Installing ssd samsung 850 evo in a computer. How to change a hard drive to an SSD. Full analysis. Drive testing: random read speed

At the beginning of this year, we planned a small update of the test methodology, but we decided to postpone it a little so that we could compare three more interesting drives with all those previously studied. What's so interesting about them? First of all, the manufacturer and its history.

Unlike many other companies operating in this market, Samsung was at its origins (so to speak), and it was always “interested” in high-end devices. In particular, it was the Samsung 64 GB SSD SATA-2 about ten years ago that was one of the few competitors of the Intel X25-M at the time of the latter’s release, and in a number of scenarios it remained unsurpassed. Of course, this did not save it: like all “first generation” devices, high speed characteristics were achieved through the use of fast, but very expensive SLC memory. The X25-M demonstrated another way to improve performance: combining [relatively] inexpensive MLC flash with an intelligent controller. The end result was a fast device that cost $600 for 80 GB, something Samsung and others could only respond to with a 64 GB model for $1,000.

The company made the right conclusions and immediately began developing controllers. At first they were sold to many manufacturers, but there were not enough stars from the sky. On the other hand, this made it possible to accumulate the necessary experience and finally decide on the directions for further development. Two serious decisions were made: firstly, to sell the hard drive business (so as not to interfere), and secondly, to produce solid-state drives entirely of our own design, without outsourcing the components. The first at that time seemed like a bold, but risky step: after all, hard drives had a very stable demand due to their prices, so flash memory could not compete directly with them. However, with t. z. For the largest semiconductor manufacturer, it was logical to work just so that it could :) Which is what the company did in subsequent years, especially having such a serious trump card up its sleeve as independent production of everything necessary, as well as first place in terms of production volumes specifically of flash memory. As a result, the controllers could always be “fitted” to the memory, and the memory to the controllers, and Samsung depended much less on market conditions than most manufacturers - rather, the company determined it. Many promising directions were also correctly calculated in advance. In particular, more than four years ago we already got acquainted with what was essentially the company’s second attempt (the first was the “regular” 840) to create a fast and reliable drive based on TLC memory, which no one was using for this at that time. And he didn't even try. It cannot be said that there were absolutely no rough spots, but valuable experience was accumulated. In particular, SLC caching technology was tested at the same time.

It would seem, what's special here? Now TLC memory is already familiar - everyone uses it. And SLC cache too. But this was, remember, in 2013. And around the same time, Samsung decided to work on “three-dimensional” flash memory, since the traditional approach of preserving “regular” cells and reducing production standards began to gradually reach a dead end. However, all manufacturers started talking about switching to 3D NAND in those years, since everyone was in a similar position. But quite a lot of time always passes from conversations to implementation - some overcome this path faster, others slower. Samsung managed to get ahead of everyone: already in mid-2014, the first commercial products using V-NAND (as the developer called it) appeared. At first, the company configured this memory exclusively as MLC, to operate in a more gentle mode, but since 2015, the number of crystals that can reliably work with eight levels began to increase, which allows storing three bits of information. Note, by the way, that Samsung prefers not to use the abbreviation “TLC” when talking about “3-bit MLC”. In principle, this is quite correct, although it may be confusing for some. But for most buyers, it’s not important what it’s called, but how it works. And today we will study this using the example of three Samsung products - two completely new and one also almost new.

Samsung V-NAND SSD 850 Evo 500 GB

The first drives of the line with this name appeared, as already mentioned, in 2015. In principle, they were very similar to the 840 Evo, but instead of using 128 Gbit planar crystals, they used 32-layer 3D of the same capacity. The range has become slightly thinner: 120 / 250 / 500 / 1000 GB - without an interesting intermediate model with a capacity of 750 GB. The older model even retained the same triple-core MEX controller as in the 840 Evo, while the rest received dual-core, but improved MGX, paired with LPDDR2 memory with a frequency of 1066 MHz and a capacity of up to 1 GB. At the same time, the drive (like its predecessor) was positioned as a competitor to mid-level devices - at that time mainly using MLC memory. However, even these often had only a three-year warranty rather than a five-year one, which became the hallmark of the Evo family. Including the 2 TB modification that appeared a little later - which at that time was a very serious value, so it required the appearance of a special MHX controller (at the same time, the DRAM cache in this model was transferred to faster LPDDR3 memory).

Significantly surpassed in the second generation 850 Evo, which already used 48-layer 3D NAND with 256 Gbit crystals. In principle, this, all other things being equal, would make it possible to transform the model range from “120 / 250 / 500 / 1000 / 2000 GB” to “250 / 500 / 1000 / 2000 / 4000 GB”, which was done, but also other things being equal the company not limited. By transferring, for example, the DRAM cache from LPDDR2 to LPDDR3 across the entire line, etc. However, these improvements were mostly cosmetic and did not have a significant impact on performance. Yes, this was not required - a streamlined production process made it possible to produce fast and reliable memory while competitors were still taking only the first steps on this path.

And at the end of last year, the company once again updated the 850 Evo - since production had already been transferred to 64-layer memory: more economically advantageous. There are no fundamental changes between the models, so, like the previous “upgrade,” this one went quietly: it’s just that from a certain point, supplies of old-style drives stopped and exclusively new ones began to be shipped. Some differences in terms of modifications could be looked for - in particular, devices with a capacity of 1 TB began to use 512 Gbit crystals, but in 250 and 500 GB, to keep the performance characteristics at the same level, 256 Gbit remained. And LPDDR3 cache memory at the rate of “megabyte per gigabyte of capacity.” The warranty, of course, remained five years - limited TBW according to the formula “75 TB for every 250 GB”, i.e. 150 TB for our hero.

The main thing for the buyer in general in all these evolutionary changes was the constant reduction in prices. Other manufacturers, as a rule, achieved a similar effect by releasing new models - Samsung preferred to refine the existing one. As a result, the 850 Evo at the end of its life cycle is not the same 850 Evo as at the beginning. In 2015, these drives did not try to compete in price with the cheapest SSDs on the market - for this purpose, Samsung sometimes released devices on planar TLC, such as the 750 Evo or 650. In 2017, they already could. At the same time, their speed characteristics at least did not decrease - the introduction of TLC memory in products from other companies, as we have noted more than once, was usually accompanied by a decrease in performance and reliability. However, three years is a long time: during this time, both controller manufacturers and 3D NAND from other suppliers have caught up. To which Samsung has prepared not one, but two answers.

Samsung V-NAND SSD 860 Evo 500 GB

Just a few months after the last “upgrade” of the 850 Evo, the company released a new line of drives - on the same memory. Almost the same: nothing has changed in models from 1 TB, and the 500 GB modification (which we will test today) received 512 Gbit crystals similar to the older ones, instead of 256 Gbit. Thus, in some conditions it may lag behind its predecessor, which can be considered a disadvantage. But it’s quite predictable: 500 GB now no longer evokes any reverence, gradually turning into a popular volume, already affordable for many users. Why do you need to reduce costs - even at the cost of reducing some speed characteristics?

Since this will not always happen: the new series of drives also received a new MJX controller. It remains dual-core, but the clock frequency has almost doubled, which allows it to work with more complex algorithms. In particular, for the first time in many years (since its appearance in the 840 Evo!) the SLC cache has changed. Previously, it was static, but now, if necessary and there are free cells, the new controller can use some of them in SLC mode, postponing the “compaction” of data “for later” - when the load decreases. In practice, this means that if the 840 Evo and all 500 GB versions of the 850 Evo could only accept 6 GB of data at high speed (static SLC cache, 3 GB in size for every 250 GB of capacity), then in the similar 860 Evo the limit is increased already up to 22 GB. In principle, the latest Silicon Motion controllers (such as SM2258 or SM2259) can record in SLC mode at least all free cells (i.e., up to a third of the device’s full capacity), but in practice the first value is sufficient. Strictly speaking, for the majority of users who are not into “hunting parrots” in benchmarks, 6 GB was more than enough, but since competitors have appeared, we need to somehow respond to this.

In principle, an increase in TBW to maintain warranty conditions can also be considered a response to external influences. For example, those that appeared last year have a five-year warranty, but are limited to 72 TB for every 128 GB of capacity. In the 850 Evo, remember, 75 TB per 250 GB, i.e. almost half as much. And the 860 Evo has already become a little larger, since the previous value has been doubled: 150 TB for every 250 GB. In general, no one stopped the company from doing this before. And not only because the drives are physically capable of this - it’s just that when they are used “for their intended purpose” in ordinary personal computers, the recording volumes are much more modest. Why do manufacturers limit them? To protect yourself a little from the fairly popular “inappropriate” use - when consumer drives with a long warranty are installed somewhere in a server: there are backups, but if they “go wrong” they will replace them. Naturally, this reduces sales of devices for the corresponding purpose, which their main suppliers (and Samsung is one of them in full) absolutely do not need. Especially considering the presence of another product in the range...

Samsung V-NAND SSD 860 Pro 512 GB

The release in 2018 of a new line of SATA drives based on MLC memory is, of course, a very bold decision, but quite justified. In any case, if we abstract only from requests spherical PC users in a vacuum, and look at the market more broadly. After which we will immediately see, for example... various network storages. NVMe devices are not needed there. Until recently, it was believed that SSDs were not needed at all, since they were too expensive, and performance was not determined by them. When using gigabit network adapters and a small number of simultaneous requests, this is true. And a dozen or two users can work with some corporate storage at once, and a 10 Gbit/s channel may well be used to connect it to the switch - and here the hard drives will be the bottleneck, which we have repeatedly tested in the process of testing top NAS observed. But solid-state drives won’t. Of course they will cost more, but if a problem can be solved for money, then it is no longer a problem, but just an expense:) In principle, a device based on TLC memory is also suitable for such work, but MLC will provide more stable speed characteristics, and also the resource.

More interesting in this case is the question of memory used. The company's previous MLC line, namely the 850 Pro series drives, used rejection of 3D TLC NAND - which is associated with the slightly atypical crystal size at the start: 86 Gbit. Of course, you shouldn’t be afraid of the word “rejection”: it is obvious that the operating mode of cells with four levels is much more gentle than with eight, and not only faster. The new drives use 64-layer MLC 3D NAND crystals with a capacity of 256 Gbit. This doesn’t “fight” with TLC in any way, so we can assume that Samsung makes this kind of memory on purpose. On the other hand (which is more likely given the fact that it is already 2018) this may also be a by-product of the work on mastering the production of crystals QLC 3D NAND with a capacity of 512 Gbit. It is clear that producing high-quality memory of this type is very difficult, but it still needs to be done. And then what was said above works - having its own production (and the largest in terms of volume), Samsung does not depend on market conditions. If a company had to purchase memory on the open market, releasing an MLC SSD would be an extremely risky proposition. With our own production - no. Especially if these are really chips that are unable to store four bits per cell - they still need to be put somewhere. And buyers can ultimately purchase a device with a large resource - TBW for models 1 TB and higher can be called PBW, since the bill there is in petabytes, which is a little unusual for consumer-grade drives. Actually, for 512 GB we are talking about 600 TB for a five-year warranty period - versus 300 and 150 TB, respectively, for the 860 / 860 Evo. But not cheap, of course. But at least there is a corresponding offer in the company’s assortment that you can take advantage of - if necessary or simply if desired (and financially possible).

Competitors

For comparison, we decided to take the results of two drives: and , fortunately both are relevant at the moment and use similar (to a first approximation) memory. The 545s also has in common with our heroes a five-year warranty, and the limitations of its conditions are similar to the 860 Evo (however, who stood on whom the question is complex, as mentioned above). Until recently, Blue 3D had a warranty period of three years, but now the company has begun the process of increasing it to the same five years. However, even under the “old” conditions, you can compare Blue 3D with other participants - this is also a drive from a large and well-known manufacturer, and the prices are similar.

Testing

Testing methodology

The technique is described in detail in a separate article. There you can get acquainted with the hardware and software used.

Application Performance

As you'd expect, in terms of high-level benchmarks, everyone is pretty much the same. But not entirely - if you arm yourself with a magnifying glass, you can see that the Samsung SSD trio is slightly faster than the offerings from Intel and WD. And the distribution of seats inside it is also predictable: the fastest is the 860 Pro, and the slowest is the 860 Evo. However, to notice this, you no longer need a magnifying glass, but a microscope :)

As for potential capabilities of drives, then the overall picture has not changed, except that the gap from the “pursuers” has increased. As a result, modern versions of Evo are the first SATA drives with TLC memory that have come into our hands and are capable of exceeding 300 MB/s in this test. However, regardless of its type, we previously had only one device capable of this in our laboratory - the Toshiba Q300 Pro 256 GB. Thus, the only thing that somewhat overshadows the significance of the event is potentiality this result.

The previous version of the test package shows us a similar picture. In general, the situation for Samsung drives is more favorable than vice versa. That is, it is clear that if the difference in speed is noticeable only in tests, it can be neglected - but why, other things being equal, not choose a faster drive. If they are unequal, you need to choose what is more important.

Sequential Operations

With these scenarios, with a limited data area, everything has long been clear - the limiter for SATA drives is the SATA interface itself. Including when writing, since SLC caching has long become the standard behavior of TLC-based drives, and for MLC memory no tricks are needed in themselves. Therefore, in the updated test methodology we will complicate the task :) And today we will simply postpone the final verdict until more serious loads.

Random access

Samsung controllers have long been able to cope with such loads easily and effortlessly; 3D NAND of its own production has never been slow either - as a result, the results are good. Perhaps the loss of the 860 Evo to its predecessor of the same capacity may upset someone, but there is nothing unexpected in it - increasing the capacity of the crystals and reducing their number should have worked. In the end, the performance reserve was sufficient to ensure that, even after its reduction, it would still be ahead of drives of the same class from other manufacturers, and “in-house” competition is still not planned: as the old reserves are exhausted, the 850 Evo will simply disappear from the shelves .

Working with large files

Reading data, as has been repeatedly said, has not been a problem for memory of any type for a long time (controllers can limit performance), so everyone unanimously settled on the interface at a comparable level.

The write obviously “flies out” of the capacity of the SLC cache, despite the increase in its capacity in the 860 Evo, and the performance of the memory array itself has decreased due to reduced parallelism. Accordingly, if the 850 Evo produced the maximum for SATA600, then its successor cannot do this. And it even lags behind competitors who use 256 Gbit crystals in models of such capacity, “holding back” larger ones for larger capacities.

Another difficult (still) scenario for TLC drives is writing at the same time as reading. However, for obvious reasons, this problem does not affect the 860 Pro - the use of two-bit cells paired with a high-performance controller allows the device to demonstrate the maximum performance available for SATA600. But the Evo family of drives is noticeably slower, especially with (pseudo) random access. However, it is also easy to notice that noticeably higher performance can be achieved only through tricks, such as the “infinite” SLC cache of drives based on the latest Silicon Motion controllers, but not by using conventional static caching. Yes, and “unusual” as in the 860 Evo too - it copes only with smaller amounts of information. However, all this becomes insignificant if we remember that most solid-state drives are no better :) But at the same time, their manufacturers do not leave such a choice to the buyer as Samsung (which updated the MLC line - albeit at an appropriate price).

Ratings

As mentioned above, the performance of the 860 Evo could have been reduced - it is still “in parrots” longer than its main competitors. And if you need even more “birds,” it’s customary to hunt for them in other places—equipped with other interfaces, in any case. The latter has long been determining a lot - that’s why we immediately wrote that the 860 Pro is not, first of all, “about speed.” In any case, not about the one that is of interest to the individual PC user.

But, naturally, representatives of this line will cope well with such loads - they are simply redundant for this purpose. As well as the warranty resource, it is also from a completely different area, but it may come in handy for particularly suspicious buyers. And from a performance point of view, the Evo is quite enough. Including the new series - where it decreased slightly, but still remained noticeably higher than most competing developments. In any case, within the class - it is clear that changing the interface allows you to remove some bottlenecks (at least in terms of low-level characteristics), but that is a different story.

Prices

The table shows the average retail prices of SSD drives tested today, current at the time you read this article:

Total

In principle, we did not count on any discoveries: Samsung, as was said at the beginning, has solid experience in both the development of solid-state drives in general and the use (and production, which is especially important) of 3D NAND TLC. In fact, the company simply overtook its competitors “at the turn”: everyone was talking about the need to switch to 3D NAND, but the transition itself was difficult for most. Samsung used the head start of a couple of years in the right way, as a result of which the company’s solutions based on TLC memory are now among the best on the market. And it is very important that by now they can even be considered inexpensive: from the “middle” class, the Evo line has gradually descended into the budget class, without losing its advantages along the way.

At the same time, high production volumes allow the company not to completely abandon MLC NAND. Of course, this memory has already turned into niche decision, but niche she definitely has. And with a further reduction in price, it will only expand. And of course, the 860 Pro will be relatively popular among ordinary users, since some of them are still wary of TLC memory. It is clear that they will have to pay extra for psychological comfort... But on the other hand, what else is worth paying for if not for comfort? :)

This is the situation today. What will happen tomorrow is unknown. In the semiconductor market, of course, you need to run just to stay in place, and to get somewhere, you need to run twice as fast. In the near future, new “turns” await us in the form of the introduction of QLC NAND, or even “non-NAND” memory. And only time will tell which manufacturer will cope with the transition best. In the meantime, no one seriously threatens Samsung’s position in the SSD market, and the new lines of drives fully confirm this.

Solid-state drives are becoming more capacious and cheaper, and the advantages of noiselessness, resistance to mechanical damage and, of course, high speed are forcing more and more people to think about switching - at least partially - to SSDs. the site tested an advanced device, Samsung SSD 850 Evo with three-dimensional V-NAND memory with a capacity of 1 TB.

Although the Evo line is not positioned as a flagship product (this role was left to the 850 Pro), it looks the most interesting for the mass consumer due to its capabilities and friendlier price.

Appearance and design

The Samsung SSD 850 Evo solid state drive is packaged in a plastic shell, which also serves as a package organizer. The latter does not offer anything unusual: a warranty card, a user manual, a disk with a digital version of the instructions for use and service applications.

The drive case is aluminum, on the top there is a company logo, and on the bottom there is a sticker with service information and information about the model. At the end there is a standard SATA connector (there are modifications for M.2 and mSATA).

The weight of the Samsung SSD 850 Evo was 55 g, thickness - 7 mm, that is, it can be installed in almost any device where replacement drives are provided (consoles, laptops, system units). The kit does not include mounts for installing an SSD into a larger slot, which is typical for the manufacturer.

Peculiarities

The SSD series uses three-bit 3D TLC V-NAND memory. The volumetric structure with the vertical shape of the cells made it possible to eliminate their influence on each other. In addition, they are arranged in 48 layers (or 32 layers in earlier revisions), which ensured an increase in capacity despite the large manufacturing process (40 nm versus 16 nm typical for planar memory). The latter feature in this case became a strength, since such cells are thicker and, therefore, will last longer: the time between failures (MTBF) is 1.5 million hours, and the guaranteed recording capacity is 150 TB.

Samsung 850 Evo 500 GB (old revision) and 1 TB (new revision)

Samsung SSD 850 Evo supports S.M.A.R.T., TRIM and Garbage Collection. There is also a Device Sleep mode to reduce power consumption in simple and AES 256 hardware encryption, compatible with TCG/Opal 2.0 and IEEE-1667 standards.

For Samsung SSD 850 Evo, linear read and write speeds of up to 540 and 520 MB/s are stated, respectively. Peak speeds are indicated taking into account proprietary TurboWrite technology, which actually uses a fast pseudo-SLC cache, its volume is 12 GB in the 1 TB model.

Tests

Measurements in AS SSD Benchmark demonstrated speeds close to the declared ones in sequential read and write mode, as well as good results in random reading and writing of 4 KB blocks. CrystalDiskMark shows comparable results.

The measurements in Anvil's Storage Utilities and the branded Samsung Magician were also encouraging:

An SSD with RAPID mode active, which uses the computer's free RAM, is impressive:

The phenomenal acceleration, however, is noticeable only in benchmarks; in practice, the gain is 5-10%, for example, during OS loading. But it’s still nice, because faster is not slower.

All of the above measurements showed an almost empty drive, but even after filling it, the tests produced similar numbers:

The Samsung SSD 850 Evo demonstrates some of the best performance among SSDs in the mass consumer segment, not only in synthetics, but also in real life, delivering excellent speed in launching games and applications, loading the OS, copying and archiving files.

Model range

Solid-state drives are almost silent, fast compared to HDDs, and less susceptible to mechanical damage, but the cost of each gigabyte is much higher. Therefore, the choice of SSD should be taken seriously. The Samsung SSD 850 Evo line is represented by several models, the cost of devices varies in different stores, sometimes the difference is significant (prices for SATA, mSATA and M.2 are approximately the same):

• 250 GB - 2600-3500 UAH
• 500 GB - 4500-5300 UAH
• 1 TB - 8000-12 000 UAH
• 2 TB - 15,000-21,500 UAH
• 4 TB - 35,000-44,000 UAH

The first two options are suitable for most users who do not want to give up cheap HDD memory for storing files; the 1 TB version is the optimal choice as the only drive, and the 2 and 4 TB models (only SATA versions are available) will be needed by those who wants to use an SSD for all tasks, including storing an extensive home collection of videos and photos.

The lineup also includes a 120 GB version, but in 2017 such a modification looks outdated and the site cannot recommend it for purchase. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to find this option, and the cost is practically no different from 250 GB.

Conclusions

Samsung is increasingly gaining a foothold in the storage drive market, facilitated by its own production, engineering innovations and, as a result, a flexible pricing policy. If the flagship 850 Pro line is expensive and is an uncompromising product, more focused on professional tasks, the low-end line looks interesting for home computers, laptops, consoles and other devices where you want to get a minimum of noise and increase speed.

Samsung SSD 850 Evo with a capacity of 1 TB showed decent efficiency in testing, the supported capabilities cover all user needs, and TurboWrite technology only increases the attractiveness of the device. Plus, you can brag to your friends that the SSD uses “3D memory.”

The theoretical durability and overall benefits of SSDs make the Samsung SSD 850 Evo one of the most attractive SSDs on the market, and the availability of large capacities allows it to satisfy the needs of even demanding users. We must take it.

I'll show you how to change a HDD hard drive to a high-speed SSD drive. I bought a 250 GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD. and installed it on my laptop. Then I installed Windows and all programs on the new SSD drive.

I bought my SSD drive Samsung 850 SSD EVO 120 GB SATA III on AliExpress . At first I wanted to order this Samsung 750 SSD EVO 120 GB SATA III (it is 120 GB and cheaper), but in the end I ordered 250 GB, although I could have gotten by with 120 GB. The Samsung 850 EVO SSD arrived after about 12 days (the fastest product that came from AliExpress).

The parcel is well packed and sealed with polystyrene foam. Inside the box is plastic, and in it is an SSD drive.

Here are the specifications of this SSD drive. My reading speed tests, notes at the bottom of the page.

1. Copy all the information you need from your disk

If you, like me, have only one hard drive space in your laptop, then first copy all the information from your hard drive to your external drive or to another computer. Or buy . So that you can then connect your removed HDD drive via USB and download everything you need from it to your new SSD drive.

Here is a visual video of this adapter.

2. Remove the hard drive and install the SSD

Turn off the laptop, unplug the laptop from all wires, turn it over and remove the laptop battery. Now on the back cover of the laptop, find the inscription HDD - this is the place where your hard drive is installed. On my Samsung NP-R560 laptop it is on the bottom left. The hard drive is closed with a cover with two screws.

We unscrew these two screws securing the laptop hard drive.

Remove the cover covering the hard drive. There should be arrows on it showing in which direction you need to pull to move the cover.

Here is the hard drive of my laptop. It has an aluminum lid to help dissipate heat and has a pull tab to make it easier to remove. Simply grab this tab and pull it to the left to disconnect the hard drive from the connector.

Done, the hard drive is disconnected from the laptop and connectors. We lift it and put it aside.

This is what a laptop looks like without a disk.

Now insert the SSD disk in place of the HDD disk.

Carefully insert it in place of the old HDD drive. I also installed an aluminum plate from the old HDD on the new SSD.

Close the hard drive cover.

Tighten the screws of the lid.

Ready. Now we turn the laptop over, insert all the wires into it, put the battery back and turn on the laptop.

3. Install Windows on the new SSD

There is nothing on the new SSD drive and there is no OS (Windows) either, so now you need to install Windows on it. You will receive this error when you try to boot from a new SSD drive that does not yet have a Windows operating system.

Partition table invalid or corrupted. Press any key to continue…

You need to insert your bootable USB flash drive and boot from it.

If you don’t have a bootable USB flash drive yet, it’s time to make one.

Here is a video on how to configure the BIOS to install Windows from a bootable USB flash drive.

Now that we have a bootable USB flash drive and boot from it, we install Windows on the new SSD. We select our SSD, it will be marked as “Unallocated space on disk 0” and click “Next” and install Windows.

The copying of Windows files will begin, then preparation for installation, installation of components, installation of updates, completion. The computer will restart several times. After the first reboot, you can remove the bootable USB flash drive.

If you have never installed Windows via BIOS, then you will find a video on this topic.

After installing Windows on a new SSD drive, change the boot priority in the BIOS so that the Windows bootloader is first looked for on the SSD drive. Although if everything loads and works, then you don’t have to change anything. I'll go to BIOS, Boot - Boot Device priority.

And using the F5 or F6 key I will move the SSD disk to the very top, so that the boot sector on the SSD disk is first searched, and then on the other disks, if it is not found on the SSD.

4. Comparison of SSD speed with HDD and USB drives

Using the CrystalDiskMark 3 program, I measured the writing and reading speed of my HDD drive even before removing it and replacing it with an SSD. The reading speed from it was approximately 100 MB/sec. when reading and writing sequentially.

Samsung 850 Evo series drives are rated by experts as combining low prices with extremely impressive performance. In terms of operating speed, the corresponding devices are comparable to many premium drive models. What are the main technological advantages of these solutions? How do users rate their effectiveness?

General information about the device

Samsung 850 Evo is a series of SSD drives. These devices are characterized by large capacity and a high level of reliability. They are in demand when solving problems related to providing high-speed data transfer.

Samsung 850 Evo devices are manufactured using 3D V-VAND architecture, which is characterized by the use of cylindrical cells designed to eliminate interference that occurs when device components interact. Ensuring a large capacity of devices is achieved by placing elements in several layers. At the same time, the reliability of file storage, as well as the speed of their transfer, are not reduced.

Other notable features of the devices in this series include the ability to switch to RAPID mode, in which the drive starts operating at an even higher speed. This is achieved, in particular, due to the fact that the device begins to use the available amount of PC RAM as a cache.

The Samsung 850 Evo device operates using effective energy-saving technologies. According to experts, in a number of modes the device is capable of consuming tens of times less electricity compared to outdated storage models.

The drives in this series implement a number of high-tech solutions in the field of file security. These include AES encryption and dynamic thermal protection.

It can be noted that the introduction of Samsung 850 Evo series devices to the market was preceded by the successful work of the Korean corporation in creating and ensuring successful sales of SSD 830 and 840 Pro series devices, which were classified by experts as the best SSD devices in the upper price segment. The company did not forget about products for the mass segment: thus, the 840 and 840 EVO devices were introduced to the market.

Subsequently, Samsung continued its developments in the field of production of multilayer crystals, and one of the results of their practical implementation was the release of 32-layer drives of the 850 Evo line. This device was launched in the mass segment. On the premium side, Samsung presented the 850 Pro product, characterized by an exceptionally high combination of performance and reliability.

Storage as a product of technological modernization

What features, in turn, characterize the 850 Evo series drives?

We noted above that these devices implement Samsung’s best developments from previous products. Thus, those main components that were installed in the 840 series products - TLC memory, a branded controller, as well as the TurboWrite solution, were duplicated in the new series of devices. In addition, a number of updates were also implemented in it - in particular, instead of the proprietary MEX controller, the manufacturer installed an improved MGX hardware component.

TurboWrite technology has also received certain additions in the Samsung 850 Evo series.

3D V-VAND technology

Probably the most notable component of the new series of drives is three-dimensional memory, which is a combination of 3D NAND and TLC NAND solutions. The new technology made it possible to eliminate the shortcomings that characterize the use of the two previous ones separately.

The use of the 3D V-NAND concept allowed Samsung to implement a 40 nm process technology in the new product while maintaining the ability to use crystals with an area smaller than, in particular, when using conventional MLC NAND technology, which is produced using a 16 nm process technology. In turn, 40 nm cells are characterized by greater resistance to wear, as well as stable operation.

Another advantage of the corresponding updated technology used by the Samsung 850 Evo SSD drive is that it ensures higher speed of the device by reducing the duration of read and write operations. Thanks to recording not 2, but 3 bits of data into one separate memory cell, the capacity of the crystals used in the devices in this series can reach 128 Gbit. Moreover, these crystals have an area that is approximately 2 times smaller than the corresponding TLC NAND components in a conventional modification with a similar capacity, which are produced using a 19 nm process technology.

It may be noted that the manufacturer provides a 5-year warranty on the devices. This is one of the most competitive indicators on the market.

It will be useful to consider what the corresponding devices look like.

Appearance of drives

Regardless of the capacity of the Samsung 850 Evo - 250GB or 1 TB, all devices in the line look almost the same. On the outside, they have a compact, 7 mm thick, black aluminum body. On the reverse side there is a label, from the contents of which you can find out the exact name of the drive model, as well as its serial number.

If you open the case cover, you will find that, depending on the specific volume of the disk, the contents may vary. So, for example, in a model with a capacity of 250 GB, a printed circuit board with dimensions smaller than that of the 500 GB version is installed. But in both cases, the size of the corresponding hardware component is small, that is, we can say that the device body could be even thinner, there are unfilled spaces in it.

Installing the drive on a PC

How is the Samsung 850 Evo drive installed in a PC? Installing the device is very simple. Most cases for modern PCs have slots for installing disks of the size that the 850 Evo device has - 2.5 inches. It is necessary to position the drive accordingly, and then connect 2 cables to it - power and data transfer.

After this, you need to switch the PC controller to AHCI mode. To do this, however, you may need to update the BIOS version - using the firmware from the official website of the PC motherboard manufacturer. The drive is recognized in the system without problems. If necessary, you can use branded programs to configure the system and monitor disk performance.

Storage resources

Using the Samsung 850 Evo 1TB SSD, you can write about 82 GB of files to it per day. A disk with a capacity of 500 GB has a similar resource. The younger modifications of the devices have a slightly smaller, but nevertheless impressive resource - 120, 250 GB. They can record about 42 GB of information per day.

Thus, the series of SSD drives under consideration is designed for a long service life. Models even with the smallest capacity in the Samsung 850 Evo line - 120 GB or 250 GB - have a resource comparable to that which characterizes many premium models.

Operation speed

The speed of operation of the devices in this series also impresses experts. At the same time, the indicators characterizing the junior model of the 850 Evo line, as shown by tests conducted by experts, are not too inferior to those of the premium model, 850 Pro.

In many ways, good speed indicators are achieved through the use of TurboWrite technology, as well as the use of a fast cache. Which in the Samsung 850 Evo 250GB model is 3 GB, in the 500 GB modification it is 6 GB, and in a disk with a capacity of 1 TB the cache size is 12 GB.

The capabilities of the drives under consideration in terms of ensuring data writing speed again allow us to speak about their competitiveness in relation to premium products.

Drive testing: read and write speed

Let us now study the practical results of experts studying the capabilities of the drives of the series under consideration. As for the reading mode, the high technologies implemented in the corresponding devices allow us to achieve the highest performance here.

But regarding recording, test results may vary depending on the specific modification of the device. For example, a 500 GB drive has performance comparable to that of the older model. In this sense, when choosing a Samsung 850 Pro or 850 Evo, the user receives a clear advantage in price if he prefers the second model, despite the fact that in terms of speed it is practically not inferior to the older modification.

In turn, the model in the 250 GB version is significantly inferior to the more capacious version in terms of sequential write speed. This is largely due to the relatively small cache size that the corresponding drive modification has - its size is 3 GB. Which, at the same time, is sufficient to solve a large number of user problems in practice.

Drive testing: random read speed

Another interesting indicator of the performance of devices from the Samsung 850 Evo line is the random read speed test of drives. Thanks to the updated MGX controller, the devices have significantly improved performance compared to previous modifications, as experts note.

At the same time, the 500 GB drive model showed especially good results. Its indicators allow it to be characterized as actually the leading product in the segment in the context of considering performance in the corresponding mode.

Drive testing: random write speed

What is the device performance in random read speed mode?

As tests conducted by experts show, everything is in order here too. However, as the queue depth increases, the performance of devices in the 850 Evo line decreases. But, even despite this feature, the devices can be characterized as extremely competitive in the corresponding mode of use.

Testing drives: copying files

One of the most revealing criteria for assessing the performance of a drive is the file copying speed achieved when using a particular device. Here, the performance of the devices in the modification under consideration is, again, very decent. Especially if we talk about modifying a disk with a capacity of 500 GB.

In turn, the performance of the 250 GB modification is somewhat more modest. But nevertheless, this contributes to a high assessment of the competitiveness of the device when used in the appropriate mode, which generally reflects the typical user load on the drive.

In some modes of working with files, the difference between device modifications of 200 and 500 GB is completely insignificant. Therefore, in practice, the user may not notice it at all.

In general, performance tests of devices in the 850 Evo line from Samsung suggest that the Korean brand has secured the presence on the market of a largely unique product: having, on the one hand, a relatively low price, and on the other, technological advantages that make it comparable in functions and productivity with premium solutions.

According to experts, Samsung was able to implement this approach through targeted and competent work to consistently improve the developments of past years, as well as supplement them with current innovations that make the devices even more competitive.

Samsung 850 Evo and 850 Pro 2TB | Introduction

At the beginning of July, our American colleagues (English), which talked about what SSD manufacturers will show us in the second half of 2015. The article had a lot of information, but it only covered 50% of the market, most of which is taken by Samsung.

Samsung's market share in the SSD market is 50%. For consumer models, the percentage is higher and can reach 80% in some countries. Samsung is also responsible for approximately 50% of the world's NAND memory supply. Of course, not all flash memory goes into SSDs, because you need to equip cell phones, tablets, children's toys, SD cards and even cars.

Samsung leads not only in production volumes, but also in technological innovation. The company recently introduced the first client SSD with three-bit-per-cell storage technology, as well as the first 3D cell structure of SSDs using MLC and TLC technologies. And just recently, Samsung introduced the first mass-produced 2.5" client SSD with a capacity of 2 TB.

Enthusiasts have been waiting for the next level of capacity since the release of the first 1 TB SSD. It's easy to demand a bigger, faster, or better product, but the leap will only happen when there's a financial incentive. You can ask Ferrari to produce an SUV that can easily seat eight passengers, but that doesn't mean Ferrari will devote any money to developing it, and not many people will have enough money to buy one. But apparently, Samsung decided that now is a good time to introduce a 2 TB SSD.

Specifications

While there's nothing revolutionary about the 850 Pro and Evo 2TB SSDs, they're great additions to both lineups. For the most part, to get to 2TB, Samsung simply added twice as much NAND memory. Engineers also doubled the cache size and upgraded the RAM to low-power DDR3 (LPDDR3). DDR3 memory runs at higher clock speeds and uses less power than older DDR2 memory. These improvements are necessary to compensate for the speed loss associated with caching large tables and the increased power consumption due to the increased number of NAND dies.

To support twice as many CE lanes for 32-level V-NAND flash memory, a new controller is needed. Because of this, alternation has increased. You will see its impact in the performance test results, although the official speed characteristics Samsung 850 Pro 2TB And Samsung 850 Evo 2TB and 1TB models are the same.

2 TB capacity benefits more Samsung 850 Evo 2TB than Pro. You'll immediately notice the huge $200 price gap, but that's not all. Samsung 850 Evo 2TB uses TurboWrite technology - this is a layer of emulated SLC memory that acts as a buffer for writing data. By getting more flash memory on the drive, Samsung was able to increase the amount of memory allocated for TurboWrite. To find out when the cache ends and recording to TLC begins, we had to load the drive very hard. Unless you work with massive video files in a workstation environment, you'll probably never see TLC write speeds.

Like existing models, both new products support Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) encryption technology. We hope many power users will take advantage of the Windows-based IEEE-1667 encryption technology called eDrive, although TCG Opal is also supported.

Samsung's documentation indicates that, under various conditions, the 2TB models use slightly more power than their 1TB versions. One might assume that this would affect the battery life of laptops, but this is not the case. In fact, increased interleaving, as well as larger volume for TurboWrite (only in Samsung 850 Evo 2TB) allow less time to be in the active state. We'll talk about this in more detail later.

Prices, warranty and accessories

Recommended retail price of the drive Samsung 850 Pro 2TB(MZ-7KE2T0BW) is $1000, and Samsung 850 Evo 2TB(MZ-75E20B / AM) – $800. The delivery package for both SSDs includes only the drive itself. The Data Migration utility for data cloning and Magician for diagnosing and managing the RAPID array (DRAM cache) can be downloaded on the Samsung support website. Samsung's storage software package is one of the best in the industry and should not be ignored.

On Samsung 850 Pro 2TB And Samsung 850 Evo 2TB Comes with a standard 10 year warranty. Compared to competitors in this class, this is the longest period. But keep in mind that the warranty is limited by the life of the drive, although here Samsung is either in the lead or is among the leaders.

Samsung 850 Evo and 850 Pro 2TB | Details

Photos in this section Samsung 850 Pro 2TB are on the left, and Samsung 850 Evo 2TB- on the right. In single photos - Samsung 850 Pro 2TB, Although Samsung 850 Evo 2TB supplied in a similar configuration.

In addition to the drive, the box contains a paper installation guide and a warranty document. There is also a small piece of paper with stickers for those who like to show off their hardware everywhere. The drive is enclosed in a plastic case.

Both SSD drives are made in a 2.5" 7mm form factor, and will easily fit into thin laptops.

The PSID is clearly printed on the back of each SSD, allowing SED functionality to be controlled either on the host or remotely.

Opening the case reveals a new PCB design that allows Samsung to install eight flash memory chips. To get 2TB of capacity, the company simply doubles the number of dies in the chips compared to 1TB models, but Samsung still doesn't use all the space available inside the case.

Samsung 850 Pro 2TB And Samsung 850 Evo 2TB they look the same inside.

Both models use Samsung's new MHX controller and Samsung LPDDR3 RAM. Most likely, Samsung needed updated logic to manage a large number of NAND chips. This also reinforces our hypothesis that Samsung is using a modular controller design that can be customized to suit different requirements.

Samsung continues to lead the industry in flash memory technology. At the top we see MLC 3D V-NAND memory, at the bottom TLC 3D V-NAND. Memory with a 3D IMFT or Flash Forward cell structure is expected in retail products no earlier than 2016.

Comparison of data types and sequential operation speed of TLC memory

Samsung's architecture does not differentiate between compressible and incompressible data. Both types of data are written and read at full speed. We usually talk about this only when these differences are present. But this time we want to touch on this topic, since in the near future we are expecting another 2 TB SSD, the speed of which will depend on the type of data being processed.

In our review of TLC products at Computex, we talked about the need to hide the low write speeds of TLC. All three-level flash cell products we tested use a simulated SLC write cache, which gives a short-term performance boost, but it quickly reverts back to the original TLC write speed once the buffer fills up. This means that in some cases the sequential write speed drops to 125 MB/s.

You'll rarely see speeds this low because the cache is quite large. However, this may happen when transferring large files, such as high-quality movies.

Samsung does a great job of masking TLC performance in the drive Samsung 850 Evo 2TB. We had to work hard to create a write test that could reveal the TLC sequential write speed. But Samsung 850 Evo 2TB There's so much simulated SLC TurboWrite cache that even transferring a 42GB Blu-Ray movie runs smoothly.

Samsung 850 Evo and 850 Pro 2TB | Four-Way Performance Testing

Sequential reading

Additional information on testing drives can be found in the article "How we test HDD and SSD" .

Sequential reading speed in blocks of 128 KB, MB/s (more is better)

Sequential reading speed in blocks of 128 KB, queue depth = 2, MB/s (more is better)

The two drives tested provide almost identical sequential write speeds. Their graphs even overlap each other and are located near the bandwidth limit of the SATA 6 Gb/s interface.

Sequential recording

Sequential writing speed in blocks 128 KB, MB/s (more is better)

Sequential writing speed in blocks of 128 KB, queue depth = 2, MB/s (more is better)

By sequential write speed, drives Samsung 850 Pro 2TB And Samsung 850 Evo 2TB second only to their 1 TB counterparts. The graphs of all four SSDs overlap each other as they provide the same speed as the queue depth increases. Other high-capacity models also boast impressive results. But the new 2 TB models are in a class of their own.

Free reading

Random read, IOPS (more is better)

Random read, low queue depth, IOPS (more is better)

Random read, high queue depth, IOPS (more is better)

Samsung's 2TB SSDs benefit from advanced parallelism and rank near the top of the random read performance chart at low queue depths. These are the first SATA drives to cross the 11,000 IOPS threshold without the help of a RAM cache. With higher ordering, 2 TB models are slightly inferior to their 1 TB counterparts.

Free entry

Random write, IOPS (more is better)

Random write, low queue depth, IOPS (more is better)

Random write, high queue depth, IOPS (more is better)

According to the results of the random write test, the new 2 TB SSDs were in the middle of the list. At high queue depths Samsung 850 Evo 2TB Provides faster speeds than the same 1TB model.

In this test, the drives do not reach a steady state like enterprise-class models, but they do undergo heavy preconditioning, which does not impact as much Samsung 850 Evo 2TB, as for the 1 TB version.

Samsung 850 Evo and 850 Pro 2TB | Mixed Task and Steady State Testing

Mixed loads - 80% sequential reading

The testing procedure in mixed problems and in a steady state is described in detail in the article "How we test HDD and SSD" .

Mixed sequential operations (80% read, 20% write) in 128 KB blocks, MB/s (bigger is better)

The performance of the two 2 TB models in tests is no different. The exception is a test with mixed loads. Here MLC flash memory shows superiority over TLC. Samsung 850 Evo 2TB overall better than its competitors, although several SSDs perform similarly at some queue depths.

Mixed loads - 80% random reading

Mixed random operations (80% read, 20% write) in 4 KB blocks, IOPS (bigger is better)

In our previous random data tests, the 850 Pro 1TB slightly outperformed the 2TB model. In a test with 80% random reads, the 850 Pro 1TB was again slightly faster. The Evo 2TB beats the 1TB version, but only by a small margin.

Steady state sequential speed

Mixed tasks: sequential operations in a steady state, MB/s (more is better)

Mixed Tasks: Steady state sequential, 80% read, MB/s (more is better)

Mixed Tasks: Steady state sequential, 70% read, MB/s (more is better)

Service time

WoW, service time (less is better)

Battlefield 3 maintenance time (less is better)

Adobe Photoshop, light load, maintenance time (less is better)

Adobe Photoshop, heavy workload, maintenance time (less is better)

Adobe InDesign, service time (less is better)

Adobe After Effects, maintenance time (less is better)

Adobe Illustrator, service time (less is better)

Microsoft Word, service time (less is better)

Microsoft Excel, service time (less is better)

Microsoft PowerPoint, service time (less is better)

In many tests, all four Samsung 850 models come out on top in terms of performance. But it is noteworthy that Samsung 850 Evo 2TB ended up at the bottom of the list in a test with heavy Photoshop loads, and we were never able to find the reason. The problem manifested itself in all three test runs, and we repeated the test itself three times.

Bandwidth

Total throughput, MB/s (more is better)

In the resulting chart, we can look at performance in terms of throughput rather than execution time. The differences emerge in easy real-world problems. SLC cache speeds up Samsung 850 Evo 2TB and lets him get around Samsung 850 Evo 2TB. We find it hard to believe, but it looks like Samsung managed to make an SSD with TLC memory better than the model with MLC memory. Of course, the advantage does not manifest itself in all tasks. Nevertheless, Samsung 850 Evo 2TB It masks TLC's lower performance so well that we'd choose this drive over a more expensive one.

Samsung 850 Evo and 850 Pro 2TB | PCMark 8 - advanced tests

Bandwidth

Total throughput depending on disk condition, MB/s (more is better)

Throughput for heavy tasks, MB/s (more is better)

Bandwidth for simple tasks, MB/s (more is better)

Surprisingly, in this series of tests Samsung 850 Evo 2TB bypasses Samsung 850 Evo 2TB. Unlike previous PCMark 8 testing results, these results were obtained under more severe conditions, with less downtime between each test. These drives are not aimed at enterprise applications, but approach this load level.

Typically the SanDisk Extreme Pro 1TB drive dominates these tests, with the 850 Pro 1TB trailing close behind. We expected that under light loads Samsung 850 Evo 2TB will overtake the 1 TB version. However, he could not recover quickly enough to increase his speed.

One might suspect the TRIM function in this, but Samsung 850 Evo 2TB recovered safely and was in the lead in the test with light loads. Samsung 850 Evo 2TB runs the test almost twice as long as the 850 Pro 1TB. When drives are given time to recover Samsung 850 Evo 2TB Cannot clear NAND or route write data to clean cells. This is something Samsung needs to look into and fix in a future firmware update.

Disadvantages: price tag of almost $800. Although Samsung 850 Evo 2TB Far from being a cheap SSD, it will undoubtedly please any buyer.

Conclusion: Where to start? Samsung 850 Evo 2TB is the best client SSD of 2015. We even anticipate the arrival of NVMe-based products that will not be able to manage such volumes of data as quickly. People will have to choose between speed and capacity, but it's nice to have an option that combines both without being cheap.