available in the regular retail channels? I'm a little worried since it's showing up in the business section of the Samsung site. I'd like to see at CostCo, BestBuy, Amazon, etc.

First of all, I would recommend always running more than one synthetic benchmark tool before formulating an opinion. I like AS SSD and ATTO Disk Benchmark.

Here's my Crystal DiskMark with Windows 8 on my ThinkPad T420 using the Samsung 256GB Series 830 SSD.

 

Now that's what all SSDs should be. Either way, I am returning the S9 tomorrow. Really disappointed on several fronts. I'm sticking to Latitude/EliteBook/ThinkPad in the future. Consumer stuff always bites you in the bum.


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Hi there,

Could anyone owning the laptop comment on fan noise? My ears have been struck by a noisy T420s (problem aggravated by a crap BIOS, but the fan itself had an unplesant high frequency sound) and by a super noisy Vaio S, hence I am particularly sensitive to noise emissions now. Particularly, I am looking for a laptop that stays quiet unless I do some serious work with it, where serious means maxing out the cores, not playing a HD movie. Using my previous T420s, no matter what the DVD movie I was watching, the laptop wanted me to believe to be seeing "Top Gun". I can't handle this anymore, I deserve some silence!

Would it be too much trouble to record the fan noise while running some exhotic benchmarks?

Cheers,
Alessandro

Could I ask what didn't work besides the crappy SSD? I am looking at buying this machine in the future, and having been bitten by previous purchases I do not want to miss possible cons.

Thanks a lot!

 

I found the keyboard difficult to type on (I spend all day coding so it's really important).

Other than that and the SSD it's fine, although I'll never buy form over function again.


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So any idea what brand 128GB ssd is inside those (I7 1.9 GHz) notebooks available in Nordic countries? The same "crappy" Sandisk?

 

To expand on Jussi's question above, are most of you who are expressing disappointment in receiving Sandisk SSDs located in the UK/purchasing UK models? I believe woodpile snagged a 900X4C-A03US and it came with a Sammy SSD.

Also, I spent some time in the X4B thread, and it seemed like it was UK purchasers that were dealing with Sandisk SSDs while it seemed like most of the U.S. purchasers were noting Samsung SSDs.

So, is it basically Samsung SSDs in the U.S., Sandisk SSDs in Europe? Or is it a crapshoot? Or maybe the 128GB and 256GB have different chances of being Sammy vs Sandisk?

 

128GB are SanDisk, 256GB are Samsung.


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I live in Sweden and mine got an 128 GB Samsung SSD, and my
WEI scores 7.9 for the disk performance.

Per

I have had mine now for a couple of days and I haven't heard
the fan yet.

Then I have not been doing really heavy stuff, but I have installed
programs, watched HD videos, but the fan has never started.

Per