Samsung 850 PRO SSD 256 Gigabyte Review

Ocaholic

Specifications / Delivery

Model	850 PRO 128 GB	850 PRO 256 GB	850 PRO 512 GB	850 PRO 1 TB
Capacity	128 GB	256 GB	512 GB	1024 GB
Form Factor	2.5”	2.5”	2.5”	2.5”
Controller	Samsung 3-core MEX	Samsung 3-core MEX	Samsung 3-core MEX	Samsung 3-core MEX
Memory	MLC NAND 3D V-NAND 2bit	MLC NAND 3D V-NAND 2bit	MLC NAND 3D V-NAND 2bit	MLC NAND 3D V-NAND 2bit
Throughput	520 MB/s sequential read 470 MB/s sequential write 100’000 IOPS 4K random read 90’000 IOPS 4K random write	550 MB/s sequential read 520 MB/s sequential write 100’000 IOPS 4K random read 90’000 IOPS 4K random write	550 MB/s sequential read 520 MB/s sequential write 100’000 IOPS 4K random read 90’000 IOPS 4K random write	530 MB/s sequential read 410 MB/s sequential write 87’000 IOPS 4K random read 14 ‘000 IOPS 4K random write
Power Consumption	3.3 Watt read 3.0 Watt write 0.4 Watt idle	3.3 Watt read 3.0 Watt write 0.4 Watt idle	3.3 Watt read 3.0 Watt write 0.4 Watt idle	3.3 Watt read 3.0 Watt write 0.4 Watt idle
Temperature	Operating: 0°C bis 70°C Non-Operating: -40°C bis 85°C	Operating: 0°C bis 70°C Non-Operating: -40°C bis 85°C	Operating: 0°C bis 70°C Non-Operating: -40°C bis 85°C	Operating: 0°C bis 70°C Non-Operating: -40°C bis 85°C
Endurance	150 TBW	150 TBW	150 TBW	150 TBW
Warranty	10 Years	10 Years	10 Years	10 Years

Not long ago Samsung announced three new SSD series. There is the 850 PRO for endusers and the 845DC EVO as well as the 845DC PRO for data centers. In the case of the 850 PRO the most significant upgrade comes with the NAND Flash. Samsung is now bringing 3D V-NAND to the mass market and therefore increasing reliability and endurance. To be a bit more precise the drive boasts 24 layer 3D V-NAND with 40nm structures. Apart from that density is a 128Gbit and over time Samsung wants to increase this value to a whopping 1 TBit.

A closer look at the 850 PRO reveals that the 256 Gigabyte version is capable of delivering high performance already with low capacity. It appears that the new 3D V-NAND can deliver high performance as well as high endurance in combination with Samsungs latest MEX controller. When it comes to endurance Samsung is saying that the 850 PRO should be able to survive 150 TBW. Compared to the datacenter drives, where Samsung communicates 10 drive writes per day, the value of 150 TBW is rather low. We believe the maker is advertising a low value and in real life the drive is capable of withstanding way higher TBW numbers.

If we start looking for the controller, we see there is the Samsung MEX model. This controller clocks 100 MHz higher than the predecessor, which ran by the name MDX. The fact that this version of the controller clocks 100 MHz faster might also be the reason why the 850 PRO is a bit quicker than the datacenter versions, which use the MDX controller but also feature 3D V-NAND.
Last but not least let us have a quick look at the exterior. The Samsung 850 PRO is only available with a 2.5 inch casing measuring 7 millimeter in height. In case of the interface you get SATA 3.1. We’re rather curious to see wether Samsung is planning on releasing an M.2 version of this drive or not.