Samsung 840 Pro or 840? 256 or 512?

[ShadowTiger]

Sorry up front - I'm an SSD noob.

I'm about to refit my system - new MB/CPU/Memory, new graphics card, and so on. One of the things I want to do is join the world in SSD land (right now I have some Samsung 7200 drives).

So first, my plan is to organize my filesystem like I have it now: A C: drive with the operating system, program files (including Steam), and other system stuff (including paging space), and a D: drive with my user directory tree, search index, and all my data (pictures, videos, audio, etc). Does that make sense in SSD land, where the C: drive would be an SSD and the D: drive would continue to be mechanical? (I should add, I use the computer for graphical editing (photoshop, flash) and some very minor video and audio editing (so I have big files open sometime) as well as a lot of gaming (mostly FPS and Simulation type games - Crysis 3, Call of Duty 2, Sim City "5", Civ 4 and 5, Flight Sim X, etc).

Assuming it does...it looks like I'm using about 165GB on my current C: drive. It doesn't grow very quickly (a few times a year I'll get some new games, that's about it) so I was assuming a 256GB SSD would do me for at least a few years. However, of course formatting will take some of the space and I see that drives like some free overhead. So now I'm not sure if 256GB will be enough or not. What do you think?

I typically like to get the best/fastest hardware I can get without going crazy on the price. So while I could spend $1000 on a new CPU, I won't - I'll stick to the $150-$300 range. Looking at 256GB SSD drives I see the "top tier" drives are all in the $190-$230 range, so in this case I figured I'd go ahead and get what sounds like the current king, the Samsung 840 Pro ($230). (Plus, after reading the 840 (non-pro) review, I definitely lean towards the 840 Pro.)

However, I noticed then that the Samsung 840 (non-pro) 256GB is to be had for only $155, and performance-wise it seems to be heads above the other SSD drives in that price range. So next question: Would I notice that "Pro" difference enough to be worth the $75?

Lastly - even if I don't need to now, should I consider going 512GB instead? I could get a Samsung 840 (non-pro) 512GB for only $280, which isn't pretty good considering it's $50 for double the space... but I don't think I could stretch enough to get a Samsung 840 Pro 512GB at more than $400. (Too bad there's not a 384GB!)

Any advice or suggestions are welcome!

Thanks,
Shadow

 

[Charlie98]

I messed with the C drive/D drive thing for a while, it was a pain. I bought a 256GB 840Pro to put everything on... OS, Steam, pictures... everything. It's at 166GB now with 73GB open.

You can't go wrong with the 840Pro, but there is no denying the 840 is a deal right now. Would you be able to tell a difference in everyday performance? Probably not. Get what you can afford, and make sure it's big enough...

 

[Sleepingforest]

I agree wholeheartedly with Charlie98. You simply won't notice the difference between the Pro and the normal 840 in normal usage. If you really needed the extra longevity or speed (think 10+ years), you'd be inquiring after an enterprise drive anyway.

You can get the 500GB 840 (non-pro) for only $280 right now. That is an absolute bargain for the storage you'd get.

 

[ShadowTiger]

Thanks to both of you, that really helps a lot. Right now I have about 480GB of used space across both drives, though I bet I can clean that up a lot (maybe 100GB worth). If I can, then I think I'll take your advice and go with the 500GB 840.

Thanks again
Shadow

 

[yukit]

...
You can get the 500GB 840 (non-pro) for only $280 right now. That is an absolute bargain for the storage you'd get.

I got the 500GB 840 just a month ago for around $330 to replace a hard drive drive in a Mac Mini. 240GB drive would have been ok if I moved the bootcamp partition, but even at that price it was pretty hard to resist the temptation to go bigger.

I will probably move the bootcamp partition to another SSD eventually.

 

[krumme]

I run a non pro 256 in one of the house machines, and its damn fast. You can clearly notice the difference to fx. vector 3 drives. Only when writing big files, it slows down to near vertex 3 speed. Unless you do some extremely heavy copying/writing several times a day you will not miss the pro version at all. For normal usage pattern the non pro 256 is brilliant because it reads so fast all over. Its a fantastic product, and i didnt think i would notice the difference to the fast vertex 3 drives i have, but on a fast machine you can. I am looking forward to get it in msata.

 

[ShadoutDH]

Was checking the forum for this exact question Thanks for the information in this thread so far. Quite helpful.

Got a 128 GB Crucial M4 128gb as OS drive currently, and a 640gb old HDD for games and data.
But I just started to look at replacing the HDD with an SSD for the games (leaving the HDD as a pure data drive most likely).
Which really mean I got to aim for 500gb or so, otherwise I bet it will only lead to frustration down the road
Not really doing any heavy work on PC, it's normal windows usage and gaming mostly.

Looking at reviews, both 840 and 840 Pro sounds like great choices, but not sure whether the 840 or 840 is the right choice tbh. The price increase on the Pro is fairly substantial. Sounds like most of you are saying here that the real-world speed difference wouldn't be substantial on the other hand.
What about stability in the long term? Reviews I've read mentioned that the TLC NAND might not live as long?

As a side question; both 840 and 840 seems a fair bit faster than M4 (unsurprisingly given its age I guess), so no matter if I got a 840 or 840 Pro, I guess it would be worth it to switch my OS over to the larger Samsung drive, and just use the Crucial as a second game/data drive instead? Or would the real world difference be negligible?

 

[TemjinGold]

If you're just playing games on it, I wouldn't worry about durability. You're looking at something crazy like 20 years versus 50 or something. The main difference to note is that the write speed on the non-pro is a good bit slower than that of the pro. But if you are just using it as a games drive, I don't think you'll notice.

 

[ShadoutDH]

Would use it for OS too, if that would give a speed increase over the M4.
Or might there there a larger speed benefit by having OS+programs and games on different SSDs?

If durability is as you describe, I surely would have nothing to worry about in that regard

 

[Drsignguy]

Both Pro and Non-pro are really good. Can't go wrong with either one. I do have both In My Main Rig and the only noticeable difference is the write speeds of the non-pro that are a bit slower, BUT only on paper, so-to-speak. Otherwise, can't tell.........

 

[Kippa]

I know that the none pro are TLC based not MLC based. As far as I can tell I think Samsung are the first to dabble with TLC on SSDs. Personally I think it is too early to tell on how long a TLC ssd will last compared to an MLC based one. TLC ssds could possilby last a long while, or they could only last very short. It will be interesting to see in about a year or so how TLC perform in the long run.

 

[tweakboy]

My friend bought a 840 non pro for 280 dollars plus tax, at this online shop. Deal is over probably or they ran out.... gl