Samsung Updates NVMe SSD Driver To Version 2.1

[Guest]

Samsung released version 2.1 of its NVMe driver to combat power issues observed in the 960 Pro and 960 EVO reviews. The drive also works with the recently replaced 950 Pro. This driver should increase notebook battery life with these products.

Samsung Updates NVMe SSD Driver To Version 2.1 : Read more

 

[eriko]

I run Win Ser 2016 on my X99 rig, so the Sammy driver package wouldn't install for me.

It was 'fun' to say the least to unpack / extract the drivers (File version 2.0.0.1607), but I got there in the end.

Microsoft driver:

Sequential:

read 16xx MB/s, write 15xx MB/s

Random (IOPS):

Read 183,xxx , write 151,xxx


Now, with the Sammy driver:

Sequential:

read 16xx MB/s, write 15xx MB/s (about the same, but a little bit more)

Random (IOPS):

Read 334,xxx , write 282,xxx

I dont know if I can be bothered to do this again for v2.1.

Just thought I'd share - anyone with 960 NVME needs to upgrade their driver, MS ain't gonna do that for you.

 

[mikeynavy1976]

I have a Dell XPS 13 9350 with a Samsung PM951. Would these drivers work? Do you replace the drivers under Disk Drives or Storage Controllers?

 

[Paul NZ]

I have a Dell XPS 13 9350 with a Samsung PM951. Would these drivers work? Do you replace the drivers under Disk Drives or Storage Controllers?

Dont think so

 

[Tanyac]

anyone with 960 NVME needs to upgrade their driver, MS ain't gonna do that for you.

Since the fixes are for Windows 8.x and 10 only why would anyone running W7 need to upgrade?

 

[engineer5261]

I have the same question. I seem to be okay with 960 EVO NVME on windows 7. Any need for me to upgrade?

 

[nycalex]

been using a samsung 960 pro 500gb since november.

i think my drive installed automatically when i installed windows 10 fresh.

i'm guessing this is the microsoft drivers.

it's benching 3200mb/s in crystal disk.

So far ZERO issues.

However, i am a bit dissapointed at NVME. in real life applications, it offers nothing over the samsung 850 evo ssd it's replacing.

loading times in games? same, or maybe 1-2 seconds quicker, can't really tell.

Windows startup? can't really tell difference

i don't do any image editing nor content creation.

at least i get to brag that i got the fastest consumer SSD in the world. LOL

 

[CRamseyer]

The Windows NVMe driver is a catch all that is good enough to get the OS installed without crashing. The custom drivers from Samsung, OCZ/Toshiba and a few others enable advanced features, like better power management and lower latency.

You should feel a performance increase with the custom driver just from the latency reduction alone. If you get an extra hour of battery life then you may notice that as well.

To answer a previous question, the driver changes under storage controllers in device manager. I did find a set of OEM drivers dated Dec 2016 by searching Google for Samsung 2.1 NVMe Driver. There is a Dropbox folder with several drivers and the latest has support for SM961, PM961 and some of the 951 products. I've yet to install any of them but may later tonight to see if any are the new 2.1 driver.

 

[mapesdhs]

Re luck with the Samsung download site, forget it, I tried for days with the 2.0 driver, the site was never available (how completely ridiculous). Thankfully I found someone who'd posted the archive on a forum so I was able to get a 950 Pro working on an X99 setup ok with Win7. Why is Samsung's site stuck in the era of modem speeds?

I'd also like to know why the SM961 is so much cheaper than the 960 Pro, don't get that at all. I can understand some difference, but the current difference is just bizarre (eg. from Scan, 208 UKP for the 512GB SM961, 348 UKP for the 512GB 960 Pro).

Ian.

 

[mikewinddale]

"I have a Dell XPS 13 9350 with a Samsung PM951. Would these drivers work? Do you replace the drivers under Disk Drives or Storage Controllers?"

As far as I can tell, Samsung has one NVMe driver for all its NVMe drives. By contrast, they have separate firmware for every drive.

But check their website to be sure. The NVMe driver webpage should list which drives it supports. You can also go to the support/downloads page for your particular drive and see whether the new NVMe driver shows up there.

And this driver is for storage controllers. And note that you've got two separate storage controllers: your SATA and your NVMe. Your SATA controller is probably Intel RST. The NVMe driver, once installed, will show up as a separate controller, even though there isn't a physical NVMe controller (the drive has its internal controller, but it connects to PCIe without a motherboard controller).

 

[ssdpro]

Maybe there is a cash flow problem at Samsung from the exploding phones and washing machines. That download has been down for days saying download limit exceeded. If they are using server management that has a download limit, they are in real trouble.

 

[David_446]

Yes, you can run the 2.1 driver for Storage Controller. It works fine. Although it may not work as well as Dells, but you can always switch back if performance suffers

 

[CRamseyer]

If you get the text driver you can install it on any of Samsung's NVMe SSDs. I haven't ran into the issue with the 2.0 driver but the older driver would check for a 950 Pro specifically from the executable. If it didn't find a 950 Pro it wouldn't install the driver.

I do have the driver now. If you know how to get ahold of me then do so and I'll share. *cough* Facebook

 

[mikeynavy1976]

Thanks to those that responded to my question. I'll take a look at Samsung's web site before I decide to try and install. There isn't a Dell Storage Controller driver. My Device Manager just shows the Intel RST (when I installed Windows 10 in RAID) and the Microsoft Storage Controller. I assume I would just choose to "upgrade" the Microsoft driver and point it towards the Samsung if I determine it should work.

 

[CRamseyer]

If your drive is NVMe then it will show a Microsoft NVMe device under storage controllers. The 951 series shipped in both AHCI (this driver will not work) and a NVMe version (this driver will work). I don't think they released the PM951 in NVMe but I could be wrong. The easiest way to know if your drive is NVMe is to check the storage controllers in the device manager.

 

[eriko]

@ Tanyac & Engineer:

I just checked my unpacked folder, and there are drivers there for Win 7 / 8 / 10.

 

[eriko]

@ nycalex

So, double the speed I'm getting.

Well I know my m/b has its connector for my 960 Evo connected by PCIe 2.0 x4, so I think that is 2.2Gb/s of available bit rate, so I have a direct PCIe to NVME adapter in the post.

Will report back in a week or so when it arrives.

 

[Bruce427]

@Chris,

Any idea when we will see a review on the MP500, as well as the Samsung 960 EVO 500GB?

Thanks

 

[CRamseyer]

@Chris,

Any idea when we will see a review on the MP500, as well as the Samsung 960 EVO 500GB?

Thanks

Both reviews are finished and moving through the system now.

 

[mikewop]

In my Dell Precision 5510 with a Samsung PM951 NVMe drive running windows 10 PRO the 2.1 drivers still led to random freezes, it seem when the drive goes into low-power mode and when putting the machine to sleep. The Microsoft driver leads to random BSODs.
After rolling back to the 2.0.0.1607 driver version my system has been rock-solid.
So I don't think they fixed the "shutdown bug", at least not for the PM951.