SAMSUNG 840 Series 500GB SSD for $270 at Newegg after 10% V.Me Checkout

TLC NAND makes this use quite a bit of power. Not recommended for laptop users who want to maintain battery life.

Quote from superstition : TLC NAND makes this use quite a bit of power. Not recommended for laptop users who want to maintain battery life.

Define "quite a bit of power."

http://www.anandtech.com/show/633...-review/12

Samsung's TLC drives uses roughly the same as other MLC drives. The 840 Pro just has much better power consumption.

Quote from ArtisaPlace : Define "quite a bit of power." http://www.anandtech.com/show/633...-review/12 Samsung's TLC drives uses roughly the same as other MLC drives. The 840 Pro just has much better power consumption.

Quote from HardOCP : For the TLC version of the 840 we would like to see thermal pads included for the NAND. These NAND chips do generate more heat than typical MLC, due to the higher power consumption associated with the program/erase voltages.

500 GB review:

Quote from HardOCP : Samsung claims that the TLC 840 Series SSDs perform with just as low of a power threshold as the 840 Pro. Reason dictates that this is not possible due to the fact that TLC will have a higher P/E voltage requirement. The voltages we recorded with the 500GB TLC 840 are higher than the 840 Pro across the board. Overall this high voltage is to be expected with the nature of TLC NAND, which requires more power for Program/Erase cycles, and the sheer amount of NAND on the SSD. The random write voltage was unsurprisingly very high, and the sequential write voltage requirement is also on the high end. Even with these relatively 'fresh' readings we feel that this would not be the best SSD for mobile applications.

256 GB review:

Quote from HardOCP : The voltages we recorded with the Samsung 840 are higher than the Samsung 840 Pro across the board, and also exhibit one of the highest idle voltages that we have witnessed. This is probably due to some hefty background processes to handle the TLC NAND. The only area where the Samsung 840 performed admirably was in the Startup voltage, which came in at a very low 1.13W. The random write voltage was unsurprisingly very high, and the sequential write voltage requirement is also on the high end. With this being a relatively new SSD, with its TLC destined to begin producing more errors over the life of the drive, we would expect these power consumption figures to grow over the life of the SSD. Even with these relatively 'fresh' readings we feel that this would not be the best SSD for mobile applications. That distinction clearly belongs with the Samsung 840 Pro.

and in the conclusion from the same article........."The power consumption of TLC SSDs in general are not the best for mobile applications, but many users will be willing to trade a small amount of laptop battery time for extra cash in their pocket."

Finally approaching that magic $0.50/GB price. Surprised this didn't get more thumbs up. I guess the sweet spot for price is on the 240 GB units.

Quote from pipmeister : and in the conclusion from the same article........."The power consumption of TLC SSDs in general are not the best for mobile applications, but many users will be willing to trade a small amount of laptop battery time for extra cash in their pocket."

Roughly how much are we speaking? 5% 10% 20%?
TLC SSD vs. HDD 5400rpm power consumption?

Quote from Silverspy : Roughly how much are we speaking? 5% 10% 20%? TLC SSD vs. HDD 5400rpm power consumption?

depends on how you use it/time spend idle etc.

http://techreport.com/review/1701...s-at-500gb

http://www.anandtech.com/show/633...-review/12

Quote from Silverspy : Roughly how much are we speaking? 5% 10% 20%? TLC SSD vs. HDD 5400rpm power consumption?

"A disk-based drive will always consume more power absolutely. At the system level, an SSD increases power consumption because CPU and memory utilization rises in response to increased I/O activity (they're not sitting there, waiting on a hard drive to send data). But remember that an SSD-based configuration will always finish those operations faster. You see that reflected in the charts above. At the end of the day, an SSD lowers power consumption. This is why performance and power go hand-in-hand."

TLC will use a bit more than comparable SSD's. However, the speed difference is really the huge benefit of any SSD. If you are super concerned about getting the most battery life, do some research at Tomshardware, etc. Otherwise, I believe you will be so impressed with the upgrade that power-consumption versus another SSD is going to be minimal and probably the last thing on your mind.

"The power consumption of TLC SSDs in general are not the best for mobile applications, but many users will be willing to trade a small amount of laptop battery time for extra cash in their pocket."

People can get MLC SSDs for the price of TLC ssds, if they get them on sale. 19nm MLC is not expensive to produce, especially asynchronous MLC. It uses less power and is inexpensive. It also will last longer.

Yep. I am pretty certain that a TLC drive will live long beyond its obsolescence. Personally, if I pay .55 per GB for a drive, I am going to be satisfied if it lasts through its warranty period, but TLC will easily last well beyond that, on average. For a $150 drive, that would break down to a little less than $4.20 per month for a 250GB drive. Call me a big spender, but I am good with an investment of that magnitude.

That is why the marketplace offers different products. Something to suit everyone's tastes. We get it already....you are not a fan of the Samsung TLC's. However, they are a perfectly viable product for many people.

Quote from pipmeister : That is why the marketplace offers different products. Something to suit everyone's tastes. We get it already....you are not a fan of the Samsung TLC's. However, they are a perfectly viable product for many people.

I'm not a fan of TLC for laptops and for drives smaller than 500GB. As for "them" being perfectly viable, I think you should read HardOCP's review of the 120 GB model.

For a desktop system with a light usage pattern, TLC in a large capacity drive can make some sense.

The trouble, of course, is that 19nm MLC is not expensive to produce and has superior characteristics — making TLC generally a solution in search of a problem.

Furthermore, I am concerned that, if TLC becomes popular enough to become a new standard (moving beyond the Samsung "840 Series" and the brand itself), as NAND continues to shrink the already very low P/E lifespan of TLC is going to become even more of a problem. Anandtech estimates that TLC has roughly 750 cycles at the 2x node. What happens when it goes below that? Is it going to be 500 cycles at 19nm? 250 cycles below that? As NAND shrinks, lifespan goes down dramatically. It seems like embracing TLC is exactly the wrong move, unless one buys a drive with a lot more capacity than will be used. Most people tend to fill their drives up unless they're in the terabyte range.

Quote from superstition : I'm not a fan of TLC for laptops and for drives smaller than 500GB. As for "them" being perfectly viable, I think you should read HardOCP's review of the 120 GB model. For a desktop system with a light usage pattern, TLC in a large capacity drive can make some sense. The trouble, of course, is that 19nm MLC is not expensive to produce and has superior characteristics — making TLC generally a solution in search of a problem. Furthermore, I am concerned that, if TLC becomes popular enough to become a new standard (moving beyond the Samsung "840 Series" and the brand itself), as NAND continues to shrink the already very low P/E lifespan of TLC is going to become even more of a problem. Anandtech estimates that TLC has roughly 750 cycles at the 2x node. What happens when it goes below that? Is it going to be 500 cycles at 19nm? 250 cycles below that? As NAND shrinks, lifespan goes down dramatically. It seems like embracing TLC is exactly the wrong move, unless one buys a drive with a lot more capacity than will be used. Most people tend to fill their drives up unless they're in the terabyte range.

I believe your thoughts are well-intentioned no matter how misguided. Samsung has spent untold millions of dollars in R&D to develop these drives. Samsung believes *their* TLC SSD's will OUTLAST most of the MLC SSD's currently on the market. They actually manufacture every component that goes into their SSD's which is more than can be said about the vast majority of others in the market.

In reference to others who are second-guessing their business decisions... I'm relatively confident they might know a bit more about their trade than testers who speculate based upon theoretical conjecture as opposed to research, testing, and firsthand knowledge of proprietary technology to which nobody else can be privy.