Introduction

Solid State Drives (SSD’s) define a great deal of today’s computing power. For more serious computer users, conventional hard disk drives (HDD’s) are mere storage devices, if possible tucked away in a Network-Attached Storage (NAS) in the closet. The advantages of SDD’s? Zero noise, like USB-sticks; low power consumption; extreme reading and writing speeds. What’s more to want? Well, what we always want in this business: Even more speed, even higher numbers. Samsung has sent me their newest SSD’s, the 840 and 840 Pro, to review and I will compare them with the famous OCZ Agility 3 drive.

Specifications

Samsung 840 250GB

• Max sequential read: 540MB/s
• Max sequential write: 250MB/s
• Max 4k random read: 96.000 IOPS
• Max 4k random write: 62.000 IOPS
• Random read: 7.900 IOPS
• Random write: 29.000 IOPS
• NAND Components: Triple-Level Cell (TLC)
• NAND Controller: Samsung S4LN021X01

Samsung 840 PRO 256GB

• Max sequential read: 540MB/s
• Max sequential write: 520MB/s
• Max 4k random read: 100.000 IOPS
• Max 4k random write: 90.000 IOPS
• Random read: 9.900 IOPS
• Random write: 31.000 IOPS
• NAND Components: Multi-Level Cell (MLC)
• NAND Controller: Samsung S4LN021X01

Today’s competitor

OCZ Agility 3 240GB

• Max sequential read: 525MB/s
• Max sequential write: 500MB/s
• Max 4k random read: ?
• Max 4k random write: ?
• Random read: 7.900 IOPS
• Random write: 29.000 IOPS
• NAND Components: Multi-Level Cell (MLC)
• NAND Controller: SandForce 2281