Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB vs 256GB SSD

[Steven511]

Hey all, I'm puzzled about SSD's, when I get my new PC build it will be the 1st time using an SSD,

I've read a few posts about them but I don't really understand much about the life span ect,

I'll have mine for my Windows 7 and every day stuff like when there's a new game out and I'll download it and 90% of the time I uninstall it when I finish the game unless it's a game I play a lot like World of Warcraft ect,

the most I have ever had on my HDD is 120GB - 200GB but I hear the more space you have on the SSD the longer life span it has,

my budget is over enough for the 512GB but is it over kill? and why? thanks in advance all.

 

[The Kasafist]

What budget exactly? And it's not overkill if you would like space to put more stuff like music, movies and photos unless you plant to have a dedicated HDD for that less demanding stuff? How about you put up your new rigs specs? Also though I would mention that the larger the drive doesn't mean longer lifespan that is based on the company and what they offer and if that's what's important to you then I am sure we can help.

SSD are known to read/write significantly faster than HDD. Most particularly with large games or long load times, booting OS, large applications with large files. You get the point! It boots my OS in seconds and for example Skyrim load times went from like waiting a min to get through a darn door to not even having enough time to read the tips on the loading screen. It used to take so long I would get 2 maybe 3 tips during a single load screen. SSD help a lot where speed in gaming,OS start up and large applications are involved. Your write times matter during installs like something that used to say take 2 hours down to like 25 minsor something for example. Which is of course a good thing LOL!

 

[geofelt]

It is unlikely that you will ever run out of writes.
If you are a heavy desktop user, expect 10 years out of a 840 and 15 years out of a 840PRO.
It is a moot point since either will be long obsolete by then.
When you install, make certain that the sata mode is AHCI(not ide). that will enable trim which reduces nand writes.
I would not worry about endurance at all. If your ssd starts to reach 80% full, it is time to consider more space.
Today, I would look at the 840 which is cheaper than the pro, and performs the same in a desktop environment. Synthetic benchmarks you see are run at a queue depth of 32 which is unrealistic except for servers. A desktop user will be 1 or 2.
Do look at the new EVO if it becomes available to you soon. It looks to be aggressively priced.
You are probably good at 240gb.

 

[The Kasafist]

It is unlikely that you will ever run out of writes.
If you are a heavy desktop user, expect 10 years out of a 840 and 15 years out of a 840PRO.
It is a moot point since either will be long obsolete by then.
When you install, make certain that the sata mode is AHCI(not ide). that will enable trim which reduces nand writes.
I would not worry about endurance at all. If your ssd starts to reach 80% full, it is time to consider more space.
Today, I would look at the 840 which is cheaper than the pro, and performs the same in a desktop environment. Synthetic benchmarks you see are run at a queue depth of 32 which is unrealistic except for servers. A desktop user will be 1 or 2.
Do look at the new EVO if it becomes available to you soon. It looks to be aggressively priced.
You are probably good at 240gb.

Agreed! Samsung EVO is great so is the Crucial M500 check out this link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crucial-m500-1tb-ssd,3551.html

 

[RetiredChief]

Quote - the most I have ever had on my HDD is 120GB - 200GB End Quote

Couple of pointers to help you decide.
... A 256 Gig SSD - After format = approx 238 Gigs. Minus at least 20 % (25% better) = 238 - 48 = 190 Gigs.
........ Reason for Min of 20% UNUSED is to allow Wear Leveling, Garbage Collector (GC), and TRIM to work their magic.
... Larger SSD is faster than it's half sizebrother (Honestly probably never notice the difference).

And Yes if you fill that SSD upto 90% you will CUT the lifespan.

Personnally I alwas recommend th largest SSD you can afford (128 Gig Min for OS + Programs).
Two Old sayings 1) "Who would ever need more than 1 MEGAByte of Memory" And NOW the swetspot for Ram is 8 GIGs. 2) "Whould would ever need more than 20 MEGabyte HDD" YEP we now buy TERAByte drives.

BOTTOM line. the 256 would be OK, but if you can afford it go for the 512.

 

[The Kasafist]

I would have to say simply go with the a 256GB! The link above of course is just in case you decide you want something with much more space.

 

[EmbracingHim]

Hey all, I'm puzzled about SSD's, when I get my new PC build it will be the 1st time using an SSD,

I've read a few posts about them but I don't really understand much about the life span ect,

I'll have mine for my Windows 7 and every day stuff like when there's a new game out and I'll download it and 90% of the time I uninstall it when I finish the game unless it's a game I play a lot like World of Warcraft ect,

the most I have ever had on my HDD is 120GB - 200GB but I hear the more space you have on the SSD the longer life span it has,

my budget is over enough for the 512GB but is it over kill? and why? thanks in advance all.

NO, go for as large of HARD DRIVE that you can afford! 512bg is NOT over kill. Especially since you play games which can take up a lot of space!

 

[bizmin]

Black Friday, 2012, I bought an OCZ Agility4 256GB SSD for $99 at TigerDirect. To this day, I think it was a pricing error; but it was featured in their local newspaper ad. Wish I had bought multiples. At the time thought the prices were going to continue to plummet.