Final Thoughts and Rating
... the upshot of such an approach is an SSD that, in most cases, is around the same speed as the last-generation 830 Series, which the 840 Series replaces in Samsung's consumer range.Jumping on the back of the altogether impressive Samsung 840 Pro Series and offering mainstream performance at a competitive price point, the 840 Series drives adopt the same three-core MDX controller but reduce cost by implementing triple-level cell (TLC) NAND instead of the commonly-used multi-level cell (MLC) that's present on almost all competing drives.
Understand the characteristics of TLC NAND and the upshot of such an approach is an SSD that, in most cases, is around the same speed as the last-generation 830 Series, which the 840 Series replaces in Samsung's consumer range.
Priced at £140 for a 250GB model and therefore offering a genuine alternative to the glut of SandForce-powered drives on the market, we believe the 840 Series to be a reasonable choice for users requiring capacity on a relative budget. The drive is perfectly adequate for everyday tasks and it's only through specific benchmarking that the faster 840 Pro Series is able to distance itself.
If you haven't already done so, invest in an SSD. Following on from the good work laid down by the previous drive, Samsung's 840 Series is a solid bet.
The Good
Fast and quiet with no moving parts
Bundle includes SSD Magician software
Competitive priceThe Bad
TLC NAND has performance and endurance drawbacks
Not really any better than 830 SeriesHEXUS Rating
Samsung SSD 840 Series (250GB)
HEXUS Where2Buy
The reviewed drive can be purchased from Scan.co.uk (with a free copy of Assassin's Creed III).
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
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