Problem with Samsung 830 SSD performance

[dissemble2discover]

Hello,

I have recently experienced HDD-like access times on my Samsung 830 Windows 8 Pro OS drive. I am using the 64GB model and currently have approximately 5.4GB left of free space.

When I first installed Windows, it was < 3 seconds boot speed, but that's expected because there is nothing on the SSD to load. However, after putting at least 90 different applications and 15 different games, the speed and access time slightly jumped a little to like 2-4 seconds+ to open up the same Windows applications (Explorer.exe, iexplore.exe, Word.exe).

It was manageable and didn't bother me at all. But as of late August, I've noticed now my SSD boot times have exceeded over 15 seconds to get to the lock screen and approximately another 15-50 seconds to get anything I click once, started.

For example, I would enter my password, wait 5-10 seconds for Windows to log me in and show the start screen, then I would just click File Explorer and for almost a whole minute, it wouldn't show up at all. In fact, it's as if the SSD doesn't realize I told it a command to open up File Explorer. I wait sometimes and it works a minute after. Other times, the activity on the SSD would just..... stop. My HDD indicator lights on my tower would just not flicker.... even after I tried launching applications like Steam and Microsoft Office programs.

I would click and.... nothing. The SSD would just sit there. Then magically, almost two minutes after, all my programs suddenly open up at once.

Is this normal to experience in an SSD? Why is it demonstrating these behaviors?

Some other information:

- All drivers are installed on my machine, chipset too and SSD has latest firmware
- I use the Samsung Magician app and run the Performance Optimization function (force TRIM) once a day and also the "Optimize your disks" windows version of it.
- My machine was recently scanned this morning automatically by Avast and reported no malware / viruses of any kind
- I only have 5.4GB of space left on the SSD

What could it possibly be? It just really blows my mind seeing now that my SSD is actually BEATING my HDD in access times =(

 

[spooky2th]

I have heard that SSDs slow way down when they get full. And then eventually stop all together until you format them and start over again.

 

[dissemble2discover]

I have heard that SSDs slow way down when they get full. And then eventually stop all together until you format them and start over again.

Will a regular format be fine or do I need to do a secure erase to get my original performance back?

Does it make a difference if I put back a Windows 8 image I made onto the SSD vs. installing it fresh again from the Windows 8 installation disk?

I really don't want to reinstall my whole Windows again because there is just so many apps that I installed and I have no way to batch install them. Does such a method exist for various .exe and .msi files? I only have 4 .msi setups and the rest are executables.

 

[spooky2th]

With SSDs, a quick format is sufficient. A quick format triggers trim for the whole drive. Then load your win 8 image.

I would get a HDD and direct future downloads, installs, etc to the HDD. 64Gb is just too small of a drive, IMO.

 

[dissemble2discover]

With SSDs, a quick format is sufficient. A quick format triggers trim for the whole drive. Then load your win 8 image.

I would get a HDD and direct future downloads, installs, etc to the HDD. 64Gb is just too small of a drive, IMO.

Ok, and one more question:

When I go to format my SSD and install Windows, is there a certain amount of space I should leave up so my SSD doesn't experience the same slow down? Should I use the Over-provisioning feature from the Samsung Magician program? Will that prevent the SSD from ever going this slow again or have an effect on it?

 

[spooky2th]

At the beginning of windows install, there are disk options. Just do a quick format then. Use the whole ssd partition. You will be running out of space soon enough, I'd bet. As far as the samsung magician software, I don't know what the over-provisioning feature is or does.

If there are partitions showing up at the beginning of win install, delete them all and then format. You should be good to go.

Edit:
You will have to create a new partition after you delete the partitions on the ssd. This all is done by/with windows at the start of the install.

 

[dissemble2discover]

At the beginning of windows install, there are disk options. Just do a quick format then. Use the whole ssd partition. You will be running out of space soon enough, I'd bet. As far as the samsung magician software, I don't know what the over-provisioning feature is or does.

If there are partitions showing up at the beginning of win install, delete them all and then format. You should be good to go.

Edit:
You will have to create a new partition after you delete the partitions on the ssd. This all is done by/with windows at the start of the install.

Ok, thank you!