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Samsung MZ-7PD256BW

840 Pro 256GB

▲ 5420,553 ▼

Controller: Samsung 3-core MDX. Flash Memory: Samsung 21nm Toggle Mode MLC. Release date: Q4 2012.

Average Bench: 94.2% (270th of 1058)

Based on 77,076 user benchmarks.  Models: Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series, Samsung SSD 840, Samsung SSD 840 PRO Seri, Samsung SSD 840 PRO

The 840 Pro is stunning. Samsung have created a completely in-house package including both the controller and their own new 21nm toggle mode NAND. On release (Oct '12) this was the fastest performing deep queue depth consumer grade SSD available. Fast forward six months (Apr '13) and the 840 Pro still holds both the random read/write deep queue depth speed records of 384 MB/s and 326 MB/s, impressive considering how fast the SSD space tends to move. There are no obvious weaknesses, in-fact the 840 pro takes first place in nearly all of the speed categories and is only seriously rivalled by one drive, the OCZ Vector. To conclude, in terms of both outright performance, particularly server orientated, and value for money the 256GB and 128GB 840 Pros are amongst the top handful of drives currently available. [Jun '13 SSDrivePro]

Poor: 65%Average: 94.2% Great: 114%

Popular builds with this SSD

Excellent average bench

The Samsung 840 Pro 256GB averaged just 5.8% lower than the peak scores attained by the group leaders. This is an excellent result which ranks the Samsung 840 Pro 256GB near the top of the comparison list.

Strengths

Avg. 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed 144MB/s
Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed 39MB/s

Average consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the Samsung 840 Pro 256GB is 49%. This is a relatively wide range which indicates that the Samsung 840 Pro 256GB performs inconsistently under varying real world conditions.

Weaknesses

Avg. Sequential Mixed IO Speed 301MB/s
Avg. Sustained Write Speed 312MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 77,076 samples)
Rank 27094.2%
Min Avg Max
350 Read 459 509
131 Write 373 481
213 Mixed 301 363
87.6 SusWrite 312 479
81% 361 MB/s
Min Avg Max
21.8 4K Read 31 36.1
42.8 4K Write 83 113
27.4 4K Mixed 39 46.9
141% 51 MB/s
Min Avg Max
217 DQ Read 341 385
122 DQ Write 258 334
103 DQ Mixed 144 175
150% 248 MB/s
User Benchmarks Bench Sequential Random 4k Deep queue 4k
The fastest SSD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
41GB free
Firmware: DXM06B0Q
SusWrite @10s intervals: 449 452 443 445 441 440 MB/s
118% Outstanding
Read 512
Write 492
Mixed 362
SusWrite 445
102% 453 MB/s
4K Read 36.2
4K Write 116
4K Mixed 49.2
179% 67.2 MB/s
DQ Read 383
DQ Write 304
DQ Mixed 168
174% 285 MB/s
54GB free
Firmware: DXM06B0Q
SusWrite @10s intervals: 421 332 274 241 223 203 MB/s
92.9% Outstanding
Read 424
Write 433
Mixed 307
SusWrite 282
81% 361 MB/s
4K Read 29.4
4K Write 82
4K Mixed 40.4
140% 50.6 MB/s
DQ Read 374
DQ Write 319
DQ Mixed 145
164% 279 MB/s
86GB free
Firmware: DXM04B0Q
SusWrite @10s intervals: 196 161 154 140 155 157 MB/s
71.7% Very good
Read 490
Write 425
Mixed 280
SusWrite 160
76% 339 MB/s
4K Read 33.1
4K Write 43.2
4K Mixed 25.3
106% 33.9 MB/s
DQ Read 384
DQ Write 86.2
DQ Mixed 142
128% 204 MB/s
77,076 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 57,591,653 SSDs tested.

 Prices

MSRP ≈ $203 @ launch in Oct '12
EbayUS $19914 mins
AmazonUS $2712 years
Send price feedback
Custom PC Builder (Start a new build) Build your perfect PC: compare component prices, popularity, speed and value for money.

CHOOSE A COMPONENT:

CPU GPU SSD HDD RAM MBD
Typical 840 Pro 256GB Builds (Compare 5,388 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings.
Gaming
Gaming 65%
Battle cruiser
Desktop
Desktop 83%
Aircraft carrier
Workstation
Workstation 55%
Gunboat

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VI HERO - $190

CPU
Core i7-4770KIntel  $150Bench 78%, 168,052 samples2,545x
Core i5-4670KIntel  $105Bench 77%, 150,436 samples960x
Core i7-4790KIntel  $348Bench 82%, 459,958 samples707x
GPU
GTX 1070Nvidia  $138Bench 80%, 1,277,123 samples405x
GTX 970Nvidia  $125Bench 50%, 794,147 samples384x
GTX 1080Nvidia  $400Bench 106%, 1,005,992 samples330x
SSD
840 Pro 256GBSamsung  $199Bench 94%, 77,076 samples1x
RAM
TridentX DDR3 2400 C10 2x8GBG.SKILLBench 67%, 24,592 samples205x
Vengeance DDR3 1600 C10 2x8GBCorsairBench 54%, 43,127 samples145x
Savage DDR3 2400 C11 2x8GBHyperXBench 63%, 20,216 samples131x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 71% - Very good Total price: $677

Popular 840 Pro 256GB compatible motherboards:

How Fast Is Your SSD? (Bench your build) Size up your PC in less than a minute.

Welcome to our freeware PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best upgrades.

UserBenchmark of the month

Gaming Desktop ProGaming

How it works

  • - Download and run UserBenchMark.
  • - CPU tests include: integer, floating and string.
  • - GPU tests include: six 3D game simulations.
  • - Drive tests include: read, write, sustained write and mixed IO.
  • - RAM tests include: single/multi core bandwidth and latency.
  • - SkillBench (space shooter) tests user input accuracy.
  • - Reports are generated and presented on userbenchmark.com.
  • - Identify the strongest components in your PC.
  • - See speed test results from other users.
  • - Compare your components to the current market leaders.
  • - Explore your best upgrade options with a virtual PC build.
  • - Compare your in-game FPS to other users with your hardware.
Solid State Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) August 2022 SSD Rankings.

Welcome to our 2.5" and M.2 SSD comparison. We calculate effective speed for both SATA and NVMe drives based on real world performance then adjust by current prices per GB to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top SSDs. [SSDrivePro]

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Group Test Results

  • Best user rated - User sentiment trumps benchmarks for this comparison.
  • Best value for money - Value for money is based on real world performance.
  • Fastest real world speed - Real World Speed measures performance for typical consumers.

 Comments

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,857

Official site www.samsung.com/...

Controller: Samsung 3-core MDX. Flash Memory: Samsung 21nm Toggle Mode MLC

Delivers high speeds for both compressible and incompressible data...

Added 9 years ago.
USA-User
Avatar level
8,838

Good (edit your comment) Add link

2 years ago.

Got it a year or so ago and I loved it then and still love it now, though it is a little pricy

Comment 

T61P with win7 64 &, Intel Extreme X9000, 8gb ram, fast ......... verrrry fast. Faster than many new computers. Gives a lot of new life to older PCs.—Sep '14

DEU-User
Avatar level
5,225

Excellent

3 years ago.

Owning it for almost 6 Years, still running very fast

CAN-User
Avatar level
4,520

Good

4 years ago.

An awesome drive! Going to get one to upgrade my rig!

IND-User
Avatar level
4,180

Average

4 years ago.

Need to improve a lot on Research and Development . Please don't fool people with your small small improvements .With R&D U can do much better.

POL-User
Avatar level
4,134

Good

5 years ago.

Excellent performance and reliability. I already have 5TB traffic over the past year. Performance has not decreased!

ESP-User
Avatar level
3,397

Liked

5 years ago.

ZAF-User
Avatar level
2,510

Poor

6 years ago.

Can someone please explain to me why I get under 1MB/s 4K Mixed IO with my Samsung 840 pro when the average UBM Speed is 21.8MB/s for 4K Mixed IO operations?

AUT-User
Avatar level
2,455

Excellent

2 years ago.

Comment 

though for any practical purpose the EVO is just as good/fast—Sep '14

NZL-User
Avatar level
1,890

Liked

6 years ago.

Comment 

Great drive under normal/light load. Write latency starts to fall apart a bit under sustained loads.—Sep '14

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,857

Very good

9 years ago.

Review  hexus.net/...

Image  img.hexus.net/...
Sep '12 AS SSD Benchmark Test

Sep '12 AS SSD Benchmark Test

Review  www.hardocp.com/...

Review  www.servethehome.com/...

Image  www.servethehome.com/...
Nov '12 AS SSD Benchmark Test Score

Nov '12 AS SSD Benchmark Test Score

Review  www.custompcreview.com/...

Image  www.custompcreview.com/...
Sep '12 AS SSD Benchmark Speed Test Score

Sep '12 AS SSD Benchmark Speed Test Score

Deal  www.google.co.uk/...

Jun '13 £185 @Ebuyer

Rand
Avatar level
457

Very good

9 years ago.

This drive, the latest from Samsung, takes SSD technology a small but clear step forward. It excels in the area of deep queue depth 4k random writes where it outperforms all of its direct competition. The brand new and almost impossible to get hold of Plextor M5 is currently the strongest competitor to the Samsung but until prices on the Plextor drop from an astronomical £250, Samsung have an easy win despite not having priced the 840 particularly aggressively themselves.

Nomekop
Avatar level
8

Excellent

8 years ago.

Just the best 256G SSD for me!

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See how consistently different SSDs perform with varying real world conditions. The charts also illustrate overall performance, popularity and rank.

 Frequently Asked Questions

Storage Devices FAQ
What is sustained sequential write speed?
What’s the difference between SLC, MLC and TLC?
What is 3D XPoint and how fast is it?
What’s the difference between SATA, PCIe and NVMe?
What’s the difference between NAND and V-NAND?
What is sequential write speed?
What is sequential read speed?
What is incompressible data?
What is queue depth?
Solid State Drives
What is the SSD value for money rating?
What is 4K 64 thread write speed?
Can CPU power saving states (C1,C2,C3) impact SSD speed?
What is the effective SSD speed index?
How is the AS SSD write score calculated?
How is the AS SSD read score calculated?
How is the AS SSD total score calculated?
ALL FAQs »

 Best User Rated
The Best.
CPUGPUSSD
Intel Core i5-12600K $270Nvidia RTX 3060-Ti $446Crucial MX500 250GB $42
Intel Core i5-12400F $160Nvidia RTX 3050 $292Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $106
Intel Core i7-12700K $378Nvidia RTX 3070 $536Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $37Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $60SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $30Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $62SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $71G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $453SanDisk Extreme 16GB $17
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