Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD Review (500GB) – Exceptional Performance in a Large mSATA Capacity

Samsung is a manufacturer that needs no introduction and they are about to release a mSATA SSD that will definitely be making waves across the SSD market, never mind the technology world. The Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD will soon be gracing our presence, and the performance unprecedented thanks to Samsung’s software engineering sorcery.

Samsung has clearly dedicated themselves to developing and engineering a SSD that, not only, appeases the masses with larger storage capacities, but by also accompanying these SSD’s with exceptional performance. Throughout this review you will see that we tested the Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD without utilizing the included performance enhancing software, and then we introduce you to RAPID Mode Technology and Samsung Magician.

SAMSUNG 840 EVO MSATA SSD SPECIFICATIONS

The Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD is available in 120, 250, 500GB and 1 TB capacities. Our big-sister website, The SSD Review had the opportunity to check out the 1 TB version, which can be seen here. The SSD comes with a 3 year limited warranty, and as you progress through the different capacities of the Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD’s, you will see increased read and write transfer speeds and IOPS performance.

The Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD family will include a wide range of features, such as TurboWrite, RAPID Mode Technology, Dynamic Thermal Guard as well as the ability to self-encrypt data. The 500GB model is expected to be available early this year with a MSRP of $489.99, which is only a $10 increase from the Samsung 840 EVO 2.5″ form factor that was introduced in July of 2013.

SAMSUNG 840 EVO MSATA SSD COMPONENTS

Samsung has included their own MEX controller. As we have previously mentioned, the controller of the SSD is essentially the “Brain” of the drive. Specifically, the Samsung MEX controller dramatically increases the transfer speeds and performance of the SSD.

The Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD also features four of their own 19nm 3-bit MLC NAND memory chips (2 on either side of the PCB). Samsung’s memory is known to be a little quicker than other brands of NAND flash, but it is accompanied with a higher price to manufacturer. The 19nm NAND memory is marked with the model number K90KGY8S7M, and in the 500GB model features 128GB per single 19nm memory chip.

TurboWrite technology is a feature of the Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD which increases the performance of the drive. Essentially, the drive utilizes free simulated cache space to increase performance, until such space is filled. This technology has the ability to increase the performance of the lower capacity EVO SSD’s by as much as three times.

Dynamic Thermal Guard, on the other hand, is extremely interesting. This technology monitors the temperature of the SSD, and if such temperatures were to rise above approximately 70 degrees C, then the technology will throttle the power of the drive in order to lower the temperature. A simple yet ever important software engineering feat, which we commend Samsung for protecting our valuable SSD’s.

SAMSUNG 840 EVO MSATA SSD SECURITY FEATURES

The security features of the Samsung 840 EVO family is exceptionally easy. It is true that other SSD’s are self-encrypting, but the EVO family allows for the user to be in full control of enabling the data encryption features. While Class 0 allows complete encryption protection through a simple password set in the BIOS. eDrive is compatible with Windows 8 Professional, Enterprise and Windows Server 2012, and uses Microsoft’s Bitlocker hardware encryption automatically on OS installation.  Class 0 and TCG/Opal are disabled when eDrive is in use. TCG/Opal is a security accreditation defined by the Trusted Computing Group and provides for various security functions through independent vendor  security software.