SAMSUNG SM950 PRO NVMe SSD

[Deders]

I noticed that and that's the part that has me scratiching the bald spot at the back of my head - would have thought the hard drive would be something of a bottleneck, but that didn't prove to be the case

If a file is encoded at say 16 megabits per second then disk writes will be about 2 megabytes per second.

 

[bradly1101]

if you're using HandBrake, i'd love to know approx times to compress a given size file, whatever the size - curious what kind of time advantage a 6 core/12T cpu gives

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36259587&postcount=374

 

[phillyman36]

From the short time i had the 750 i did notice improvements. Mind you i would use Anydvd HD to rip the movie to folder format on the drive first. From there is where i got better times using Handbrake and Makemkv converting the files(time wise)

 

[bradly1101]

Handbrake is a very useful, free program. I use it to resize MPEG-2 (.wtv files from WMC) for someone who likes to catch up on recorded cable news on his phone when he has to wait somewhere.

But for straight conversion to MKV and/or if I need to do some editing I use TMPGenc SR 4 which leverages my 980TI's CUDA cores to convert MPEG-2 to MKV at 1min., 13sec. per 1hr., 35min. of video (reading and writing to single NVMe drive).

 

[PainterArt]

Its not really worth writing up as its just a case of using the provided Samsung migration software to clone the already MBR booting install of Windows 7. nothing too it.

This line of yours say it is easy has nothing to do with what I wrote which deals with 950 PRO in a RAID configuration and then transferring your original OS to the RAID. I can tell you that Samsung Migration Software does not recognize a RAID of 950 PROs because I tried that.

You are responding to me about moving an OS to a single drive and conflating it with moving it to a RAID and throwing MBR into the mix.

As far as migrating a Windows 7 with MBR to a 950 PRO RAID, maybe, but I did not do that and do not know anyone that has or bothered to.

I have written up how to migrate Windows 7 from MBR to GPT to the 950 pro here for anyone interested in doing that. I did come across some peculiarities when connecting additional disks after the process that caused Windows 7 boot to hang on the logo.

http://www.geektech.co.nz/convert-mbr-to-gpt-without-data-loss

Just FYI you do not have to disable CMS. You only have to make sure that
[FONT=&quot]Storage OpROM policy is UEFI , all other CMS options do not matter. I am running my 950 PRO RAID and CMS is enabled.

[/FONT]

 

[Redstorm]

Just FYI you do not have to disable CMS. You only have to make sure that
[FONT=&quot]Storage OpROM policy is UEFI , all other CMS options do not matter. I am running my 950 PRO RAID and CMS is enabled.

[/FONT]

The goal is to disable CMS as you get Slow boot with it enabled.

For your RAID config you need it enabled for the storage Option rom, but this will cause a slower booting machine vs a pure UEFI booting config with CMS disabled.

Reading this
http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/Manual/RAID/X99 OC Formula/English.pdf
Section 2.4

If your OS is windows 8 or above it may be possible to boot RAID without CMS enabled to take advantage of the fast boot as long as your RAID array is under 2.2TB.

Win 7 fast boot is not supported.

 

[fvbounty]

The goal is to disable CMS as you get Slow boot with it enabled.

For your RAID config you need it enabled for the storage Option rom, but this will cause a slower booting machine vs a pure UEFI booting config with CMS disabled.

Reading this
http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/Manual/RAID/X99 OC Formula/English.pdf
Section 2.4

If your OS is windows 8 or above it may be possible to boot RAID without CMS enabled to take advantage of the fast boot as long as your RAID array is under 2.2TB.

Win 7 fast boot is not supported.

I'm getting really slow boot times with my 950 512 gig and CMS is enabled, this is just a single 950, my boot times are in the low 30 second range, at least 10 seconds slower than my Evo 840. Do you think disabling CMS would help on my boot times?

 

[Blehhh]

Hi guys im new, ive been following samsung 950 for like 2 months ago.
is samsung 950 pro 512gb faster than intel 750 400gb? i play games and browse the internet.
im currently using windows 7 pro 64bit. will i have any problem using samsung950 as a single drive?
and is it worth getting a hyperkit for it? or just slot it at m.2 slot. im using z170 hero.
if hyperkit is worthy mind showing me which is the best? thanks in advance

 

[=Wendy=]

Hi guys im new, ive been following samsung 950 for like 2 months ago.
is samsung 950 pro 512gb faster than intel 750 400gb? i play games and browse the internet.
im currently using windows 7 pro 64bit. will i have any problem using samsung950 as a single drive?
and is it worth getting a hyperkit for it? or just slot it at m.2 slot. im using z170 hero.
if hyperkit is worthy mind showing me which is the best? thanks in advance

The Intel 750 is technically faster, but the Samsung 950 Pro is optimized for typical consumer workloads, and is probably faster in that usage scenario.

To use any NVMe SSD in Windows 7, you'll first have to inject the drivers during Windows installation. Windows 7 doesn't natively support NVMe.

Regarding hyper kit on PCIe3 X16 socket vs native Z170 M.2 slot.
PCIe3 X16 socket is very slightly faster, but not by any margin that will be noticeable in the real world.
I compared the two connection methods here.

 

[larryccf]

I'm running win 7 x64 as well. Installing the samsung NVMe driver is pretty simple - i forget who, but someone earlier in this thread detailed installing the driver on his system first (the 950 PRO will have to be installed on the motherboard first, or the driver will not install if it doesn't detect a NVMe device in the system)

but then after installation, i simply used samsung's Data Migration software to clone the OS over to the 950 PRO. The clone went flawlessly and the 950 PRO booted the first time. Note, cloning will take the orig HDD or SSD "offline" due to signature collision - i suspect that means the data migration sofware copies the partition identifiers ( "C", "D" etc) exactly, and the system won't allow two drives with the same partition letters.

fwiw

 

[fvbounty]

The Intel 750 is technically faster, but the Samsung 950 Pro is optimized for typical consumer workloads, and is probably faster in that usage scenario.

To use any NVMe SSD in Windows 7, you'll first have to inject the drivers during Windows installation. Windows 7 doesn't natively support NVMe.

Regarding hyper kit on PCIe3 X16 socket vs native Z170 M.2 slot.
PCIe3 X16 socket is very slightly faster, but not by any margin that will be noticeable in the real world.
I compared the two connection methods here.

That was a very good review Wendy! Thanks for the link!

 

[phillyman36]

The Intel 750 is technically faster, but the Samsung 950 Pro is optimized for typical consumer workloads, and is probably faster in that usage scenario.

To use any NVMe SSD in Windows 7, you'll first have to inject the drivers during Windows installation. Windows 7 doesn't natively support NVMe.

Regarding hyper kit on PCIe3 X16 socket vs native Z170 M.2 slot.
PCIe3 X16 socket is very slightly faster, but not by any margin that will be noticeable in the real world.
I compared the two connection methods here.

Do you think attaching the 950 to the Hyper kit also adds a sort of heatsink value for temperatures?

 

[Deders]

Do you think attaching the 950 to the Hyper kit also adds a sort of heatsink value for temperatures?

Probably not as a heatsink as such, but depending on your airflow you might be able to position it in a cooler place. Mine is directly in line with my case's side fan so I'm not really worried.

 

[larryccf]

after running those video rendering tests after enabling rapid mode on a 2 yr old 840 EVO, the benchmarks i saw on the 840 had me wondering how the computer would run with the 840 as the OS drive.

Just as a reminder, below are those benchmarks

Last night i cloned the 950 PRO to the 840 EVO, shut the sytem down, removed the 950 PRO altogether and ran the 840 as the OS drive. Damn if it didn't seem snappier, response wise, to a number of "tasks", opening outlook express, quickbooks, etc the system seemed to fly.

Rendering that same video file didn't seem to improve, time wise, but again referring to JohnnyLucky's post, samsung's Rapid Mode seems to be a dumbed down ramdisk utility that doesn't allow large video files.

It's now got me wondering if my energy / efforts wouldn't have been better placed exploring ram disk software, even adding another 16 GB at $85 vs $350 for the 950 PRO

 

[Blehhh]

The Intel 750 is technically faster, but the Samsung 950 Pro is optimized for typical consumer workloads, and is probably faster in that usage scenario.

To use any NVMe SSD in Windows 7, you'll first have to inject the drivers during Windows installation. Windows 7 doesn't natively support NVMe.

Regarding hyper kit on PCIe3 X16 socket vs native Z170 M.2 slot.
PCIe3 X16 socket is very slightly faster, but not by any margin that will be noticeable in the real world.
I compared the two connection methods here.

which pcie hyper kit would you recommend?

 

[Blehhh]

after running those video rendering tests after enabling rapid mode on a 2 yr old 840 EVO, the benchmarks i saw on the 840 had me wondering how the computer would run with the 840 as the OS drive.

Just as a reminder, below are those benchmarks

Last night i cloned the 950 PRO to the 840 EVO, shut the sytem down, removed the 950 PRO altogether and ran the 840 as the OS drive. Damn if it didn't seem snappier, response wise, to a number of "tasks", opening outlook express, quickbooks, etc the system seemed to fly.

Rendering that same video file didn't seem to improve, time wise, but again referring to JohnnyLucky's post, samsung's Rapid Mode seems to be a dumbed down ramdisk utility that doesn't allow large video files.

It's now got me wondering if my energy / efforts wouldn't have been better placed exploring ram disk software, even adding another 16 GB at $85 vs $350 for the 950 PRO

so you wouldnt think 950 pro was more worth getting? over 840evo?
or was the speed of "tasks", opening outlook express, quickbooks, etc the system seemed to fly. seems to be worthy?

 

[larryccf]

if you have a samsung 840 or 850, run samsung magician and enable Rapid Mode and see for yourself

for actual tasks involving large files, according to johnnylucky's post, i need to look into the available ramdisk programs and see what that does to my video rendering times - i suspect it won't improve them as it really appears my bottleneck is the cpu

but if that's the case, what benefit did i derive from the 950 that the 840 in rapid mode doesn't offer, and in fact offers more of?

 

[Redstorm]

I'm getting really slow boot times with my 950 512 gig and CMS is enabled, this is just a single 950, my boot times are in the low 30 second range, at least 10 seconds slower than my Evo 840. Do you think disabling CMS would help on my boot times?

As long as all your componts will support UEFI booting, mainly the graphics card needs to support Graphics Output Protocol (GOP) if you card is less the 2 years old you should be ok to disable CMS. Or check if their is an updated BIOS for your video card with GOP support.

If it doesn't boot with CMS disabled just reboot and enable it again to get back to where you started. Your boot times are very long for some reason.

For reference, from button press to windows finish loading in my system is ~8s. from screen flicker to windows load is ~5s (X99 with 950pro system drive and Vertex 3 as D Drive)

 

[fvbounty]

As long as all your componts will support UEFI booting, mainly the graphics card needs to support Graphics Output Protocol (GOP) if you card is less the 2 years old you should be ok to disable CMS. Or check if their is an updated BIOS for your video card with GOP support.

If it doesn't boot with CMS disabled just reboot and enable it again to get back to where you started. Your boot times are very long for some reason.

For reference, from button press to windows finish loading in my system is ~8s. from screen flicker to windows load is ~5s (X99 with 950pro system drive and Vertex 3 as D Drive)

Thanks I have a Asus GTX 980 Ti, so I should be alright, can you check your event viewer and see what your post times are ...thanks in advance..I just tried disabling CSM and it said it wouldn't work so I had to enabled it to boot!

 

[Redstorm]

Thanks I have a Asus GTX 980 Ti, so I should be alright, can you check your event viewer and see what your post times are ...thanks in advance..I just tried disabling CSM and it said it wouldn't work so I had to enabled it to boot!

Is your 950 configured as a GPT partition table? a requirement for native UEFI booting. My install that i clone to the 950 wasn't so i had to convert it from MBR to GPT style.

http://www.geektech.co.nz/convert-mbr-to-gpt-without-data-loss
I cheated and used the Windows 10 install media to do the UEFI bit for me then just over wrote the windows 10 partition with my windows 7 partition.

I'm booting with a Gigabyte GTX980Ti G1 so your Asus 980Ti should be fine.

 

[fvbounty]

Is your 950 configured as a GPT partition table? a requirement for native UEFI booting. My install that i clone to the 950 wasn't so i had to convert it from MBR to GPT style.

http://www.geektech.co.nz/convert-mbr-to-gpt-without-data-loss
I cheated and used the Windows 10 install media to do the UEFI bit for me then just over wrote the windows 10 partition with my windows 7 partition.

I'm booting with a Gigabyte GTX980Ti G1 so your Asus 980Ti should be fine.

Yes it is I used Rufus to put W10 on my thumbdrive and used GPT...really when i went to reboot after turning off CSM my bios gave me the warning that it wouldn't boot...you know the 950 doesn't show has a NVMe device in my bios there nothing listed when I select NVMe devices?

 

[=Wendy=]

That was a very good review Wendy! Thanks for the link!

Thanks.

Do you think attaching the 950 to the Hyper kit also adds a sort of heatsink value for temperatures?

As Deders mentions, go with the socket that has the best airflow. I use an Antec P280 case, which is designed for silent running rather than airflow, but in normal use, I never found the Samsung 950 Pro throttling when connected to the native Z170 M.2, or the when connected to PCIe3 x16 sockets.

which pcie hyper kit would you recommend?

In the article, I used the hyper kit that was supplied with the Asus Z170 Deluxe. I haven't tried any other hyper kit, and I'm not sure if you can purchase the Asus hyper kit separately.

 

[bradly1101]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...7Y9766&cm_re=hyper_kit-_-13-995-042-_-Product

 

[fvbounty]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...7Y9766&cm_re=hyper_kit-_-13-995-042-_-Product

I don't think thats going to work with the 950? You need something like this, I got it on ebay...

 

[Redstorm]

Yes it is I used Rufus to put W10 on my thumbdrive and used GPT...really when i went to reboot after turning off CSM my bios gave me the warning that it wouldn't boot...you know the 950 doesn't show has a NVMe device in my bios there nothing listed when I select NVMe devices?

Mines the same, the M2 device does not show up but, the UEFI detects the Windows Boot Manager in the EFI system partition.

One thing to watch out for when installing windows 10 is to make sure that it was booted UEFI mode or you will get a legacy install. Best to disable CSM before installing to guarantee a UEFI install.