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Samsung 950 PRO M.2 SSD review
Posted by: on: 11/17/2015 12:41 PM [
20 comment(s) ]
In this review we test the new M.2 super fast Samsung 950 PRO Series M.2 SSDs. These new M.2 units use the nvm express (NVME) protocol and that means storage technology at hyper fast speeds while remaining competitive in pricing. Samsung will shock and awe you with these puppies.
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randomizer
Senior Member
Posts: 848
Senior Member
Posts: 848
Posted on: 11/17/2015 10:30 AM
This would've been awesome for Surface Pro 4 instead of the cheaper version!!
This would've been awesome for Surface Pro 4 instead of the cheaper version!!
Ferrum Master
Senior Member
Posts: 129
Senior Member
Posts: 129
Posted on: 11/17/2015 11:10 AM
would be great if you had actual real world performance comparisons of actual OS load times, game load times and application load times compared between various SSDs. as it stands now this arbitrary MB/s number (referring to page 9 of review) based on some simulated game/program load isn't very useful to end user (seems like it's more useful for company selling SSD because their product appears better, just like all those synthetic tests).
I've seen some other reviews where they compare load times in actual games, programs and OS and there is no meaningful difference between 950Pro and something like 850 EVO.
Agree, at least ffxiv-heavensward-bench if you are lazy. It does show load time seconds also.
would be great if you had actual real world performance comparisons of actual OS load times, game load times and application load times compared between various SSDs. as it stands now this arbitrary MB/s number (referring to page 9 of review) based on some simulated game/program load isn't very useful to end user (seems like it's more useful for company selling SSD because their product appears better, just like all those synthetic tests).
I've seen some other reviews where they compare load times in actual games, programs and OS and there is no meaningful difference between 950Pro and something like 850 EVO.
Agree, at least ffxiv-heavensward-bench if you are lazy. It does show load time seconds also.
Anarion
Senior Member
Posts: 13542
Senior Member
Posts: 13542
Posted on: 11/17/2015 11:24 AM
Hilbert, it's not necessary to disable automatic defrag in modern Windows OS (at least in 8 and newer). It will not defrag SSD's. It will just run trim.
Hilbert, it's not necessary to disable automatic defrag in modern Windows OS (at least in 8 and newer). It will not defrag SSD's. It will just run trim.
Koniakki
Senior Member
Posts: 2843
Senior Member
Posts: 2843
Posted on: 11/17/2015 11:55 AM
Holy megabytes! That thing is fast! Great review also boss.
Btw a small fact. I actually bought a Samsung 951 NVME M.2 256GB, but afterwards cancelled it and replaced it with a 850 EVO 500GB M.2 for the same price.
I just couldn't justify not getting the 500GB over the 951 256GB even its 3-4x faster. I do wish I had gotten it tho.
Also my Sammy 850 EVO has something to say to that PCIE SSD. I know, I know. But hey, thats what the test says. lol!
Holy megabytes! That thing is fast! Great review also boss.
Btw a small fact. I actually bought a Samsung 951 NVME M.2 256GB, but afterwards cancelled it and replaced it with a 850 EVO 500GB M.2 for the same price.
I just couldn't justify not getting the 500GB over the 951 256GB even its 3-4x faster. I do wish I had gotten it tho.
Also my Sammy 850 EVO has something to say to that PCIE SSD. I know, I know. But hey, thats what the test says. lol!
Hilbert Hagedoorn
Don Vito Corleone
Posts: 36461
Don Vito Corleone
Posts: 36461
Posted on: 11/17/2015 12:00 PM
Holy megabytes! That thing is fast! Great review also boss.
Btw a small fact. I actually bought a Samsung 951 NVME M.2 256GB, but afterwards cancelled it and replaced it with a 850 EVO 500GB M.2 for the same price.
I just couldn't justify not getting the 500GB over the 951 256GB even its 3-4x faster. I do wish I had gotten it tho.
Also my Sammy 850 EVO has something to say to that PCIE SSD. I know, I know. But hey, thats what the test says. lol!
Please disable your rapid cache and actually test the physical NAND of your SSD. You are displaying the results of your system RAM cache.
Holy megabytes! That thing is fast! Great review also boss.
Btw a small fact. I actually bought a Samsung 951 NVME M.2 256GB, but afterwards cancelled it and replaced it with a 850 EVO 500GB M.2 for the same price.
I just couldn't justify not getting the 500GB over the 951 256GB even its 3-4x faster. I do wish I had gotten it tho.
Also my Sammy 850 EVO has something to say to that PCIE SSD. I know, I know. But hey, thats what the test says. lol!
Please disable your rapid cache and actually test the physical NAND of your SSD. You are displaying the results of your system RAM cache.
poornaprakash
Member
Posts: 80
Member
Posts: 80
Posted on: 11/17/2015 01:10 PM
Why cant Samsung use a heat sink to cool the IO chip ? So that thermal throttling can be avoided even during intense loads.
Why cant Samsung use a heat sink to cool the IO chip ? So that thermal throttling can be avoided even during intense loads.
Koniakki
Senior Member
Posts: 2843
Senior Member
Posts: 2843
Posted on: 11/17/2015 01:24 PM
/jk boss. I do have RAPID Mode enable. I just posted the screenie for fun.
Btw, I will for sure get one of these PCIE SSD in the future.
P.S: I found a AS SSD test I did when I got it.
Please disable your rapid cache and actually test the physical NAND of your SSD. You are displaying the results of your system RAM cache.
/jk boss. I do have RAPID Mode enable. I just posted the screenie for fun.
Btw, I will for sure get one of these PCIE SSD in the future.
P.S: I found a AS SSD test I did when I got it.
NamelesONEMail
Member
Posts: 35
Member
Posts: 35
Posted on: 11/17/2015 03:14 PM
I wish I had canceled the purchase of my Samsung 951 NVME M.2 256GB as well ... I bought it very very early when there was just a single review of it on the internet and that said nothing about installing windows 7 on it ... which btw , is not possible by any normal means.
I was forced to install windows 10 to use it ... I hate it(win 10) ... I despise it ... I wish to inflict viscious bodily harm to it T_T"
The performance is all there and its ridiculously fast ... but ... again ... windows 10 (tear falls down his cheek) ...
PS: I also hate Samsung for not having proper drivers of it or support in any if its software ... so what if its OEM ? ... if its readily and easily avaible to regular consumers they should have made the extra effort, otherwise made sure regular people could not buy it T_T" ... Samung has fallen badly in my eyes with this.
I wish I had canceled the purchase of my Samsung 951 NVME M.2 256GB as well ... I bought it very very early when there was just a single review of it on the internet and that said nothing about installing windows 7 on it ... which btw , is not possible by any normal means.
I was forced to install windows 10 to use it ... I hate it(win 10) ... I despise it ... I wish to inflict viscious bodily harm to it T_T"
The performance is all there and its ridiculously fast ... but ... again ... windows 10 (tear falls down his cheek) ...
PS: I also hate Samsung for not having proper drivers of it or support in any if its software ... so what if its OEM ? ... if its readily and easily avaible to regular consumers they should have made the extra effort, otherwise made sure regular people could not buy it T_T" ... Samung has fallen badly in my eyes with this.
Denial
Senior Member
Posts: 12414
Senior Member
Posts: 12414
Posted on: 11/17/2015 03:38 PM
I can't believe they didn't ship a 1TB variant. I have a 840 500GB now -- and I definitely want the extra speed, but I also want at least 1TB. Meh
I can't believe they didn't ship a 1TB variant. I have a 840 500GB now -- and I definitely want the extra speed, but I also want at least 1TB. Meh
ruiner13
Senior Member
Posts: 145
Senior Member
Posts: 145
Posted on: 11/17/2015 04:07 PM
I'm guessing the form factor spec doesn't allow for that much height, especially laptops that will also use these. That said, there shouldn't be any reason why people can't add it themselves if their board layout allows.
Why cant Samsung use a heat sink to cool the IO chip ? So that thermal throttling can be avoided even during intense loads.
I'm guessing the form factor spec doesn't allow for that much height, especially laptops that will also use these. That said, there shouldn't be any reason why people can't add it themselves if their board layout allows.
Agent-A01
Senior Member
Posts: 11360
Senior Member
Posts: 11360
Posted on: 11/17/2015 04:14 PM
Says coming early 2016
I can't believe they didn't ship a 1TB variant. I have a 840 500GB now -- and I definitely want the extra speed, but I also want at least 1TB. Meh
Says coming early 2016
Lavcat
Senior Member
Posts: 438
Senior Member
Posts: 438
Posted on: 11/17/2015 05:59 PM
From where is that information? I wouldn't mind a 1TB myself.
Says coming early 2016
From where is that information? I wouldn't mind a 1TB myself.
Denial
Senior Member
Posts: 12414
Senior Member
Posts: 12414
Posted on: 11/17/2015 06:13 PM
Samsung announced it when they announced the 48 layer V-NAND. I just wish it was out sooner. So many games, so little space.
From where is that information? I wouldn't mind a 1TB myself.
Samsung announced it when they announced the 48 layer V-NAND. I just wish it was out sooner. So many games, so little space.
venturi
Senior Member
Posts: 298
Senior Member
Posts: 298
Posted on: 11/18/2015 12:30 AM
I'm currently using the drive in my rig, been at least a month,
working well
heat has not been an issue
I'm currently using the drive in my rig, been at least a month,
working well
heat has not been an issue
venturi
Senior Member
Posts: 298
Senior Member
Posts: 298
Posted on: 11/18/2015 12:31 AM
My prior über workstation was the Z9PED8 WS and unfortunately it can't do NVMe or m.2 with 4x lanes,
Now Im running a Z10PE-D8 WS
for compatibility and speed the xp941 is very fast and as is the sm951
in order of speed (high to higher) it's xp941, sm951 ahci, sm951 nvme, 950pro nvme.
in order of heat generated (warm to warmer) it's xp941, 950pro nvme, sm951 name, sm951 ahci
I describe the heat from the drives as warm. Under load all chips are less than 49c on all models.
Having 4 titan x sc right above them may increase the environment heat, but its still with normal parameters.
If you look closely at the picture you'll see that I have heatsinks on many motherboard components as well.
There was a company this summer that did a review of the z10 and took a thermal image of the board, so when I saw the review I used the picture as guide to get rid of hot spots
in addition the 950pro only has chips on the top surface which aids in cooling and allows for all those little aluminum heatsinks.
The hottest thing on the whole board now is the chipset controller the c612, and that runs about 104F to about 109F and that sits directly under 2.5 out of 4 video cards.
I can't imagine the drives on motherboard being a heat issue, maybe, but I don't know it might be a heat issue in a tight enclosed environment like a surface or tablet laptop
All temps are so farrrr below spec I'm not concerned
here is a link to my full 36 core 72 HT pc
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=403963
My prior über workstation was the Z9PED8 WS and unfortunately it can't do NVMe or m.2 with 4x lanes,
Now Im running a Z10PE-D8 WS
for compatibility and speed the xp941 is very fast and as is the sm951
in order of speed (high to higher) it's xp941, sm951 ahci, sm951 nvme, 950pro nvme.
in order of heat generated (warm to warmer) it's xp941, 950pro nvme, sm951 name, sm951 ahci
I describe the heat from the drives as warm. Under load all chips are less than 49c on all models.
Having 4 titan x sc right above them may increase the environment heat, but its still with normal parameters.
If you look closely at the picture you'll see that I have heatsinks on many motherboard components as well.
There was a company this summer that did a review of the z10 and took a thermal image of the board, so when I saw the review I used the picture as guide to get rid of hot spots
in addition the 950pro only has chips on the top surface which aids in cooling and allows for all those little aluminum heatsinks.
The hottest thing on the whole board now is the chipset controller the c612, and that runs about 104F to about 109F and that sits directly under 2.5 out of 4 video cards.
I can't imagine the drives on motherboard being a heat issue, maybe, but I don't know it might be a heat issue in a tight enclosed environment like a surface or tablet laptop
All temps are so farrrr below spec I'm not concerned
here is a link to my full 36 core 72 HT pc
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=403963
gregzeng
Junior Member
Posts: 1
Junior Member
Posts: 1
Posted on: 11/18/2015 06:54 AM
Best benchmark app, overall?
Below are my results: Samsung 850, mSATA, 1 terabyte drive.
Not really a fair result, because I did it in the middle of the day's work, web browsing. Just turned off the background tasks, and ran the test.
Hardware DELL XPS-15, L521-X, 16 GB DDR3. Nvidia 640m. Terabyte SSD +Terabyte HDD, which might be replaced with a multi-terabyte 2.5 inch SSD, to increase speeds, save battery life, heat production and noise.
Used the 64bit version, not the 32 bit. Also the latest version. Does this matter?
With so many benchtest apps, which is the best for the home user, web-browsing, home-backups, etc?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 5.0.3 x64 (C) 2007-2015 hiyohiyo
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 bytes/s
* KB = 1000 bytes, KiB = 1024 bytes
Sequential Read (Q= 32,T= 1) : 284.515 MB/s
Sequential Write (Q= 32,T= 1) : 271.009 MB/s
Random Read 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : 210.775 MB/s
Random Write 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : 195.024 MB/s
Sequential Read (T= 1) : 274.142 MB/s
Sequential Write (T= 1) : 264.220 MB/s
Random Read 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : 36.974 MB/s
Random Write 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : 73.344 MB/s
Test : 1024 MiB (x5)
Date : 2015/11/18 16:20:23
OS : Windows 10 (x64)
Best benchmark app, overall?
Below are my results: Samsung 850, mSATA, 1 terabyte drive.
Not really a fair result, because I did it in the middle of the day's work, web browsing. Just turned off the background tasks, and ran the test.
Hardware DELL XPS-15, L521-X, 16 GB DDR3. Nvidia 640m. Terabyte SSD +Terabyte HDD, which might be replaced with a multi-terabyte 2.5 inch SSD, to increase speeds, save battery life, heat production and noise.
Used the 64bit version, not the 32 bit. Also the latest version. Does this matter?
With so many benchtest apps, which is the best for the home user, web-browsing, home-backups, etc?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 5.0.3 x64 (C) 2007-2015 hiyohiyo
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 bytes/s
* KB = 1000 bytes, KiB = 1024 bytes
Sequential Read (Q= 32,T= 1) : 284.515 MB/s
Sequential Write (Q= 32,T= 1) : 271.009 MB/s
Random Read 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : 210.775 MB/s
Random Write 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : 195.024 MB/s
Sequential Read (T= 1) : 274.142 MB/s
Sequential Write (T= 1) : 264.220 MB/s
Random Read 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : 36.974 MB/s
Random Write 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : 73.344 MB/s
Test : 1024 MiB (x5)
Date : 2015/11/18 16:20:23
OS : Windows 10 (x64)
sybnios
Member
Posts: 32
Member
Posts: 32
Posted on: 11/18/2015 01:40 PM
Is the 950 compatible with Asus Maximus Hero VII guys?? Does it use its maximum speed or there is a hold-back from the mobo's side? I just want to use as a data drive.. unrar, installing games, loading games as fast it can and things like that. As a bootable drive I use my 850 PRO. Thanks!
Is the 950 compatible with Asus Maximus Hero VII guys?? Does it use its maximum speed or there is a hold-back from the mobo's side? I just want to use as a data drive.. unrar, installing games, loading games as fast it can and things like that. As a bootable drive I use my 850 PRO. Thanks!
waltc3
Senior Member
Posts: 1009
Senior Member
Posts: 1009
Posted on: 11/18/2015 03:57 PM
Excellent. I was going to comment that it appeared to me from the Magician screen shot posted that you had turned rapid mode off--very good. I have an 850 EVO, 8 gigs system ram installed, and when I enable rapid mode under Win10x64 my non-paged ram pool jumps from ~200mbs to 1.2GBs. (If I had 16GBs or more installed, I wonder if it would reserve an even larger cache...!) So of course I keep rapid mode turned off as it is likely to hurt more than help, especially in systems of 8GBs or less.
Yes, you're right...excellent performance for this drive! Especially for the size...! Thanks for the review!
Please disable your rapid cache and actually test the physical NAND of your SSD. You are displaying the results of your system RAM cache.
Excellent. I was going to comment that it appeared to me from the Magician screen shot posted that you had turned rapid mode off--very good. I have an 850 EVO, 8 gigs system ram installed, and when I enable rapid mode under Win10x64 my non-paged ram pool jumps from ~200mbs to 1.2GBs. (If I had 16GBs or more installed, I wonder if it would reserve an even larger cache...!) So of course I keep rapid mode turned off as it is likely to hurt more than help, especially in systems of 8GBs or less.
Yes, you're right...excellent performance for this drive! Especially for the size...! Thanks for the review!
vbetts
Posts: 14717
Posts: 14717
Posted on: 11/18/2015 04:59 PM
Would not be slim. Now what you could do, is kind of make shift a heat spreader from a memory module maybe.
950 Sata III needs to come now! Got an i5 4690 and more memory for my Alpha, just waiting on the 950 to be released in Sata III!
Why cant Samsung use a heat sink to cool the IO chip ? So that thermal throttling can be avoided even during intense loads.
Would not be slim. Now what you could do, is kind of make shift a heat spreader from a memory module maybe.
950 Sata III needs to come now! Got an i5 4690 and more memory for my Alpha, just waiting on the 950 to be released in Sata III!
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Senior Member
Posts: 477
would be great if you had actual real world performance comparisons of actual OS load times, game load times and application load times compared between various SSDs. as it stands now this arbitrary MB/s number (referring to page 9 of review) based on some simulated game/program load isn't very useful to end user (seems like it's more useful for company selling SSD because their product appears better, just like all those synthetic tests).
I've seen some other reviews where they compare load times in actual games, programs and OS and there is no meaningful difference between 950Pro and something like 850 EVO.