Introduction

Samsung is one of the largest technology companies in the world. They make pretty much every electronic product you can think of.

Being a leader in DRAM and flash memory production, it comes as no surprise that they are also a player in the SSD business. They are actually one of the biggest players in terms of volume because their drives are used in Sony and Apple products.

Early last year the company caught the SSD market by surprise with the release of their 830 Series SSD, which was followed in late 2012 by the 840 and 840 Pro that provide awesome performance and focus not only on performance, but also on reliability and long-term performance stability.

The Samsung 840 Pro SSD we are reviewing today is not based on a SandForce or Marvell controller, but, instead, on Samsung's own creation, the Samsung MDX (S4LN021X01-8030), which is a triple-core ARM microprocessor.

Packaging

You will receive:

• The SSD
• Documentation
• Samsung SSD Sticker

The Drive

The drive conforms to the dimensions set forth by the 2.5" form factor. It is made of metal, which improves its durability. Please note that the drive is thinner than normal 2.5" SSDs. Its height of 7 mm makes it a perfect match for the latest Ultrabooks.


Like most recent SSDs, the Samsung 840 Pro uses the SATA 6 Gbps interface. It is compatible with any older SATA standard, but will, in such a case, work at reduced performance.


Samsung has crammed all components onto one side of the PCB. You will find the SSD controller and a total of eight flash chips here. A DRAM chip has also been installed to provide RAM for the SSD Controller.


Samsung uses their own ARM-based, triple-core MDX controller on the 840 Pro.


The eight flash chips are produced by Samsung on a 21 nanometer process.