Valery

Yes. CDI incorrectly counts NAND WRITES, underestimating the value by half. And in the latest versions of Plextool, the HOST WRITES indicator was removed from smart so that users would not ask "stupid" questions. Only HOST READS remained.

Anton

The SSD from intel on a freshly installed win 7 disabled only the paging file (because 32gb of RAM) and hibernation (because I don’t use it), the program from intel asks to disable Prefetch and SuperFetch, but I don’t see the point.

Vitaly K. ©

Didn't find the item for me. My disk with settings you probably know better than me)))
I read something on the Internet, I came up with something myself. As a result, I screwed up the trim, turned off the swap and put the tempos on the ramdisk. The long work of the disk is guaranteed - so far 100% health.

Basil

SSD Intel 520 Series 180GB
There are two drives in the system, the HDD, in turn, is divided into 250 (I keep Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 on it, and some programs, for example Photoshop) and 450 (for torrents and other garbage) GB.
There is a utility, with the help of it I did the optimization that Intel recommends doing once a week, everything else is by default. I think it’s still worth it or not to disable the paging file, with 16 gigabytes of RAM ....

Valery

Vadim Sterkin: Valery, wait a minute, how does CDI determine the difference between Host Writes and Nand Writes? This may be a SMART indicator, and then WA=NW/HW can be deduced.

Yes. There are corresponding S.M.A.R.T. parameters. For Plextor drives, this is 0xB1 (Wear Leveling Count).

NW=(B1 Decimal Value)*(Drive Capacity/2) — value in megabytes (relevant for M2, M3 and M5S of the old revision)

NW=(B1 Decimal Value)*(Drive Capacity) — value in megabytes (relevant for M5P and M5S new revision)

CDI counts according to the old formula.

Vadim Sterkin: The same SF does not have NW, according to kr. measure in my drive and Kingston SMART specifications.

There is. It's just that in HyperX the smart is poorer and the values ​​\u200b\u200bare considered a little differently. The KC300 has 100/0x64 (Gigabytes Erased) and 177/0xB1 (Wear Range Delta) - http://www.overclockers.ru/images/lab/2013/11/02/1/512_big.jpg .

Sergei

Transferred the system from HDD a year ago, SSD Crucial 120 Gb. There is no proprietary utility. Accordingly, the system and most of the programs are on the SSD. After the transfer of the system, I checked the settings, they coincided with your recommendations, Vadim, with which I fully agree. The performance index (Win 7x64) for the disk is 7.9. What else to rush about ... ..
The swap file left 1GB (not the choice of the system) on the SSD.
16 GB of memory is installed, so I applied tweaks:
http://forums.overclockers.ru/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=457299

These tweaks did not greatly speed up the system, but memory usage increased sometimes even up to 25%. Before the registry tweaks, it was never more than 15%.

I would like to see your article on optimizing the use of large amounts of memory in 64-bit systems

Dima

Hello Vadim.
There is a crucial m4 60 GB (it used to have an OS) plexor m5r 128 two (one system, 2 hard drives. The first one has no utilities or recommendations (but the quality (private opinion)) the Plextor has no recommendations, the utility is how to call it softer .... , and the system does not allow it to work in secure boot.Hibernation is disabled - the rest is by default.
You need to think about disabling defragmentation.

Maxim

Thanks for the article, Vadim!
I have an mSATA Kingston SMS200S3120G SSD
Before that, I didn’t even look to see if there were proprietary utilities, since my experience with the Kingston SSD on a stationary PC (Win 7) suggests that the standard Windows setup is enough.
After reading the article, I looked at the manufacturer's website and downloaded the SSD Toolbox. A useful utility for viewing detailed disk information and for updating firmware (no updates available at the moment). There are no settings in it, so there are no contradictions either.

Anatoly

“Ignorance of some principles of Windows operation prevented the company from implementing a more competent solution.” Are you serious?

Basil

Vadim Sterkin

Sure, here's the screenshot. Nothing else is shown, only a notification about a successful optimization.

Pooh

SSD Mini Tweaker v2.4 and all issues are resolved. I uncheck only the restore.

rass

TOSHIBA THNSNH128GBST.
The laptop allows you to install two 2.5″ disks, so I installed an SSD under the system and programs, but for my data I use a 1 TB HDD.
RAM 8 GB

According to the numbering of myths
1. SuperFetch seems to have been cut off.
2. I didn’t touch defragmentation, I think Windows turned it off by itself.
3. File paging left at the discretion of Windows.
4. In order not to waste 8 GB SSD, I turned off hibernation.
5. The Windows recovery function did not turn off
6. Disabled file indexing on the SSD drive (I didn’t split it into logical ones, I have one C :) drive. And I don't like how the search is implemented in Win7. In addition, all my data is stored on the HDD. There is almost nothing to look for on an SSD.
7. For the "garbage" folder Downloads and for downloading torrents I use the HDD.
8. I install programs by default in ProgramFiles on the SSD, it was important for me that not only Windows would work quickly, but the programs would also start. (the fact that programs work with data that is stored on the HDD - I understand this).
9. Folders AppData and ProgramData did not transfer anywhere
10. Browser cache (I use Opera) - did not turn it off. (disabled only for those who use this browser "Remember the contents of visited pages")
11. I did not transfer temporary files anywhere, also on the SSD drive (I think this: since my main working files are stored on the HDD, then of course opening them will be slow, unlike if they were stored on the SSD, but while the program is running, all changes are saved at a pace on the SSD, and this is already fast.well, the control saves of the working file are already again on the HDD - it will be slow, but not important)
12. I didn't do anything with the registry.

I've been working with SSD for a month - I can't get enough of the speed.
Toshiba did not use any programs, and it seems that there are none.

Pooh

Vadim Sterkin,

That's it!!! Because they are all myths!

Valery

Leonid

Not long ago I set up my SSDs - Plextor M5 Pro in RAID 0 mode to increase the write / read speed. Although I read information on many forums that reyd is needed only for HDD. As for the cache, I have 32GB of RAM and it is more than enough for the system, but just in case I allocated some space for a 2-4GB system SSD, I think this will not greatly reduce the service life :)

Paul

My first PCI-Ex4 SSD (slot) OCZ Revo Drive X2 died a year and a half later, at the moment when I was browsing the Internet, many bookmarks were opened. Put a tweak, turned everything off. Windows 7. When I bought a new OCZ Vertex-4 SATA 6gB SSD, I decided to install Windu and all programs, games on it as well, but transferred all user folders to the HDD, browser cookies, downloads too; disabled the search index, swap file, since I have 8 GB of RAM. The SSD life test program showed a disk life at these settings of 41 years 10 months 18 days. I did not do any more tweaks and settings. Now my SSD is 1 year 4 months old (lifetime). Just in case, I keep the money for a new SSD in reserve. :)

Go to Task Manager -> Performance -> Resource Monitor -> Disk, your hair will stand on end at the way Windows treats your SSD. Who has a second computer or laptop with a regular HDD can compare (there are more write / read accesses to it than to an SSD)

Alexander

@Vasily, can you see a screenshot of SSD Toolbox with optimization recommended once a week? Interested in what exactly they optimize there @

I’ll answer for Vasily (since I also have Intel) optimization there means forced Trim manually, which I occasionally use and do instead of the system :-) With Intel, the problem is different somewhere I read - too lazy to look for enabling / disabling caching or enabling / disabling clearing the cache (too lazy to search) greatly affects performance. I don’t know it’s difficult to check it, I have it like you have in the picture.

Paul

In order to check whether your SSD is configured correctly, look at what score Windows gives it, if 7.9 is correct, if less means somewhere you missed the settings. If anyone does not know, if you have one or more hard drives, Windows only evaluates the disk on which it is installed, and not the smallest one, as I used to think.

Elena

Vadim Sterkin: Vasily, can you see a screenshot of SSD Toolbox with optimization, which is recommended once a week? Interested in what exactly they optimize there :)

The Intel 520 series itself. There once a week TRIM. Nothing more.

Vadim

Intel SSD 335 240Gb
I didn’t set anything up, since I completely trust Win8, since the license is good and no one has been tinkering with it. I use it as the only one in my laptop and for everything - system, office, games. Until a certain time, once a week (or two) I clicked “optimize” in Intel SSD Toolbox, although I knew that it was just TRIM. After six months of absolutely normal operation, the laptop first hung out of the blue, then hung for another 2 days and that's it ... the SSD ran out. The system does not boot and does not give any errors, system restore also does not load in any way.

Solid state drives are getting bigger and cheaper, and the advantages of quietness, resistance to mechanical damage and, of course, high speed, make more people think about switching - at least partially - to SSD. the site tested an advanced device, a Samsung SSD 850 Evo with 1TB 3D V-NAND memory.

Although the Evo line is not positioned as a flagship product (the 850 Pro left this role), it looks the most interesting to the mass consumer due to its capabilities and friendlier cost.

Appearance and design

The Samsung SSD 850 Evo solid state drive is packaged in a plastic shell that also serves as a bundle organizer. The latter does not offer anything unusual: a warranty card, a user manual, a CD with a digital version of the user manual and service applications.

The case of the drive is made of aluminum, the company's logo is located on the top part, and a sticker with service information and information about the model is placed on the bottom. At the end there is a standard SATA connector (there are modifications for M.2 and mSATA).

The mass of the Samsung SSD 850 Evo was 55 g, the thickness was 7 mm, that is, it can be installed in almost any device where the replacement of drives is provided (consoles, laptops, system units). There are no fasteners for installing an SSD in a larger slot, which is typical for the manufacturer.

Peculiarities

The SSD series uses TLC V-NAND 3-bit 3D memory. The volumetric structure with the vertical shape of the cells made it possible to eliminate their influence on each other. In addition, they are located in 48 layers (or 32 layers in earlier revisions), which ensured an increase in capacity despite the large manufacturing process (40 nm versus 16 nm typical for planar memory). The latter feature is a strong point in this case, since these cells are thicker and therefore will last longer: the time between failures (MTBF) is 1.5 million hours, and the guaranteed write capacity is 150 TB.

Samsung 850 Evo 500 GB (old revision) and 1 TB (new revision)

The Samsung SSD 850 Evo supports S.M.A.R.T., TRIM and Garbage Collection. There is also a Device Sleep mode to reduce power consumption in AES 256 simple and hardware encryption, compatible with TCG / Opal 2.0 and IEEE-1667 standards.

For the Samsung SSD 850 Evo, linear read and write speeds of up to 540 and 520 MB / s are declared, respectively. Peak speeds are indicated taking into account proprietary TurboWrite technology, which actually uses a fast pseudo-SLC cache, its volume is 12 GB in a 1 TB model.

Tests

Measurements in AS SSD Benchmark showed close to the declared speeds in sequential read and write mode, as well as a good result in random reading and writing 4 KB blocks. CrystalDiskMark shows comparable results.

The measurements in Anvil`s Storage Utilities and the branded Samsung Magician also pleased:

An SSD with active RAPID mode that uses the computer's free RAM is impressive:

Phenomenal acceleration, however, is noticeable only in benchmarks, in practice, the gain is 5-10%, for example, during OS loading. But it's still nice, because faster - not slower.

All of the above measurements showed an almost empty drive, but even after it was filled, the tests gave similar numbers:

The Samsung SSD 850 Evo demonstrates some of the best performance among SSDs in the mass consumer segment, not only in synthetics, but also live, giving excellent speed both in launching games and applications, as well as loading the OS, copying and archiving files.

The lineup

Solid state drives are almost silent, fast compared to HDDs, less prone to mechanical damage, but the cost of each gigabyte is much higher. Therefore, the choice of SSD should be taken seriously. The Samsung SSD 850 Evo line is represented by several models, the cost of devices varies in different stores, sometimes the difference is significant (the prices for SATA, mSATA and M.2 are approximately the same):

• 250 GB - 2600-3500 UAH
• 500 GB - 4500-5300 UAH
• 1 TB - 8000-12 000 UAH
• 2 TB - 15 000-21 500 UAH
• 4 TB - UAH 35,000-44,000

The first two options are suitable for most users who do not want to give up cheap HDD memory for storing files, the 1 TB modification is the best choice as the only drive, and the 2 and 4 TB models (only SATA versions are available) will be needed for those who wants to use an SSD for all tasks, including storing an extensive home collection of videos and photos.

The lineup also includes a 120 GB version, but in 2017 such a modification looks outdated and the site cannot recommend it for purchase. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to find this option, and the cost is practically the same as 250 GB.

conclusions

Samsung is increasingly gaining a foothold in the drive market, this is facilitated by its own production, engineering innovations and, as a result, a flexible pricing policy. While the flagship 850 Pro line is expensive and a no-compromise pro-focused product, the lower-end series looks interesting for home computers, laptops, consoles and other devices where you want to get a minimum of noise and increase speed.

The 1TB Samsung SSD 850 Evo performs well in our tests, the supported features cover all user needs, and TurboWrite technology only adds to the attractiveness of the device. In addition, you can brag to your friends that the SSD uses "three-dimensional memory."

The theoretical durability and general advantages of SSDs make the Samsung SSD 850 Evo one of the most attractive SSDs on the market, and the large capacities make it possible to meet the needs of even demanding users. We must take.

Samsung 850 Evo series hard drives are rated by experts as combining a low price with extremely impressive performance. In terms of speed, the corresponding devices are comparable to many premium disk models. What are the main technological advantages of these solutions? How do users evaluate their effectiveness?

General information about the device

Samsung 850 Evo is a series of SSD drives. These devices are characterized by a large capacity and a high level of reliability. They are in demand when solving problems related to providing high-speed data transfer.

Samsung 850 Evo devices are manufactured using the 3D V-VAND architecture, which is characterized by the use of cylindrical cells that are adapted to eliminate interference that occurs when the components of the device interact. Ensuring a large capacity of devices is carried out by placing elements in several layers. At the same time, the reliability of file storage, as well as the speed of their transfer, does not decrease.

Among other notable features of the devices in this series is the ability to switch to RAPID mode, in which the drive starts working at an even higher speed. This is achieved, in particular, due to the fact that the device starts using the available amount of PC RAM as a cache.

The Samsung 850 Evo features efficient energy saving technologies. According to experts, in a number of modes, the device is able to consume ten times less electricity compared to outdated storage models.

The disks of the series under consideration implement a number of high-tech solutions in the field of file security. Among them - AES encryption, dynamic thermal protection.

It can be noted that the introduction of Samsung 850 Evo series devices to the market was preceded by the successful work of the Korean corporation to create and ensure successful sales of SSD 830 and 840 Pro series devices, which were classified by experts as the best SSD type devices in the upper price segment. The company did not forget about products for the mass segment: for example, the 840 and 840 EVO devices were launched on the market.

Subsequently, Samsung Corporation continued its developments in the production of multilayer crystals, and one of the results of their practical implementation was the release of 32-layer drives of the 850 Evo line. This device was launched in the mass segment. In the premium segment, Samsung introduced the 850 Pro product, which is characterized by an exceptionally high combination of performance and reliability.

The drive as a product of technological modernization

What features, in turn, are characterized by drives of the 850 Evo series?

Above, we noted that these devices implement the best developments of Samsung on previous products. So, those main components that were installed in the products of the 840 series - TLC memory, a branded controller, and the TurboWrite solution, were also duplicated in the new series of devices. In addition, a number of updates were also implemented in it - in particular, instead of the proprietary MEX controller, the manufacturer installed an improved MGX hardware component.

Certain additions were also made to the TurboWrite technology in the Samsung 850 Evo series.

3D V-VAND technology

Perhaps the most notable component of the new series of drives is 3D memory, which is a combination of 3D NAND and TLC NAND solutions. The new technology made it possible to eliminate the shortcomings that characterize the use of the two previous ones separately.

The use of the 3D V-NAND concept has allowed Samsung to implement a 40 nm process technology in the new product while maintaining the ability to use chips with a smaller area than, in particular, conventional MLC NAND technology, which is manufactured using a 16 nm process technology. In turn, cells of 40 nm are characterized by greater resistance to wear, as well as stability in operation.

Another advantage of the corresponding updated technology that powers the Samsung 850 Evo SSD is to provide faster device performance by reducing the duration of read and write operations. Due to the recording in one separate memory cell, not 2, but 3 bits of data, the capacity of the crystals used in the devices of this series can reach 128 Gbps. Moreover, these chips have an area that is about 2 times smaller than that of the corresponding TLC NAND components in a conventional modification with a similar capacity, which are produced using a 19 nm process technology.

It can be noted that the manufacturer gives a guarantee for devices for a period of 5 years. This is one of the most competitive indicators on the market.

It will be useful to consider what the corresponding devices look like.

Appearance of drives

Regardless of the capacity of the Samsung 850 Evo - 250GB or 1TB, all devices in the line look almost the same. Outside, they have a compact - 7 mm thick, black aluminum case. On the reverse side of it is a label, from the contents of which you can find out the exact name of the drive model, as well as its serial number.

If you open the case cover, it turns out that, depending on the specific volume of the disk, the contents may vary. So, for example, in a model with a capacity of 250 GB, a printed circuit board is installed with dimensions smaller than that of a 500 GB modification. But in both cases, the size of the corresponding hardware component is small, that is, we can say that the body of the device could be even thinner, there are empty spaces in it.

Installing the drive on a PC

How is the Samsung 850 Evo hard drive installed in a PC? Installing the device is very easy. Most cases for modern PCs have slots for installing disks the size of which the 850 Evo device has - 2.5 inches. It is necessary to position the drive accordingly, and then connect 2 cables to it - power supply, as well as data transfer.

After that, you need to switch the PC controller to AHCI mode. To do this, however, it may be necessary to update the BIOS version - using the firmware from the official website of the PC motherboard manufacturer. The drive is recognized in the system without problems. If necessary, you can use branded programs to configure the system and monitor disk performance.

Drive resources

Using the Samsung 850 Evo 1TB SSD, you can write about 82 GB of files per day to it. A similar resource has a 500 GB disk. A slightly smaller, but nevertheless impressive resource, have younger modifications of devices - 120, 250 GB. They can record about 42 GB of information per day.

Thus, the considered series of SSD drives is designed for a long service life. Models with even the smallest capacity in the Samsung 850 Evo line - 120 GB or 250 GB - have a resource comparable to that of many premium models.

Work speed

The speed of the devices in this series also impresses experts. At the same time, the indicators characterizing the junior model of the 850 Evo line, as shown by tests conducted by experts, are not too inferior to those of the premium model, the 850 Pro.

In many ways, good performance is achieved through the use of TurboWrite technology, as well as the use of a fast cache. Which is 3 GB in the Samsung 850 Evo 250GB model, 6 GB in the 500 GB modification, and 12 GB in the 1 TB disk.

The capabilities of the drives under consideration in terms of providing data write speed again allow us to talk about their competitiveness in relation to premium products.

Drive testing: read and write speed

Let's now study the practical results of studying the capabilities of the drives of the series under consideration by experts. As for the reading mode, the high technologies implemented in the corresponding devices make it possible to achieve the highest performance here.

But regarding the recording, the test results, depending on the specific modification of the device, may be different. So, for example, a drive with a capacity of 500 GB has indicators comparable to those that characterize the older model. In this sense, when choosing - Samsung 850 Pro or 850 Evo - the user gets a clear advantage in price if he prefers the second model, despite the fact that in terms of speed it is practically not inferior to the older modification.

In turn, the model in the 250-gigabyte version is significantly inferior to the more capacious version in terms of sequential write speed. This is largely due to the relatively small cache size that the corresponding modification of the drive has - its value is 3 GB. Which, at the same time, is enough to solve a large number of user tasks in practice.

Drive Testing: Random Read Speed

Another interesting performance indicator of Samsung 850 Evo devices is the random read speed test of drives. Equipped with an updated MGX controller, the devices have significantly improved performance compared to previous modifications, according to experts.

At the same time, the 500-gigabyte drive model showed especially good results. Its performance allows it to be characterized as a virtual leader in the segment in terms of performance in the corresponding mode.

Drive Testing: Random Write Speed

What is the performance of the device in random read speed mode?

As tests conducted by experts show, everything is also in order here. True, as the queue depth indicator increases, the performance of the 850 Evo line devices decreases. But, even despite this feature, the devices can be described as extremely competitive in the corresponding mode of use.

Drive Testing: Copying Files

Among the most, perhaps, indicative criteria for evaluating the performance of a drive is the speed of file copying achieved when using a particular device. Here, the indicators of the devices in the modification under consideration are, again, very decent. Especially if we talk about modifying a disk with a capacity of 500 GB.

In turn, the performance of the 250-gigabyte modification is somewhat more modest. Nevertheless, this contributes to a high assessment of the competitiveness of the device when used in the appropriate mode, which generally reflects the typical user load on the drive.

In some modes of working with files, the difference between device modifications of 200 and 500 GB is completely insignificant. Therefore, in practice, the user may not notice it at all.

In general, the performance tests of devices in the 850 Evo line from Samsung allow us to say that the Korean brand has ensured the presence on the market of a largely unique product: on the one hand, it has a relatively low price, on the other hand, it has technological advantages that make it comparable in terms of functions and performance with premium solutions.

According to experts, Samsung was able to implement this approach through purposeful and competent work to consistently improve the developments of previous years, as well as supplement them with relevant innovations that make devices even more competitive.

Let's talk about how to set up an SSD for Windows 10. I'll start simply: in most cases, any configuration and optimization of SSDs for the new OS is not necessary. Moreover, according to Microsoft support staff, independent optimization attempts can harm both the system and the disk itself. Just in case, for those who accidentally come in: .

However, some nuances should still be taken into account, and at the same time, things related to how SSD drives work in Windows 10 should be clarified, and we'll talk about them. The last section of the article also contains information of a more general nature (but useful), related to the operation of solid-state drives at the hardware level and applicable to other versions of the OS.

Many have noticed that by default, automatic optimization (in previous versions of the OS - defragmentation) is enabled for SSDs in Windows 10, and someone rushed to turn it off, someone to study what was happening during the process.

In general terms, Windows 10 does not defragment the SSD, but optimizes it by clearing blocks using TRIM (or, rather, Retrim), which is not harmful, but even useful for solid state drives. Just in case, .

Some have written lengthy articles on how SSD optimization works in Windows 10. To quote part of such an article (only the most important parts to understand) from Scott Hanselman:

I dug deeper and talked to the development team working on implementing drives in Windows, and this post is written in full accordance with what they answered the question.

Drive Optimization (in Windows 10) defragments the SSD once a month if volume shadow copy (system protection) is enabled. This is due to the performance impact of SSD fragmentation. There is a misconception here that fragmentation is not a problem with SSDs - if the SSD gets heavily fragmented, you can achieve maximum fragmentation where the metadata can't represent more file fragments, leading to errors when trying to write or grow the file. In addition, more file fragments means more metadata needs to be processed to read/write the file, resulting in a performance penalty.

As far as Retrim is concerned, this command runs on a schedule and is necessary due to the way the TRIM command is executed on filesystems. Command execution occurs asynchronously on the file system. When a file is deleted or space is otherwise freed, the file system queues the request for TRIM. Due to peak load limits, this queue can reach the maximum number of TRIM requests, causing subsequent ones to be ignored. Later on, Windows Drive Optimization automatically performs Retrim to clean up blocks.

Summarizing:

• Defragmentation is performed only if system protection is enabled (restore points, file history using VSS).
• Disk optimization is used to mark unused blocks on the SSD that were not marked when TRIM was running.
• Defragmentation for SSDs may be needed and is automatically applied if necessary. At the same time (this is already from another source), a different defragmentation algorithm is used for solid-state drives compared to HDD.

However, if you wish, you can.

What features to disable for SSD and whether it is necessary

Anyone who has wondered about setting up an SSD for Windows has come across advice related to disabling SuperFetch and Prefetch, disabling the paging file or moving it to another drive, disabling system protection, hibernation and indexing the contents of the disk, moving folders, temporary files and more to other drives , disabling disk write caching.

Some of these tips come from Windows XP and 7 and do not apply to Windows 10 and Windows 8 and new SSDs (disabling SuperFetch, write caching). Most of these tips are actually able to reduce the amount of data written to the disk (and SSD has a limit on the total amount of data written over the entire life), which in theory leads to an extension of its life. But: by loss of productivity, convenience when working with the system, and in some cases to failures.

Here I note that despite the fact that the service life of an SSD is considered to be less than that of an HDD, it is highly likely that an average-priced SSD purchased today during normal use (games, work, Internet) in a modern OS and with reserve capacity (for no loss performance and life extension, it is worth keeping 10-15 percent of the space on the SSD free and this is one of the tips that is relevant and true) will last longer than you need (that is, it will eventually be replaced by a more modern and capacious one). In the screenshot below - my SSD, the period of use is a year. Pay attention to the column "Total recorded", a guarantee of 300 Tb.

And now, point by point, about various ways to optimize SSD performance in Windows 10 and the advisability of using them. Again, these settings may only marginally increase lifespan, but will not improve performance.

Note: I will not consider such an optimization method as installing programs on the HDD in the presence of an SSD, since then it is not clear why a solid-state drive was purchased at all - is it not for the quick launch and operation of these programs?

Disabling the paging file

The most common advice is to disable the paging file (virtual memory) of Windows or move it to another drive. The second option will cause a drop in performance, since a slow HDD will be used instead of a fast SSD and RAM.

The first option (disabling the swap file) is very controversial. Indeed, computers with 8 GB or more of RAM in many tasks can work with the paging file disabled (but some programs may not start or detect crashes when working, for example, from Adobe products), thereby maintaining a reserve of the solid state drive (fewer write operations occur ).

At the same time, it must be taken into account that in Windows the paging file is used in such a way that it is accessed as little as possible, depending on the size of the available RAM. According to Microsoft, the read-to-write ratio for the swap file is 40:1 in normal use, i.e. a significant number of write operations do not occur.

It is also worth adding that SSD manufacturers such as Intel, Samsung recommend leaving the paging file enabled. And one more note: some tests (two years ago, really) show that disabling the swap file for non-performing cheap SSDs can lead to an increase in their performance. See if you still decide to try it.

Disabling hibernation

The next possible setting is to turn off hibernation, which is also used for the Windows 10 fast startup feature. The hiberfil.sys file, written to disk when you turn off (or put into hibernation mode) a computer or laptop and used for subsequent fast startup, takes up several gigabytes of storage space (approximately equal to the amount of RAM used on the computer).

For laptops, disabling hibernation, especially if it is in use (for example, automatically turns on some time after closing the laptop lid), may not be practical and lead to inconvenience (the need to turn off and on the laptop) and reduce battery life (quick start and hibernation can save battery over time). compared to normal inclusion).

System protection

Restore points automatically created by Windows 10, as well as File History, when the corresponding function is turned on, are, of course, written to disk. In the case of SSDs, some recommend disabling system protection.

Among some is Samsung, which recommends doing so in both its Samsung Magician utility and the official SSD guide. At the same time, it is indicated that backup can cause a large number of background processes to run and performance degradation, although in fact system protection only works when changes are made to the system and when the computer is idle.

Intel does not recommend this for its SSDs. Just like Microsoft does not recommend disabling system protection. And I would not: a significant number of readers of this site could fix computer problems many times faster if they had Windows 10 security enabled.

Read more about enabling, disabling and checking the status of system protection in the article.

Transferring files and folders to other HDDs

Another of the proposed options for optimizing the performance of an SSD is to transfer user folders and files, temporary files and other components to a regular hard drive. As in the previous cases, this can reduce the amount of data written, while reducing performance (when moving temporary file storage and cache) or usability (for example, when creating photo thumbnails from user folders transferred to the HDD).

However, if there is a separate capacious HDD in the system, it may make sense to store really voluminous media files (movies, music, some resources, archives) that do not need frequent access on it, thereby freeing up space on the SSD and extending the lifespan. services.

Superfetch and Prefetch, disk content indexing, write caching, and clearing the write cache buffer

There are some ambiguities with these functions, different manufacturers give different recommendations, which, I think, should be read on the official websites.

According to Microsoft, Superfetch and Prefetch are also successfully used for SSDs, the functions themselves have changed and work differently in Windows 10 (and Windows 8) when using SSDs. But Samsung believes that this feature is not used by SSD drives. Cm. .

As for the write cache buffer, in general, recommendations boil down to “leave it on”, but it differs in clearing the cache buffer. Even within the same manufacturer: Samsung Magician recommends disabling the write cache buffer, and on their official website it says that it is recommended to keep it enabled.

Well, as for indexing the contents of disks and the search service, I don’t even know what to write. Search in Windows is a very effective and useful thing to work with, however, even in Windows 10, where the search button is in plain sight, almost no one uses it, out of habit looking for the necessary items in the start menu and multi-level folders. In the context of SSD optimization, disabling disk content indexing is not particularly effective - it's more of a read than a write operation.

General principles for optimizing SSD performance in Windows

Up to this point, we have mainly talked about the relative uselessness of manual SSD settings in Windows 10. However, there are some nuances that apply equally to all brands of SSDs and OS versions:

Perhaps that's all for now. The overall result of the article: in general, you don’t need to do anything with a solid state drive in Windows 10 unless it is clearly necessary. If you have just purchased an SSD, then you may be interested and useful instructions. However, in this case, in my opinion, a clean installation of the system would be more appropriate.

Samsung 850 Evo and 850 Pro 2TB | Introduction

In early July, our American colleagues (English), which talked about what SSD manufacturers will show us in the second half of 2015. The article had a lot of information, but it only covered 50% of the market, most of which is taken by Samsung.

Samsung's market share in the SSD market is 50%. For consumer models, the percentage is higher and in some countries can reach 80%. Samsung is also responsible for about 50% of the world's supply of NAND-memory. Of course, not all flash memory goes into an SSD, as cell phones, tablets, children's toys, SD cards, and even cars need to be packaged.

Samsung leads not only in terms of production volume, but also in technological innovation. The company recently introduced the first client-side SSD with three bits per cell storage technology, as well as the first 3D SSD cell structure using MLC and TLC technologies. And just recently, Samsung introduced the first mass-produced 2.5" 2TB client SSD.

Enthusiasts have been waiting for the next level of capacity ever since the first 1TB SSD was released. It's easy to demand a bigger, faster, or better product, but the leap will only happen when there's a financial incentive. You can ask Ferrari to come up with an SUV that will easily seat eight passengers, but that doesn't mean that Ferrari will put any money into developing it, and not many people have the money to buy one. But apparently, Samsung thought that now is a good time to bring the SSD to 2TB.

Specifications

While the 2TB SSD 850 Pro and Evo are nothing groundbreaking, they complement both lines perfectly. For the most part, Samsung just added twice as much NAND to get the 2TB capacity. Engineers also doubled the cache and upgraded the RAM to low power DDR3 (LPDDR3). DDR3 memory runs at a higher clock speed and uses less power than older DDR2 memory. These improvements are needed to compensate for the speed loss of large table caching and the increased power consumption due to the increased number of NAND chips.

A new controller is needed to support twice as many CE lanes for 32-level V-NAND flash. Because of this, the alternation has increased. In the results of performance tests you will see its impact, although officially the speed characteristics Samsung 850 Pro 2TB and Samsung 850 Evo 2TB and 1TB models are the same.

2TB capacity benefits more Samsung 850 Evo 2TB than Pro. You'll immediately notice a huge $200 price gap, but that's not all. Samsung 850 Evo 2TB uses TurboWrite technology - this is a layer of emulated SLC memory that acts as a buffer for writing data. By getting more flash memory on the drive, Samsung has managed to increase the amount of memory dedicated to TurboWrite. To find out when the cache ends and TLC recording starts, we had to load the drive very hard. Unless you're working with massive video files in a workstation environment, you'll probably never see TLC write speeds.

Like existing models, both new products support Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) encryption technology. We hope that many power users will take advantage of the Windows-based IEEE-1667 encryption technology called eDrive, although TCG Opal is also supported.

Samsung's documentation states that under various conditions, 2TB models use slightly more power than their 1TB versions. One might assume that this will affect the battery life in laptops, but this is not the case. Actually increased interleaving as well as more space for TurboWrite (only in Samsung 850 Evo 2TB) allow you to spend less time in the active state. We'll talk about this in more detail later.

Prices, warranty and accessories

Recommended retail price of the drive Samsung 850 Pro 2TB(MZ-7KE2T0BW) is $1000 and Samsung 850 Evo 2TB(MZ-75E20B / AM) - $800. Both SSDs come with the drive itself only. The Data Migration utility for data cloning and Magician for diagnosing and managing the RAPID array (DRAM cache) can be downloaded on the Samsung support website. Samsung's storage software package is one of the best in the industry and should not be ignored.

On the Samsung 850 Pro 2TB and Samsung 850 Evo 2TB comes with a standard 10 year warranty. Compared to competitors in this class, this is the longest time. But keep in mind that the warranty is limited to the life of the drive, although here Samsung either leads or is among the leaders.

Samsung 850 Evo and 850 Pro 2TB | Details

Photos in this section Samsung 850 Pro 2TB are on the left and Samsung 850 Evo 2TB- on right. On single photos - Samsung 850 Pro 2TB, although Samsung 850 Evo 2TB supplied in the same package.

In addition to the drive, the box contains a paper installation guide and a warranty document. There is also a small piece of paper with stickers for those who like to show off their hardware everywhere. The drive is enclosed in a plastic case.

Both SSDs come in a 2.5" 7mm form factor and will easily fit into thin laptops.

The PSID is clearly printed on the back of each SSD, allowing SED functionality to be managed either on the host or remotely.

Opening the case reveals a new PCB design that allows Samsung to install eight flash memory chips. To get 2TB of capacity, the company simply doubles the number of dies in the chips compared to 1TB models, but Samsung still doesn't use all the space available inside the case.

Samsung 850 Pro 2TB and Samsung 850 Evo 2TB inside they look the same.

Both models use the new Samsung MHX controller and Samsung LPDDR3 RAM. Most likely, Samsung needed updated logic to manage a large number of NAND chips. This also reinforces our hypothesis that Samsung is using a modular controller design that can be tailored to different requirements.

Samsung continues to lead the industry in flash memory technology. Above we see MLC 3D V-NAND memory, below TLC 3D V-NAND. Memory with 3D IMFT or Flash Forward cell structure in retail products is expected no earlier than 2016.

Data Type Comparison and TLC Memory Sequential Speed

The Samsung architecture does not distinguish between compressible and incompressible data. Both types of data are written and read at full speed. We usually talk about it only when these differences are present. But this time we want to touch on this topic, because in the near future we expect another 2TB SSD, the speed of which will depend on the type of data being processed.

In our review of TLC products at Computex, we talked about the need to hide low TLC write speeds. All of the tri-level flash cell products we've tested use simulated SLC write cache, which provides a short-term performance boost, but quickly reverts back to the original TLC write speed once the buffer fills up. This means that in some cases the sequential write speed drops to 125 MB/s.

You will rarely see such a low speed because the cache is quite large. However, this may happen when transferring large files such as high quality movies.

Samsung does a great job of masking TLC performance in the drive Samsung 850 Evo 2TB. We had to work hard to make a write test that could reveal the TLC sequential write speed. But Samsung 850 Evo 2TB so much simulated SLC TurboWrite cache that even transferring a 42GB Blu-ray movie runs smoothly.

Samsung 850 Evo and 850 Pro 2TB | Quadruple Performance Testing

Sequential reading

For more information on testing drives, see the article. "How we test HDD and SSD" .

Sequential block read speed 128 KB, MB / s (more is better)

Sequential block read speed 128 KB, queue depth = 2, MB / s (more is better)

The two tested drives provide almost identical sequential write speeds. They even have graphs overlapping each other and are located near the bandwidth limit of the SATA 6 Gb / s interface.

Sequential write

Sequential block write speed 128 KB, MB / s (more is better)

Sequential block write speed 128 KB, queue depth = 2, MB / s (more is better)

By sequential write speed drives Samsung 850 Pro 2TB and Samsung 850 Evo 2TB second only to their counterparts at 1 TB. The graphs of all four SSDs overlap as they provide the same speed as the queue depth increases. Other high-capacity models also boast impressive results. But the new 2TB models are playing in their class.

Free reading

Random Read, IOPS (more is better)

Random Read, Low Queue Depth, IOPS (more is better)

Random Read, High Queue Depth, IOPS (more is better)

Samsung's 2TB SSDs benefit from enhanced concurrency and top the chart for random read speeds at low queue depths. These are the first SATA drives to cross the 11,000 IOPS threshold without the help of a RAM cache. With a higher order, 2 TB models are slightly inferior to their 1 TB counterparts.

Arbitrary entry

Random write, IOPS (more is better)

Random write, low queue depth, IOPS (more is better)

Random write, high queue depth, IOPS (more is better)

According to the results of the random write test, the new 2TB SSDs were in the middle of the list. At high queue depths Samsung 850 Evo 2TB provides faster speed than the same model, but with a capacity of 1 TB.

In this test, the drives don't reach steady state like enterprise-class models, but they do go through heavy preconditioning that doesn't affect performance as much. Samsung 850 Evo 2TB, as for the 1TB version.

Samsung 850 Evo and 850 Pro 2TB | Testing in mixed problems and at steady state

Mixed loads - 80% sequential read

The procedure for testing in mixed problems and at steady state is described in detail in the article "How we test HDD and SSD" .

Mixed sequential operations (80% read, 20% write) in blocks of 128 KB, MB / s (more is better)

The performance of the two models at 2 TB in the tests does not differ. The exception is the test with mixed loads. Here, MLC flash shows superiority over TLC. Samsung 850 Evo 2TB generally better than its competitors, although several SSDs perform similarly at some queue depths.

Mixed loads - 80% random read

Mixed random operations (80% reads, 20% writes) in 4K blocks, IOPS (more is better)

In our previous random data tests, the 1TB 850 Pro slightly outperformed the 2TB model. In a test with 80% random reads, the 1TB 850 Pro was again slightly faster. The Evo 2TB outperforms the 1TB version, but only by a small margin.

Speed ​​of sequential operations at steady state

Mixed Tasks: Sequential Steady State Operations, MB/s (more is better)

Mixed Tasks: Steady State Sequential, 80% Read, MB/s (more is better)

Mixed Tasks: Steady State Sequential, 70% Read, MB/s (more is better)

Service time

WoW, maintenance time (less is better)

Battlefield 3 maintenance time (less is better)

Adobe Photoshop, light load, maintenance time (less is better)

Adobe Photoshop, heavy workload, maintenance time (less is better)

Adobe InDesign Maintenance Time (Less Is Better)

Adobe After Effects Maintenance Time (Less Is Better)

Adobe Illustrator Maintenance Time (Less Is Better)

Microsoft Word Service Time (Less Is Better)

Microsoft Excel, maintenance time (less is better)

Microsoft PowerPoint Maintenance Time (Less Is Better)

In many tests, all four Samsung 850 models come out on top in terms of performance. But it is noteworthy that Samsung 850 Evo 2TB ended up at the bottom of the list in Photoshop's heavy load test, and we were never able to find the cause. The problem manifested itself in all three test runs, and we repeated the test itself three times.

Bandwidth

Total bandwidth, MB/s (more is better)

In the resulting chart, we can look at performance in terms of throughput rather than runtime. Differences pop up in easy real-world problems. SLC cache speeds up Samsung 850 Evo 2TB and let him get around Samsung 850 Evo 2TB. We find it hard to believe, but it looks like Samsung has managed to make the TLC SSD better than the MLC model. Of course, the advantage is not manifested in all tasks. However, Samsung 850 Evo 2TB masks TLC's lower performance so well that we would have preferred this drive over a more expensive one.

Samsung 850 Evo and 850 Pro 2TB | PCMark 8 - Extended Benchmarks

Bandwidth

Total throughput depending on the state of the disk, MB / s (more is better)

Throughput in heavy tasks, MB / s (more is better)

Throughput in simple tasks, MB/s (more is better)

Surprisingly, in this series of tests Samsung 850 Evo 2TB bypasses Samsung 850 Evo 2TB. Unlike previous test results in PCMark 8, these results were obtained under more severe conditions, with less downtime between each test. These drives are not focused on enterprise tasks, but approach this load level.

The SanDisk Extreme Pro 1TB drive typically dominates these tests, with the 850 Pro 1TB trailing by a small margin. We expected that under light loads Samsung 850 Evo 2TB will overtake the version by 1 TB. However, he did not recover quickly enough to build up speed.

This could be suspected of the TRIM function, but Samsung 850 Evo 2TB recovered safely and led the test with light loads. Samsung 850 Evo 2TB runs the test almost twice as long as the 850 Pro 1TB. When drives are given time to recover Samsung 850 Evo 2TB unable to flush NAND or direct write data to blank cells. This point Samsung needs to study and fix in a future firmware update.

Cons: The price tag is almost $800. Though Samsung 850 Evo 2TB Far from being a cheap SSD, it will surely please any buyer.

Conclusion: Where to start? Samsung 850 Evo 2TB is the best client SSD of 2015. We're even anticipating NVMe-based products that won't be able to manage that much data as quickly. People will have to choose between speed and capacity, but it's nice to have an option that combines both characteristics, although not cheap.