Samsung 830

[Ao1]

Here are some benchmarks for the 830, first on a SATA II Intel chipset, which will then be followed by benches using the SATA III Intel chipset.



The Toolbox







SATA II



SATA II Black OPS MP



SATA II Black OPS MP Throughput



AS SSD SATA II

[Ao1]

Result, turns out my mobo has two Intel SATA III ports.

Drive SE'd for SATA III benches

[Ao1]

Here is a summary of the 830 in SATA II & SATA III mode. I have also added a Vertex 2 into the mix. The summary covers 4 game traces, played back at the original timings. My understanding is that when the original timings are used latency becomes the major performance indicator. As can be seen from the results there is an insignificance difference in “real world” performance between any of the configurations.

I believe throughput is an average speed over the duration of the test. Peak through put for the 830 in SATA III was around 175MB/s. Peak through put for the 830 in SATA II was around 160MB/s. If anyone is interested I can provide the log files that can be used by the NAS Performance ToolKit Analyzer to provide more detailed information.

[Ao1]

A little more on the Toolbox. It’s significantly better than Intel’s Toolbox in terms of functionality. The GUI is nice as well.

Here are some screenshots of the built in benchmark app, which has a few user configuration options. I had been hitting the drive for 24 hours with 4K random writes before running the 1st bench. I then used the performance optimiser (it took a couple of mins to run) and it then proceeded to automatically run a new benchmark, which it then compared to the pre-optimised state.

I was hoping that by running the optimiser it would trigger an update in SMART attribute 177, but alas, no. Still all in all this a great little drive made all the better by the bundled hardware & software.

[johnw]

I notice that newegg is currently out of stock on 7 out of the 8 models of Samsung 830 SSD that they carry. I wonder if it means something. Could Samsung be holding new shipments to fix a firmware bug? Or is it just a screw up with supply chain logistics?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ame=SATA%20III

[minpayne]

Thanks Ao1, the SATA-II vs SATA-III comparison is all I've been looking for so hard!

[minpayne]

I notice that newegg is currently out of stock on 7 out of the 8 models of Samsung 830 SSD that they carry. I wonder if it means something. Could Samsung be holding new shipments to fix a firmware bug? Or is it just a screw up with supply chain logistics?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ame=SATA%20III

Hmm I guess it's just the supply chain got screwed up, cuz it's been several weeks since the big retailers in the UK said "ETA overdue" about the big 830 models. If it's a firmware problem that they're aware of, then they just need to release a firmware update. If it's a hardware problem then yes they need a recall.

[bluewhale1]

I just got the 830 as well. So for no problems. No freezing that i has with other ssd. Like the toolbox as well. I ordered it Wednesday just in time because after i checked out i went back to look at the specs again on newegg and it was sold out.

[minpayne]

For you guys interested in this SSD, there's a new firmware update released today (UK site link):

http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/mo...lDownload=true

US models should perhaps look for the firmware update on the US site? I guess their software can also update it.

[Ao1]

Well spotted. It’s not available yet via the auto toolbox update, but it can be installed from the toolbox once downloaded. 177 did not change after the f/w update, but it might be a bit early yet as I had only done a power cycle about an hour previously.

EDIT: yep 177 is fixed.

[tbone8ty]

yah Samsung magician toolbox says i have the latest firmware even though there's a new one on the Samsung site....why wouldn't the toolbox pick it up?

current firmware it shipped with is: CXM01B1Q

however new one on Samsung site is CXM02B1Q as of Jan 9th 2012

Edit: updated to new firmware anyways.... here are some results

[bluewhale1]

I cant seem to update the firmware on my 830. When i try it in windows i get a blue screen with words that can read because it reboots too fast. I tried the bootable cd but the words are so blurry i cant make them out

[adrianu]

Greetings. Just registered here!

bluewhale1, I had the very same problem. I guess you tried to update the FW while the 830 is your OS disk. Right? I tried it 2 times, and BSOD happened. I was a bit frigthened about it, but after a power cycle, it booted and was working without any problem. I was using the boot CD method, and it worked flawlessly, so I suggest you to do the same.

Do you think it could harm the drive, that the FW update failed 2 times?

[bluewhale1]

Greetings. Just registered here!

bluewhale1, I had the very same problem. I guess you tried to update the FW while the 830 is your OS disk. Right? I tried it 2 times, and BSOD happened. I was a bit frigthened about it, but after a power cycle, it booted and was working without any problem. I was using the boot CD method, and it worked flawlessly, so I suggest you to do the same.

Do you think it could harm the drive, that the FW update failed 2 times?

I tried to use the cd method at first but i could read the words. Text was blurry. I read the manual and just kept hitting the y(for yes). I rebooted and my ssd has the updated firmware. Other than that no troubles. When i get home ill try to take a picture of the screen to show everyone what i mean

[bluewhale1]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

This is what it looks like

[::Tiger::]

Greetings. Just registered here!

bluewhale1, I had the very same problem. I guess you tried to update the FW while the 830 is your OS disk. Right? I tried it 2 times, and BSOD happened. I was a bit frigthened about it, but after a power cycle, it booted and was working without any problem. I was using the boot CD method, and it worked flawlessly, so I suggest you to do the same.

Do you think it could harm the drive, that the FW update failed 2 times?

hey man, how do you update the FW with the CD method?

Thanks in advance!

[Ao1]

I downloaded the f/w update and installed it from the toolbox. No problem at all, although my drive is not running as an OS drive.

@adrianu. Welcome to the forum. As long as the f/w updated it should be fine. It’s really not good to have anything interrupt a f/w update as it can brick the device, but it seems you have been lucky.

It seems it might be a bug, I’d let Samsung know about it so they can take care of it.

[minpayne]

I just received my 512GB today. Updated the firmware by burning the ISO image to a CD-RW. I used a USB 3.0 enclosure to clone my Intel SSD via WinHex. However the ASU normal endurance testing is capped at around 100 MB/s average. Perhaps it has something to do with the DIPM stuff in laptop, or perhaps it's throttling due to high temperature (yeah this SSD is damn so hot, I mean, high temperature!). I'll leave it running for several loops to see if the 177 (0xB1) can update correctly without power cycling.

Edit: just confirmed that with the 02 firmware, my 830 can update the 177 (0xB1) correctly without having to power cycle it.

[Anvil]

I used the ISO to update my drives, not much different from other update utilities, no issues at all on my drives.

@minpayne

Did you remember to disable AV on the TEST folder?
Power Management does make a difference on laptops so you might try some of the tweaks found at notebookreview.
I for one prefer a balance with more battery hours and less heat than peak performance.

[minpayne]

^^ Ah Anvil thanks for the remind, you got it! I forgot to disable anti-virus. By disabling MSE the speed is now increasing...

Edit: now 144MB/s and still increasing, still not converged...

The first loop ended at somewhere with more than 100GB free, while the "Min GiB Free" is the default 12GB. Perhaps it has something to do with cloning the previous 300GB disk onto a 512GB disk?

Edit2: the average speed seems to be converged at around 145MB/s at the end of the loop. The loop still terminated with 117GB free. Weird.

Edit3: at the beginning of the loop it's like 180MB/s, and when approaching the end of the loop the temperature went up seriously (reached max 58C)...

[Anvil]

Could be that you need to increase the number if files for a single loop.
How much free space?
My F3 produces 12K files per loop at ~49GB free.

[minpayne]

^^ Yes dear Anvil you got the right answer again! It terminates at 99980 files in each loop. I'm gonna add another 9 there... (WTF it doesn't allow me to add another 9 ) Sadly I probably never really filled up the M4 512GB and the Intel 320 Series 600GB The last resort is perhaps to add some static data?

It is worth to note that this 830 512GB gets REALLY HOT when reaching the end of the loop, where it might be doing fast garbage collection or wear leveling depending on OP or whatever funny stuff there. I'll see to the end of this loop when I actually fill it up, would it exceed the official 60C or not. This (temperature) is disappointing :S

[Anvil]

I'll up the limit for # of files
(will do that within a few hours)

[minpayne]

Something is not quite right for me..

I've added some static data to fill up the 117GB gap. Then at the end of each loop the temperature can go crazily high - as high as 67C, which exceeds the specification of 60C max!

Secondly, the write amplification is 1.7x for me - 3520778199 LBA writes when WL count increased to 7 (note that the WL count started at 1 out of the box). Isn't Ao1 getting only 1.05x WA under such normal endurance testing?

[Hondacity]

thats so hot for an ssd..interesting..