There are many factors that make up the speed of a computer. CPU, memory and graphics adapter all play a very important part. Yet many times it is the hard drive that can be the weak link in the speed equation. One way to really speed things up is to include an SSD drive in your computer, yet the cost has been prohibitive for many users. Today we’ll look at the Samsung 830 series of drives that give you great speed at a more reasonable price.
While prices are better than in the past, you will probably want a traditional mechanical drive for your data. Earlier this year I wrote a series of four posts (links below) describing how I set up a new computer. At the very least, put the operating system on a SSD drive. If you have the space for it, put your software and/or content libraries on it.
- Part 1 – The Operating System
- Part 2 – The Software
- Part 3 – The Content Libraries
- Part 4 – The Data and Backup
The Samsung 830 series are SATA3 drives so it is important you have the latest interface in your computer. I would guess this is the case for computers purchased in the last year or so. Sequential read speed is rated at 520 MB/second. Just as a comparison, my first SSD drive was only 200 MB/second. Sequential write speeds are rated at 160 MB/second. Yes, this thing is fast, much faster than mechanical drives.
It comes in four sizes with the smallest being 64 GB. To me, that is just too small to be useful so we’ll focus on the larger sizes. The 128 GB Samsung 830 SSD Drive has the bare minimum size for installing your operating system and sells for just over $100 right now on Amazon. A few years ago it would cost you $500 for a drive this size and it wasn’t nearly as fast. A sweeter spot would be the 256 GB Samsung 830 SSD Drive and it can be purchased for under $200 right now on Amazon. It should be big enough for your operating system and software. For those who want the biggest size, there is the 512 GB Samsung 830 SSD Drive. It sells for over $500 right now on Amazon.
My suggestion is the 256 GB version is the best bang for your buck. Then use the money you saved from buying the bigger drive and buy a really big mechanical drive for all your data. Have you installed a SSD drive in your computer? Is this the drive that will get you to make the speed jump?
I recently got the OCZ VTX4-25SAT3-256G Vertex 4 256GB Solid State Drive – 256GB, SATA III 6Gbp/s, Up to 120,000 Maximum IOPS, 2.5″… because I outgrew my OCZ SATA III 120gig drive. This new drive is lightning fast! It was the IOPS that sold me… relates to real world data speed. I use it as boot drive and have another SSD for program files. Saw it for only $199 at TigerDirect today – I paid $209 on sale a month ago. Not sure how it compares to the Samsung – but I would highly recommend this OCZ drive and like you said – splurge for 256 gig. 120 gig will fill up faster than you think.