SM951 (first?) benchmark

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mjoe

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The SM951 is in production but the only way to get one currently is to buy it off of someone selling one taken out of a laptop. It won't hit retailers for about 14 weeks. This is the first claimed benchmark:

as_ssd_bench_SAMSUNG_MZHPV512_12_22_2014_11_08_4.png


Anyone looking at the XP941 may want to hold off if they can wait about 3 months, for comparison:

SAMSUNG-XP941-AS-SSD.png


http://forums.evga.com/New-Samsung-SM951-M2-SSD-Available-m2261684.aspx
 
I thought this drive was going to be nvme rather than ahci, as SSD shows it using storahci though. I guess time will tell.
 
Maybe AS SSD doesn't properly report NVMe capability.

I also have one coming in and I can run whatever benchmarks you guys want on it.
 
AS SSD just pastes what the name of the storage driver is. So for the SM951 if installed correctly with a UEFI installation running a GPT formatted disk the driver should show up as stornvme rather than storahci. Either way, I'm sure reviews are coming from other places soon too.
 
Looks like he's using Windows 7 which doesn't have a native NVMe driver and as such it defaults to AHCI? Though I don't know how that is possible if the drive can only use NVMe to begin with...

Either way, for best compatibility it is better to use a more modern OS such as Windows 8.1 which has a native NVMe driver.
 
I wonder if the Samsung drive can use Intel NVMe drivers. If not, I'll stick to Intel. Windows 8.x can F off, native NVMe driver or not. (Maybe to Windows 10 if I see conclusive proof the keylogger (which is unacceptable even in a free beta test) is 100% removed and not left in even if disabled by default in RTM).
 
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So to be clear, a new motherboard is not needed nor a BIOS update either to run an NVMe-based M.2 SSD? Anyone with an Z97/X99 board could run one of these bad-boys? Yes, I know an 'ultra' M.2 slot is needed to get the full performance of the drive.

Thanks!
 
Burner27 said:
So to be clear, a new motherboard is not needed nor a BIOS update either to run an NVMe-based M.2 SSD? Anyone with an Z97/X99 board could run one of these bad-boys? Yes, I know an 'ultra' M.2 slot is needed to get the full performance of the drive.
Click to expand...

I believe a NVMe drive can potentially also support AHCI, and the results above seem to support this being the case with this drive, so you should be okay. Some SSD controllers support both SATA and PCIE interfaces and since SATA cannot use NVMe, it makes sense they would support both AHCI and NVMe mode.

However, for best performance, you will need to use NVMe mode with an OS that supports it. As mentioned, Windows 8.x does, but some of us still refuse to use it. Windows 10 may solve that. Intel also has NVMe drivers that work with Windows 7 so it's no problem if you buy one of their NVMe drives, but I have no idea if that driver will work with a Samsung drive for increased performance over AHCI in Windows 7. I don't know if Linux has a generic NVMe driver yet, but Intel has a driver for Linux as well (again, not sure if it'll work with Samsung drives).

You can get a PCIe to M.2 adapter to use this drive in a motherboard with no M.2 slot, by the way.
 
Linux has had generic NVMe support since kernel 3.3. Intel's NVMe driver is specific to their P3X00 series of drives currently. It is absolutely true that you need NVMe support to get the full performance out of a drive that was made for NVMe purposes.
 
One thing I'm personally excited about is the fact that one might be able to use the drive initially in AHCI-mode and later, once the OS is installed, download the Windows NVMe driver and switch modes. I don't know if that's possible at all but it'd be a godsend for those of us wanting to use Windows 7 which doesn't have a native NVMe driver.
 
Got mine in though I'll be selling it since I can't get it working as a boot drive in the M.2 to x4 adapter I got. My board only has a x2 M.2 slot so no point keeping this drive since I can't use it at full speed. But I went ahead and ran some benchmarks with it in the adapter as a secondary drive.

SM951-NAND.jpg

NAND chip

SM951_CDM.png


SM951_ATTO.png


as-ssd-bench-SAMSUNG-MZHPV512.png


as-ssd-bench-SAMSUNG-MZHPV512-IOPS.png


Let me know if there's any other tests you want me to run before I post it up in FS/T.
 
Windows installed in AHCI mode when it was in the M.2 slot.

I can give it a shot tomorrow. Is it a matter of changing the driver in device manager or turning on the service in regedit?
 
Ok, turns out I'll be able to test the drive on a X99 board that does have a x4 M.2 slot so if I can get NVMe working we should be able to see the drive at its full potential.

If I'm not too busy tomorrow I should be able to install Windows and bench it.
 
Anyone know how to turn on NVMe?

Windows installed just fine on the MSI X99S Gaming 7 but it's in AHCI and I can't find anywhere to change it.
 
You need to have UEFI enabled in the BIOS and start the installation in UEFI mode

Settings > Advanced > Windows 8/ 8.1 Configuration:
Windows 8/ 8.1 Feature: Enabled (The system will switch to UEFI mode)

Please note that there is a bug with the Windows 8.1 installation DVD which makes it impossible to do a UEFI install.
Please follow this guide to make a USB install stick that is UEFI compatible:
https://www.ramcity.com.au/blog/how-to-install-windows-8.1-on-the-samsung-xp941-ss/138296

And if you want you can read this article for some general information on NVMe installation in Windows:
http://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews/intel-p3700-nvme-ssd-installation/
 
Did all that, UEFI mode in BIOS, USB installer, installation is UEFI.

Edit: gotten a few PMs so just to let you guys know, I ended up selling the drive to someone locally. He's not going to pick it up until Friday so if someone knows how to turn on NVMe I can give that a shot.
 
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If I decide to keep my desktop PC, I'll pick one up to replace my 941. Not like it's slow or anything, but I wouldn't mind the faster game loading.
 
Ruoh said:
If I decide to keep my desktop PC, I'll pick one up to replace my 941. Not like it's slow or anything, but I wouldn't mind the faster game loading.
Click to expand...

I'd say wait one more generation because the XP941 is still quite fast. I doubt you'd notice a difference. If you want a real upgrade, you can try an Intel P3700 instead, but those are like $1250 for 400GB. Crazy. Enterprise gear. Even it probably won't be all that noticeable in most workloads over the XP941.
 
ok dang it now for Asus Z97-A owners with M.2 slot only working at PCIe2.0 x2 mode.

so what adapter to get to get the PCIe 3.0 x4 conversion for the MOBO?
is the adapter even exists?

the only one I found is this one but I think it is to convert from PCIe 2.0 x2 to PCIe 2.0 x4 lanes http://www.bplus.com.tw/Adapter/M2P4A.html

correct me if I am wrong.


P.S with some searching I found this adapter/converter below:

but will Asus Z97-A mobot support SM951 with Lycom adapter to reach it's top speed.

http://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-...ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1420781695&sr=1-1
 
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From TheSSDReview:

The SM951 and other Samsung PCIe SSDs will be using 10-nanometer class MLC NAND flash. Samsung will have the SM951 available in different SKU’s for those who need the AHCI interfaces and another for those who need NVMe support.
Click to expand...

Interesting if true. I wonder why they would need to do that. It has to be the same controller, no? Perhaps it uses different firmware?
 
dandragonrage said:
From TheSSDReview: Interesting if true. I wonder why they would need to do that. It has to be the same controller, no? Perhaps it uses different firmware?
Click to expand...

This sounds logical since they announced targets for the SM951 as 'laptops and workstations'. Laptops have no need for NVME and cheaper ACHI is fine, but workstations/servers based on X99 mobos do and perhaps price will be higher. Obviously change requires only another firmware.
 
The sm951 in the press release and in the Lenovo laptops has sku MZHPV512HDGL-000L1.

The avnet website has the sku MZHPV512HDGL-00000, and lists it as NVME.
 
Just bought the sm951. Waiting for it to arrives and test on my r5e. Hopefully it can get up to 2gb
 
I'm suspecting the only version that will be able to achieve 2GB/s is the NVMe 512GB version on a board supporting PCIe 3.0 x4 with NVMe. The AHCI version has more overhead, the 256GB version will most likely not be as fast (smaller amount of channels and dies ?) and unless the board supports PCIe 3.0 x4, it won't go much higher than 1.4GB/s, which is still amazingly fast.
 
I see that the benchmark aibohphobia posted has the same write speed as the nvme rated on pcie gen 3 x4, which is 1550mbs. But the read speed so different.
 
kortik said:
couldn't you get an adapter like this below to use on your MOBO in case it is not compatable with your m.2 x2 slot

http://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-...e=UTF8&qid=1420781695&sr=1-1&tag=hardfocom-20
Click to expand...


I tried an adapter like that but I could not get it to boot in the adapter to save my life. Tried on both the Gigabyte X99M Gaming 5 and the EVGA X99 Micro. Neither board recognizes the drive as a boot option when it's in the adapter, the Windows installer sees it and Windows booted from a normal SSD sees the drive just fine though :rolleyes:

I even tried installing just the main Windows partition on the SM951 and using the bootloader from another SSD to boot it but no luck there either.

Maybe a BIOS update will fix that but I wouldn't expect one anytime soon since this drive won't be commonly available for several months.

It could be my adapter though. I was using the Bplus model with the heatsink: http://www.bplus.com.tw/Adapter/M2P4A.html

I haven't seen anyone use that adapter on those two particular motherboards but I know it's bootable with the XP941 on other boards so I assume that wasn't the issue.


kenshinco said:
I see that the benchmark aibohphobia posted has the same write speed as the nvme rated on pcie gen 3 x4, which is 1550mbs. But the read speed so different.
Click to expand...


I'm not sure what was up with that either, it was consistent too.


mw8t said:
Yes they'll be pleased :rolleyes:
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I wish I could have gotten it to work in NVMe but the ones on eBay are drives being pulled from laptops, I fully expected there to be issues going in.

There isn't even any datasheets or manuals for this thing, all the specs we've heard are from press events so it's a bit silly to be bummed about a product not meeting specs when that product isn't even supposed to be available yet.
 
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I even tried installing just the main Windows partition on the SM951 and using the bootloader from another SSD to boot it but no luck there either.
Click to expand...

I think grub chainloading the windows install would work. You could test that via a USB stick with sysrescuecd installed. I would start simple by removing all other drives.
 
Aibohphobia said:
I tried an adapter like that but I could not get it to boot in the adapter to save my life. Tried on both the Gigabyte X99M Gaming 5 and the EVGA X99 Micro. Neither board recognizes the drive as a boot option when it's in the adapter, the Windows installer sees it and Windows booted from a normal SSD sees the drive just fine though :rolleyes:

I even tried installing just the main Windows partition on the SM951 and using the bootloader from another SSD to boot it but no luck there either.

Maybe a BIOS update will fix that but I wouldn't expect one anytime soon since this drive won't be commonly available for several months.

It could be my adapter though. I was using the Bplus model with the heatsink: http://www.bplus.com.tw/Adapter/M2P4A.html

I haven't seen anyone use that adapter on those two particular motherboards but I know it's bootable with the XP941 on other boards so I assume that wasn't the issue.





I'm not sure what was up with that either, it was consistent too.




I wish I could have gotten it to work in NVMe but the ones on eBay are drives being pulled from laptops, I fully expected there to be issues going in.

There isn't even any datasheets or manuals for this thing, all the specs we've heard are from press events so it's a bit silly to be bummed about a product not meeting specs when that product isn't even supposed to be available yet.
Click to expand...


Did you follows Ramcity's guide?
https://www.ramcity.com.au/blog/how-to-install-windows-8.1-on-the-samsung-xp941-ss/138296

looks like pudgetsystems using the same Adapter card that you linked above on their Asus Z97-A mobo

http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Samsung-XP941-Plextor-PX-G256-M6e-M-2-Qualification-575/
 
drescherjm said:
I think grub chainloading the windows install would work. You could test that via a USB stick with sysrescuecd installed. I would start simple by removing all other drives.
Click to expand...

Maybe grub would've worked but I decided to just wait for the Intel P3500 since I couldn't get NVMe working anyway.


kortik said:
Did you follows Ramcity's guide?
https://www.ramcity.com.au/blog/how-to-install-windows-8.1-on-the-samsung-xp941-ss/138296
Click to expand...

Didn't have any problem installing Windows, it was getting it to boot in the adapter that was the issue.
 
Aibohphobia said:
Didn't have any problem installing Windows, it was getting it to boot in the adapter that was the issue.
Click to expand...


according to pudgetsystem commnets:

..... what makes a M.2 bootable or not isn't the adapter card at all, its the controller integrated onto the M.2 drive itself. From the motherboard and operating systems's point of view, there is really no difference between an onboard M.2 PCI-E slot and the normal PCI-E slots. So whether you will be able to boot to a M.2 drive should depend almost entirely on the M.2 drive's controller.
Click to expand...
 
Intel dc p3500 can not be preorder anywhere. There was 1 website accepting preorder but now they stop and say they will remove the drive from their database. So maybe the p3500 won't be out for another 6 months. That is too long. Just use the sm951 for now.
 
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