Intel 520 or sam 840p?

[Mustanggt]

Hi,
I have a brandnew Intel 520 240 gb SSD still sealed and I am thinking of sending it back and getting the Samsung 840 pro.

I paid $170 after MIR for the intel 520 and the Samsung 840 pro would be $269 is it worth the extra $100 ? would i even see a real world difference in these 2 drives?

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

Samsung 830 256 hands down, and was just at $155 no rebates. Pretty much the best hard drive out there incredibly fast, amazing reliability and priced near the second tier SSDs. Oh and you get more space than the intel 520.

Samsung 830 256gb $170 no rebate

 

[Mustanggt]

thanks but i have the 830 samsung on the way for wifes laptop, i was talking about the Samsung 840 pro compared to the intel 520, these intel 520s dont go on sale very much and $170 for this one is pretty good i think. i got the 830 256 gb for $155 from amazon. the 840 pro would cost $269 and i dont know if its even worth the extra cash compared to the 520. I also got a couple of the 128 gb samsung 830s for $69 each.

 

[Remobz]

thanks but i have the 830 samsung on the way for wifes laptop, i was talking about the Samsung 840 pro compared to the intel 520, these intel 520s dont go on sale very much and $170 for this one is pretty good i think. i got the 830 256 gb for $155 from amazon. the 840 pro would cost $269 and i dont know if its even worth the extra cash compared to the 520. I also got a couple of the 128 gb samsung 830s for $69 each.

This review will help you make up your mind.

Please read it all.

http://www.custompcreview.com/reviews/samsung-840-pro-series-256gb-ssd-review/15768/

 

[Mustanggt]

Thanks for review i have read that one and read it again, its funny how some review are saying the 840 pro is a super star and others not so munch.

http://www.storagereview.com/samsung_ssd_840_pro_review

i keep reading this review witch is showing the 520 beating the 840 pro in lots of test.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Thanks for review i have read that one and read it again, its funny how some review are saying the 840 pro is a super star and others not so munch.

http://www.storagereview.com/samsung_ssd_840_pro_review

i keep reading this review witch is showing the 520 beating the 840 pro in lots of test.

The thing is the 520 is Sandforce which treats compressed data differently. Samsung HDDs preform the same way with compressed and uncompressed data.

Also, Sandforce has a bad reputation as having reliability problems which is more important than the speed numbers. Samsung has a bulletproof reliability reputation which makes me take whatever they are selling over anything Sandforce.

 

[Seven]

Been running Intel 520 24/7 since May. Not a single issue.

 

[tweakboy]

Just update keep updating firmware Seven. Also it would be good to shut off your computer but dont turn off the PSU switch,,,,, that idle time while you sleep will do TRIM I bet your 520 will be faster.

 

[hhhd1]

Also it would be good to shut off your computer but dont turn off the PSU switch,,,,, that idle time while you sleep will do TRIM I bet your 520 will be faster.

That is not how to let a drive idle.
TRIM does not happen at idle time.

 

[lehtv]

Been running Intel 520 24/7 since May. Not a single issue.

As if that proves anything one way or the other...

 

[Coup27]

Also it would be good to shut off your computer but dont turn off the PSU switch,,,,, that idle time while you sleep will do TRIM I bet your 520 will be faster.

sigh.

 

[Seven]

As if that proves anything one way or the other...

Well, the Samsung doesn't prove anything better either.

 

[Phynaz]

Just update keep updating firmware Seven. Also it would be good to shut off your computer but dont turn off the PSU switch,,,,, that idle time while you sleep will do TRIM I bet your 520 will be faster.

You still don't have it right.

 

[Mustanggt]

The thing is the 520 is Sandforce which treats compressed data differently. Samsung HDDs preform the same way with compressed and uncompressed data.

Also, Sandforce has a bad reputation as having reliability problems which is more important than the speed numbers. Samsung has a bulletproof reliability reputation which makes me take whatever they are selling over anything Sandforce.

Thats enough for me sending the 520 back and getting the 840 pro have it on pre order now thanks

 

[tweakboy]

Hi,
I have a brandnew Intel 520 240 gb SSD still sealed and I am thinking of sending it back and getting the Samsung 840 pro.

I paid $170 after MIR for the intel 520 and the Samsung 840 pro would be $269 is it worth the extra $100 ? would i even see a real world difference in these 2 drives?

You wont see much difference for the extra price you pay.

gl
:whiste:

 

[Meghan54]

Thats enough for me sending the 520 back and getting the 840 pro have it on pre order now thanks

Why? The Sandforce problems were directly related to firmware being horrible with OCZ. Intel's firmware is vastly superior to OCZ's incarnations. And I doubt you'd find many people having lots of problems with the current Sandforce controllers with updated firmware.

Personally, I'd just keep the Intel SSD. I do know Intel's RMA is excellent....cannot comment on Samsung's.

 

[Mustanggt]

does anyone think there is a noticable real world difference between the 2 drives 840 pro and intel 520 or just benchmarks?

 

[Remobz]

does anyone think there is a noticable real world difference between the 2 drives 840 pro and intel 520 or just benchmarks?

I would say No for the most part.

The samsung 840pro comes with a 5 year warranty as well. Something to think about.

 

[blastingcap]

Hi,
I have a brandnew Intel 520 240 gb SSD still sealed and I am thinking of sending it back and getting the Samsung 840 pro.

I paid $170 after MIR for the intel 520 and the Samsung 840 pro would be $269 is it worth the extra $100 ? would i even see a real world difference in these 2 drives?

The short answer is no, you will not see a real world difference except in rare cases where you are doing large sequential transfers (esp. incompressible data). Those are pretty rare and not worth the extra $100 imho. Also, the 840 pro is an unproven SSD, not that I love Sandforces, but if you gotta buy a Sandforce, it should be an Intel Sandforce-based SSD.

 

[Coup27]

Also, the 840 pro is an unproven SSD

Do you still think that these days it is as essential as it was to give an SSD 6 months out in the wild before buying it? I think SSDs have matured beyond all recognition beyond their predecessors and aslong as it was purchase from one of the major reputable vendors I would not hesitate to buy a new drive.

Incidentally Samsung's track record is probably the best in the industry. AT said that Samsung's early drives were slow but rock solid unlike pretty much everything else out at that time. The 470 was slow, but solid and the 830 has been fast and solid. Considering their reputation, tight OEM integration and with the 840 being an evolution of the 830, I'd be very suprised if this drive had issues.

 

[lehtv]

Do you still think that these days it is as essential as it was to give an SSD 6 months out in the wild before buying it? I think SSDs have matured beyond all recognition beyond their predecessors and aslong as it was purchase from one of the major reputable vendors I would not hesitate to buy a new drive.

It still stands to reason that before a drive has been tested by thousands of users in the real world, it is not necessarily error free, and if it isn't, you should wait for firmware updates. When the difference in performance between a brand new model and a tested-and-tried drive like the 830 is so small, you might as well go with the older drive for peace of mind. This has little to do with how mature the technology is. The older drive is also better bang for buck - I recommend the 830 over the 840 Pro for that reason alone. 830 256GB $170, 840 Pro 256GB $270.

 

[philipma1957]

It still stands to reason that before a drive has been tested by thousands of users in the real world, it is not necessarily error free, and if it isn't, you should wait for firmware updates. When the difference in performance between a brand new model and a tested-and-tried drive like the 830 is so small, you might as well go with the older drive for peace of mind. This has little to do with how mature the technology is. The older drive is also better bang for buck - I recommend the 830 over the 840 Pro for that reason alone. 830 256GB $170, 840 Pro 256GB $270.

This advice is spot on for most ssd users. The 830 models are being discounted they work they work they work.. The jump in speed from an 830 to an 840 model is not a sata III to sata IV jump. It is under 20% in almost every case.

To all those that think samsung has had reliable ssds the 800 the 810/470 the 830 so the 840 will be reliable just remember the intel 320's. Intel was the gold standard in ssds reliability until the 320 came out. Who is to say that samsung won't have a bomb for reliability in this drive.

 

[Coup27]

The older drive is also better bang for buck - I recommend the 830 over the 840 Pro for that reason alone. 830 256GB $170, 840 Pro 256GB $270.

Very true. I certainly wouldn't be paying that much of a premium over the 830.

 

[blastingcap]

Do you still think that these days it is as essential as it was to give an SSD 6 months out in the wild before buying it? I think SSDs have matured beyond all recognition beyond their predecessors and aslong as it was purchase from one of the major reputable vendors I would not hesitate to buy a new drive.

Incidentally Samsung's track record is probably the best in the industry. AT said that Samsung's early drives were slow but rock solid unlike pretty much everything else out at that time. The 470 was slow, but solid and the 830 has been fast and solid. Considering their reputation, tight OEM integration and with the 840 being an evolution of the 830, I'd be very suprised if this drive had issues.

Lehtv answered this before I could, but I would like to add a few things:

1) Intel, not Samsung, had the best rep, in many circles.

2) Samsung SSDs have had major glitches, believe it or not. See, e.g., http://www.anandtech.com/show/5460/samsung-updates-the-firmware-of-ssd-830-series-fixes-bsod-issue

Intel is not immune, either; they had a 8MB glitch for instance. Crucial (more accurately Marvell?) had the 5200 hour bug in the M4.

EVERY company is capable of messing up. No matter how much you want to pump up Samsung's rep, coding is done by humans, and humans can make errors.

3) The price thing is the other reason why I would go for the cheaper, older, proven SSDs. What does one hope to gain with a 840 Pro? I can't even tell the difference between my X25-M G2, M4, and 830 drives outside of very large sequential file transfers.

 

[Hellhammer]

1) Intel, not Samsung, had the best rep, in many circles.

If you're referring to the French e-tailer statistics, Samsung has never been included in those. You can't really say that Intel has the best rep because there are no failure rate statistics to support it. Yes, Intel has very low return/failure rates but that does not mean that Samsung can't achieve the same rates.

Samsung was an OEM only SSD manufacturer before the SSD 470, which is why they haven't built as high reputation among consumers as Intel has. SSD 830 is basically the first consumer SSD from Samsung that was available in sufficient volume and Samsung even made some effort to advertise it. Keep in mind that OEMs rarely choose any parts known to be unreliable, so I would not forget the fact that Samsung is one of the biggest OEM providers when taking reliability into account. There is a reason why for example Apple has chosen Samsung.

2) Samsung SSDs have had major glitches, believe it or not. See, e.g., http://www.anandtech.com/show/5460/samsung-updates-the-firmware-of-ssd-830-series-fixes-bsod-issue

Have you actually seen or heard some user that experienced the issue before the update? A firmware update doesn't automatically mean that every single system was affected. It's possible that the BSOD bug was limited to systems with certain motherboards for instance, making the affected group of users fairly insignificant. I didn't hear about the BSOD bug until I read the release notes of the firmware update and I highly doubt the issue was widespread because there would have been threads about it.

Crucial (more accurately Marvell?) had the 5200 hour bug in the M4.

That was Crucial/Micron since they do their own firmwares. For example Plextor's SSDs based on the same controller do not have this bug.

3) The price thing is the other reason why I would go for the cheaper, older, proven SSDs. What does one hope to gain with a 840 Pro? I can't even tell the difference between my X25-M G2, M4, and 830 drives outside of very large sequential file transfers.

I think price is the main reason here.