Great Revision SSD
Pros: Very fast. Samsung makes all components. Looks nice. Comes with mount, software, and free game.
Cons: A bit expensive considering it only nudges out the Vertex 3 by a little.
This was my first SSD, and I've not been disappointed by it. The first thing that caught my attention was that Samsung makes all of the components included in this SSD. From the DRAM, to the NAND, and the controller.
It's a revision of their 470 series. With the 830 you get a single 250MB DDR2-800 DRAM chip (K4T2G314QF-MCF7) for caching, compared to the two 125MB chips in the 470. The 830 also has a 6GB/s throughput for SATA.
Samsung's 2x-nm Toggle-mode DDR NAND is similar to that of Intel and Crucial (ONFi 2.x NAND) and the benchmarks back that up.
The memory controller is Samsung's 3-core ARM chip (S4LJ204X01-Y040).
With this series Samsung claims a MTBF of 1.5 million hours, and comes with a 3 year warranty. Nothing special there. What is special is their claimed usage of 0.078 watts in idle and 0.127 watts active, while most other SSDs use around 2 to 4 watts. I don't have the ability to verify this though.
Specific to the 128GB model, you get 320MB/s, while the 512/256GB models will give you 400MB/s. Writing speeds decrease with capacity, which is normal.
In AS SSD, my numbers were close to spec:
Same with ATTO:
One thing that I really liked was how the drive looked. Not that anyone would really see it, but Samsung took the time to give it a dark brushed metal exterior Even the packaging was nice. It won't be permanent, but mine came with a code for Batman Arkham City ($50 game) in addition to the most likely permanent additions such as Norton Ghost, Samsung's SSD Magician software (which you can use to update firmware) a 2.5" to 3.5" mounting bracket with screws, a molex to SATA power adapter, and a locking SATA cable.
From a cold boot it takes about 9-10 seconds to boot to my OS screen, and everything loads immediately, which I love, not that it's specific to this SSD. If it hadn't been for the game coupon, I may have gone with the Crucial M4, but with Samsung making every component, the low power usage, and Samsung's track record, I went with the Samsung 830 and don't regret it. The price seems a bit high though, if you aren't interested in the game. If the price drops to being even with the Vertex 3/Crucial M4 I can't see a reason to not go with the Samsung 830 drive. I took off half a flame for the price.
It's a revision of their 470 series. With the 830 you get a single 250MB DDR2-800 DRAM chip (K4T2G314QF-MCF7) for caching, compared to the two 125MB chips in the 470. The 830 also has a 6GB/s throughput for SATA.
Samsung's 2x-nm Toggle-mode DDR NAND is similar to that of Intel and Crucial (ONFi 2.x NAND) and the benchmarks back that up.
The memory controller is Samsung's 3-core ARM chip (S4LJ204X01-Y040).
With this series Samsung claims a MTBF of 1.5 million hours, and comes with a 3 year warranty. Nothing special there. What is special is their claimed usage of 0.078 watts in idle and 0.127 watts active, while most other SSDs use around 2 to 4 watts. I don't have the ability to verify this though.
Specific to the 128GB model, you get 320MB/s, while the 512/256GB models will give you 400MB/s. Writing speeds decrease with capacity, which is normal.
In AS SSD, my numbers were close to spec:
Same with ATTO:
One thing that I really liked was how the drive looked. Not that anyone would really see it, but Samsung took the time to give it a dark brushed metal exterior Even the packaging was nice. It won't be permanent, but mine came with a code for Batman Arkham City ($50 game) in addition to the most likely permanent additions such as Norton Ghost, Samsung's SSD Magician software (which you can use to update firmware) a 2.5" to 3.5" mounting bracket with screws, a molex to SATA power adapter, and a locking SATA cable.
From a cold boot it takes about 9-10 seconds to boot to my OS screen, and everything loads immediately, which I love, not that it's specific to this SSD. If it hadn't been for the game coupon, I may have gone with the Crucial M4, but with Samsung making every component, the low power usage, and Samsung's track record, I went with the Samsung 830 and don't regret it. The price seems a bit high though, if you aren't interested in the game. If the price drops to being even with the Vertex 3/Crucial M4 I can't see a reason to not go with the Samsung 830 drive. I took off half a flame for the price.
; so price comes down to $120 for a great 128GB SSD.