First Time SSD User. Yep this old chesnut!

bignev72 · 1 Apr 2013 at 10:34

So i've ordered myself two x 250GB Samsung 840 SSD's (not Pro).

This will be my first venture into SSD use. So what do I need to do initially and then on an ongoing basis to keep these bad boys in top order.

I would also like to measure my current HDD performance to see what speeds it read/writes at for comparison.

Can anyone recommend any applications for this?

Let me know.

Alexrose1uk · 1 Apr 2013 at 10:50

WIndows 7/8 should enable TRIM etc once you run the Windows performance test/automatically.

Aside from that you shouldnt really have to do much as long as you let Win 7/8 format and partition the drives.

CrystalDiskMark should give you a rough speed comparison.
The real deal with SSDs though is not the high read and write speed, but the monumentally higher operations per second, which is why they're nice as data drives, but excel as OS drives.

bignev72 · 1 Apr 2013 at 13:33

I thought you had to make sure ACHI was enabled in BIOS etc?

Also remember reading that had to install Samsung software to maintain drive. Is that not true?

wazza300 · 1 Apr 2013 at 13:39

its personal choice whether you wanna use samsungs own software,though from reading a couple of threads it tends to lose you performance

you can use atto benchmark to test current hdd and new ssd's

yeah check in bios and set sata ports to ahci before installing windows,once windows is installed you can install the latest intel rapid storage drivers if your running an intel board,youll find them on motherboard website,they will improve speeds slightly

OLDPHART · 2 Apr 2013 at 13:34

Yes enable it in the Bios 1st, but if you forget you can do it through the registry.

bignev72 · 3 Apr 2013 at 12:51

Ok guys these arrived today so will be installing this evening.

What do I need to do about firmware upgrades?

wazza300 · 3 Apr 2013 at 12:53

I don't think there is any yet,not sure,but Samsung magician tool should update the fw for you from within windows

olivier renault · 4 Apr 2013 at 23:54

Just AHCI, plug and play. That's the way I've dealt with SSDs, and they've always been fine.

The M4 needed a firmware upgrade due to a bug, but that's about it. I think I've flashed them again, although risky, and the performance gain was minimal. I may do the Samsung 840 pro later, but not fussed since it's just my ultrabook.