Samsung 470 Series 256GB SSD Review

Julio Franco

Posts: 9,090   +2,042
Staff member
Samsung is back in the SSD game with a new controller they have quietly sneaked out the door. The 470 Series is being exclusively sold under the Samsung brand name boasting some pretty impressive specifications with the 256GB version we are reviewing today claiming a read throughput of 250MB/s and writes of 220MB/s.

Read the full review at:
https://www.techspot.com/review/340-samsung-470-series-ssd/

Please leave your feedback here.
 
I wonder how long it will take the SSD manufacturers to reach the 2 Terabyte level with a corresponding drop in prices like those of mechanical hard drives. I definitely look forward to that day.
 
Why did you use the 40GB Vertex 2 instead of the 120GB version? The 40GB is probably slower and so makes for a bad comparison.
 
I have to confess that I've never liked Samsung much as a brand but have to admit that this SSD drive is really impressive piece of hardware.

Thanks for the review.
 
Pretty good review until you said this:
"The only advantage the Crucial RealSSD C300 series has is its SATA 6Gb/s support, though this has yet to become a real asset."

What? Yet to become a real asset? Have you read the C300 reviews clearly showing how 6Gb/s make a considerable difference to the speed of your C300?

Pretty surprising comment by a TechSpot writer...
 
This is an impressive product, although the price kills it. Great performance, high price, nothing new, just another SSD we can't afford..!
 
Why did you use the 40GB Vertex 2 instead of the 120GB version? The 40GB is probably slower and so makes for a bad comparison.

Please refer to the Vertex 2 Pro 100GB if you are concerned.

Pretty good review until you said this:
"The only advantage the Crucial RealSSD C300 series has is its SATA 6Gb/s support, though this has yet to become a real asset."

What? Yet to become a real asset? Have you read the C300 reviews clearly showing how 6Gb/s make a considerable difference to the speed of your C300?

Pretty surprising comment by a TechSpot writer...

I don’t think you understand exactly it is I am saying here. Yes, when using the SATA 6Gb/s interface the performance is impressive.

However which chipsets support it? We have tried the Crucial C300 256GB on AMD’s 8-series chipsets with SATA 6Gb/s and the performance is slower than the Intel X58 and P55 chipsets using SATA 3Gb/s. Until the upcoming Intel chipsets support SATA 6Gb/s I do not feel this technology has become a real asset yet. Having to purchase an expensive PCI Express SATA 6Gb/s controller to use the technology does not make it very viable for most users.
 
Steve can you add the 80 or 160GB G2 to the next SSD round up. The V drive is terribly slow and value drive.

It is doesn't truly represent where intels current performance is with the G2 drives.
 
Guest said:
Steve can you add the 80 or 160GB G2 to the next SSD round up. The V drive is terribly slow and value drive.

It is doesn't truly represent where intels current performance is with the G2 drives.

We would love to include an X25-M G2 but had to return our sample to Intel. I am working on getting another on loan so we can update our results to include it. Still the G2 performance is very dated now with weak write performance. The Crucial C300 is the perfect comparison drive and we did include that.
 
Steve,

Another just great review. Thorough, succinct, unbiased.

I learn more here than at any other site.

-labeaux
 
The mention of write performance being weak in Gen2 is a sequential reference not random correct? Why aren't you comparing to both the Intel E drive and M drive? If you want write, go for the E-drive. If you want capacity with pretty damn good performance, the M.

Why wait for companies to send you drives? Go buy them. THen you know you're not getting some worked sample and you would also have a better representation to what is available in the market.

Even if you did have to return a loaner drive don't you have its testing specs on hand?

This seams like an incomplete analysis designed to give an incomplete, misleading, view of what is available in the market.
 
Normally I don’t bother with narrow minded guest posts such as this one and I cannot explain why I am with this one.

Anyway … we do buy a lot of hardware but you cannot expect us to buy everything we need, I would be broke within a month. We have to draw the line somewhere.

“Even if you did have to return a loaner drive don't you have its testing specs on hand?”

Yes if you look back at older SSD reviews we did include it. The obvious issue being that we have updated most of the software and methods that we use to test with to bring a more complete review … oops.

“This seams like an incomplete analysis designed to give an incomplete, misleading, view of what is available in the market.”

Yeah its wildly incomplete, its missing an Intel drive. We have the OCZ Vertex 2 Pro 100GB representing SandForce and the Crucial C300 which is pretty much the fastest MLC SSD available, yet it’s an incomplete analysis designed to give an incomplete, misleading, view of what is available in the market, yep you got me.

On a side note why would we include the X25-E? This is an enterprise drive that uses SLC memory, the 32GB version costs more than most drives featured in this article. Now that would be misleading...
 
Interesting that you said the E drive was more expensive than 'most' drives. If its not more expensive than all then including it would not be misleading. It gives another reference point.

I don't know how my reply is narrow minded.

I'm pointing out an obvious omission! One that you agree is an obvious omission!

Are you saying that all anyone has to do is give you a free drive to get it included in reviews?

I guess that saves time.

Remembering from Anandtech's review the C300 did do very well using its 6Gb/sec boards.

It did not win out in the 3Gb/sec tests ('productivity suite', etc). Btw this is my ONLY frame of reference.

SO, I don't think this was your best review. Though I think its great you are reviewing and letting us know about these products!
 
Guest said:
Why wait for companies to send you drives? Go buy them.

lol! The joke of the day! But, hey.... you were joking, weren't you? The most ridiculous and funniest things I've read in a while!
 
lol! The joke of the day! But, hey.... you were joking, weren't you? The most ridiculous and funniest things I've read in a while!

The funny thing is I believe he works for Intel given that his IP is off an intel.com managed server. If that were the case you would think he could arrange a sample for us, now that would actually be useful :)
 
How about also including in the comparison some best in class hard drives in raid0 .. maybe 2 3 or 4 two-terabyte 7200rpn some of these would come out to about the same price as even a value SSD (150bucks) I know they wouldn't be as fast but I bet they would sure show up some of the sloppy SSD for how badly implemented they are. And oh, the acres of space.
On a side note .. the ncq results (qd32 etc) wont really affect home/single users but AFAIK are crucial (no pun intended) in server/corporate situations.
This drive is nice in widening the envelope, and the power savings are great. You will know when SSD are mainstream when they come in a plain beige plastic box without any fancy packaging ala Hard Disk. lights out.
 
Is there a problem with the CrystalDiskMark 4K test?

Also since when do synthetic benchmarks mean everything? I pay more attention to the real-world testing personally.
 
After peering through reviews from newegg buyers for months on end about ssd stability and performance I noticed one very important thing. These samsung drives don't fail... or at least it is not being reported. The buyers of the other drives aren't shy... Some of those drives like the vertex 2 and crucial's real ssd have like 60% failure rates. Either DOA, or dead in one week, month, three to six months.

That kind of lack of quality is unacceptable even for early adopters of a product. Don't believe me just look for yourself. RMA after RMA. OCZ, Mushkin, Patriot, Crucial, Corsair all seem to portay that it is not uncommon for their drives to fail through their responses to these customers. They just play the swap out game until the warranty is up. On the flipside Intel and Samsung drives seem to be actual consumer grade quality. Not dead in six months or less.
 
Lmao not everything rolling around Intel and their products. I agree that this review is awesome, thx Steve. I just wanna know:
+) if Trim is supported in Raid0 for this Samsung?
+) If Not, how fast the Magician utility performed for you?
+) And again, will that Magician thingy work in Raid0?
If u would kindly reply, that certainly will save me the trouble of calling Samsung support rep.

To others: If you wanna see how intel G2 perform, there are bunch of other review of it vs the c300 and vertex 2 if you google. Plus, no point in review SLC vs MLC at this point because the cheapest SLC you'll get is double the price for the same performance. It likes reviewing a comparison between an IPS panel vs TN LCD panel for color quality.

More unbiased reviews, keep this up.
 
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