Samsung's 950 Pro SSD

Page 1 of 11 123 ... LastLast

  1. Posts : 17,136
    macOS Big Sur
       #1

    Samsung's 950 Pro SSD


    Samsung gets a lot of love for its solid-state drives, which pack super-fast storage into small packages thanks to the company’s V-NAND technology—but its new drives crank things to 11. On Tuesday, Samsung announced 950 Pro M.2 SSDs that marry V-NAND density with blazing fast NVMe speeds delivered over a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface.

    Translation: It's really small, and really fast.

    The new SSD-on-a-stick features 32-layer V-NAND and will come in 256GB and 512GB options priced at $200 and $350 respectively. The Pro 950 will be available in October, but you might want to wait a few months before opening your wallet.

    In early 2016, Samsung plans to introduce a jaw-dropping 1TB Pro 950 that will use the company’s recently announced 48-layer V-NAND, according to PC Perspective. Basically, more V-NAND layers means denser storage capacity, which is why Samsung will be able to pack more storage into such a small package.

    The 950 Pro features the Non-Volatile Memory express (NVMe) protocol, which Samsung says will translate into improved performance for laptops and workstations, as well as better battery life for clamshells. If you want a slightly longer explanation of NVMe, check-out our recent performance showdown between M.2 drives on the market today.
    Source
      My Computer


  2. Woz
    Posts : 22
    Windows 10 Pro x64 RTM
       #2

    Want NEED!!!
    (I edit HD video, so I can use every ounce of speed I can get)
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 27,157
    Win11 Pro, Win10 Pro N, Win10 Home, Windows 8.1 Pro, Ubuntu
       #3

    Woz said:
    Want NEED!!!
    (I edit HD video, so I can use every ounce of speed I can get)
    Then you need a server and one of these: MZ-7LM3T8Z
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 157
    Windows 10 Home 64-bit
       #4

    The M.2 on cheaper motherboards only has 2 lanes and you need 4+ lanes to notice the additional speed. Moreover, many motherboards will not boot from an M.2.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 487
       #5

    I remember the reports about thermal throttling kicking in on the SM951 after about 2 minutes and everyone jumping up and down. But then you realise that in those two minutes, it's already written 180GB of data, which is pretty incredible.

    Woz said:
    Want NEED!!!
    (I edit HD video, so I can use every ounce of speed I can get)
    It's a bit of a catch 22 ennit. It's nice having a fast system drive, but those who will benefit most from the read/write speeds of these PCIe 3.0 x4 drives would be those who have large amounts of data to shift around like video content. Problem is they will also want large capacity drives to store that content and these drives are still too expensive in large capacities. Based on the above prices, $750 per TB (vs $50 for a spinner), I'd maybe give it a couple of years. But without doubt they're going to be the next big step for storage.

    I may be tempted to use a 120GB one as system drive in a Skylake NUC though, because they probably won't be much more than a 120GB M.2 SATA drive in that capacity anyway.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 5,286
    Win 10 Pro x64
       #6

    socklosk said:
    The M.2 on cheaper motherboards only has 2 lanes and you need 4+ lanes to notice the additional speed. Moreover, many motherboards will not boot from an M.2.


    I actually had to go through 3 motherboards to get the SM951 to work at full speeds. I ended up with ASRock Z97 Extreme6 with two M.2 SSD slots--- one @ x2 and one @ x4 lanes (Ultra M.2 Gen 3 slot).

    Samsung's 950 Pro SSD-2015_09_22_22_59_591.png
      My Computer


  7. Woz
    Posts : 22
    Windows 10 Pro x64 RTM
       #7

    ARC1020 said:
    It's a bit of a catch 22 ennit. It's nice having a fast system drive, but those who will benefit most from the read/write speeds of these PCIe 3.0 x4 drives would be those who have large amounts of data to shift around like video content. Problem is they will also want large capacity drives to store that content and these drives are still too expensive in large capacities.
    I'm not doing feature-length movies. Running a RAID-0 with two 1tb SATA drives right now (so I get smooth scrubbing on the timeline), and space has never been an issue. I'd have to overhaul my machine to take advantage of this new storage, though. My specs reveal that I'm running a lowly i7-920 with no OC. It's old, but it gets the job done. Sorta like me.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 27,157
    Win11 Pro, Win10 Pro N, Win10 Home, Windows 8.1 Pro, Ubuntu
       #8

    Samsung NVMe Driver Version


    I don't know if this is a new version, but it is the latest:
    Samsung NVMe Driver Installer Version 1.1 (1.43MB)

    The software for this "950 PRO NVMe Driver Installation" only supports the Samsung NVMe SSD 950 PRO
    * Notice : The driver operates in Windows 7/8.1/10 x86/x64.

    I saw this(at the bottom of the linked page) and remembered this thread, so thought I post it, also for when people use the forum search, it helps.
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 636
    Windows 10 PRO 64Bit
       #9

    Thanks, any idea what they changed from version 1.0?
      My Computer


  10. 24c
    Posts : 979
    Win 10 Prox64 - latest "final"
       #10

    REVISION HISTORY
    Revision Description Revision Date
    1.0 Initial Release November, 2015
    1.1 Driver version update for USB compatibility January, 2016
      My Computer


 

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:50.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums