Final Thoughts
The Samsung 830 Series has left a mark with its strong performance just as the 470 Series did almost a year ago. Similar to when we reviewed Samsung's previous-gen SSD, the 830 Series 512GB had its fair share of ups and down, but luckily the ups far outweighed the downs. The NCQ performance has been improved, read performance was excellent, but we found writes to fall below average as the 830 Series was usually slower than the Crucial m4 and OCZ Vertex 3 competition.
The 830 Series SSD stood out in its sequential read/write performance which saw it match the best SandForce SF-2200 SSDs when measuring read performance, while it crushed the competition in the sequential write tests.
Real-world application testing was also a mixed bag. Windows boot times, multi-tasking tests, and gaming level load times all appeared average, but the Samsung 830 Series excelled when copying data not just to and from the drive but also across it.
At this stage Samsung has not released any official pricing for the new SSDs, but have told us that prices would be in line with the current 470 Series. If we were to take that claim by the letter, it'd essentially mean that the 128GB model will cost roughly $215, the 256GB model $425 and the 512GB model $1275. If that's the case then the 128GB model will carry roughly the same price tag as the Crucial m4 and OCZ Vertex 3 drives. Meanwhile, the 256GB and 512GB versions will be cheaper than the equivalent Vertex 3 drives and more expensive than the m4.
Beyond performance and value - both of which appear very competitive - only the issue of reliability remains. Although we cannot speak for the reliability of the 830 Series just yet, if Samsung's past record is anything to go by then we would say reliability will be excellent. Our 470 Series 256GB drive is still going strong a year later after being heavily used day in and day out, and we expect nothing less from the new 830 Series.
Outstanding product: Samsung 830 Series 256GB/512GB SSD
The Samsung 830 Series should be taken seriously as they deliver first-class performance. Though it's hard to completely assess its position in the market until final pricing is announced and drives become available we feel confident enough to award them with an Outstanding score.