Setup: Samsung Solid State Drive TurboWrite Technology User Manual

Samsung Solid State Drive TurboWrite Technology

Introduction

Samsung's TurboWrite technology is a key feature in their solid-state drives (SSDs), designed to enhance performance by utilizing a high-speed buffer area. This technology is particularly evident in models like the **Samsung 870 EVO** and **860 EVO**, which are known for their superior write speeds and reliability. The 870 EVO, for instance, offers capacities ranging from 250GB to 4TB, making it suitable for both everyday users and professionals. The estimated price for these drives varies based on capacity, typically starting around $50 for the lower-end models. Samsung's TurboWrite technology ensures that write operations are initially written to a high-performance buffer, providing accelerated performance during data transfer. The TurboWrite buffer size varies by SSD capacity, with the 870 EVO typically starting at 3GB for smaller capacities and increasing up to 12GB for the 1TB model[2]. This technology is particularly beneficial for users who frequently perform large file transfers or need consistent high performance. The 860 EVO, with its expanded TurboWrite region, offers enhanced write performance that lasts up to six times longer than its predecessor[5]. Samsung's SSDs with TurboWrite technology are designed to provide worry-free reliability and endurance, making them a popular choice for both consumer and professional applications.

Specifications

Key Features:

•  **Performance:** TurboWrite technology provides accelerated write speeds by simulating a high-performance SLC buffer, ensuring consistent performance during data transfer. 
•  **Capacity:** Available in various capacities, such as 250GB to 4TB for the 870 EVO. 
•  **Buffer Size:** Varies by capacity (e.g., 3GB for 250GB, 12GB for 1TB models)[2]. 
•  **Compatibility:** Compatible with SATA interfaces, offering sequential read/write speeds up to the SATA limit (e.g., 550/520 MB/s for the 860 EVO)[3].

Faster Sequential Write Performance with TurboWrite Technology

Accelerated sequential write speeds
To improve on the previous generation 840 Series SSD, Samsung developed an evolutionary TurboWrite technology for the 840 EVO. This new firmware technology, delivers much faster sequential write speeds, which are so crucial for large file transfers – more than tripling performance for the 120GB drive and more than doubling performance for the 250GB drive.

To achieve these remarkable improvements, the development team had to fundamentally rethink the way data is written to NAND Flash.

What is TurboWrite Technology?
As you recall, 3-bit MLC NAND write speeds are slower because the additional “bit(s)” require more signal processing and error correction during writing (programming). To overcome this, the 840 EVO simulates faster SLC NAND on a portion of the drive to achieve much higher performance.
The following figure shows how the TurboWrite Technology works.

TurboWrite Technology creates a high-performance write buffer area within the drive that simulates high-performance SLC. During write operations, data from the host system is first transferred/written to the high-performance buffer at accelerated speeds ,  and then during the idle periods, the data is moved from the buffer to the imary storage region. With this technology, the user experience is improved as they only “feel” the accelerated performance of the initial writes.

The buffer size is shown in the table below,, and it varies based on the capacity of the SSD. The minimum buffer size is 3GB, which,, through Samsung’s extensive testing, ng is considered to be large enough for all everyday performance scenarios. Note that the buffer size is defined in SLC terms; therefore, the physical capacity will be 3x greater in 3-bit MLC capacity.

[Table 1] TurboWrite buffer size

Under consecutive write operations with no idle time, the buffer will eventually become full. At this point, the transfer will exit TurboWrite and write data directly to the main storage area of the drive at 3-bit MLC performance.

[Table 2] Sequential Write Performance by cases

The TurboWrite buffer size also determines the maximum duration of TurboWrite, i.e.,, the longest period of continuous write operations at accelerated speeds.  The table below shows the migration time(required idle time) to empty the whole buffer.

[Table 3] Required idle time to empty TurboWrite Buffer

One common question is where is the physical area for the TurboWrite buffer is, since the over-provisioning area is not large enough to cover this buffer completely. To explain this, one must understand the IDEMA (International Disk Drive Equipment and Material Association) capacity definitions. IDEMA defines a calculation method to determine a drive’s capacity and the corresponding number of LBAs (Logical Block Address),, which is slightly different from the user accessible area. This is a common industry occurrence, ce and you may have seen the capacity difference between what is stated on a drive label vs. user accessible area shown in the OS. The TurboWrite bu,ffer then, is created from the excess capacity that comes from (a) the default overprovisioning area and (b) the “extra” area that results from IDEMA’s specification.

Benefit of TurboWrite Technology
TurboWrite delivers a better PC experience as you can enjoy much faster sequential write speeds. Though the buffer size has a limit, Samsung has carefully selected the optimal size to ensure that most everyday usage scenarios can experience accelerated writes. To test TurboWrite performance is in real life, Samsung analyzed SSD users’ workloads and the result is shown below:

As seen above table, the average PC user writes 1.17GB of data per hour,r and more than 90% users’ average workload was under 3, – the minimum size of the buffer (120/250GB). Therefore, the PC users will experience accelerated speeds for most workloads. The chart below shows the performance benefit of TurboWrite Technology. Sequential write performance improves significantly with TurboWrite. The performance was measured by the CrystalDiskMark benchmark tool, which is the most commonly used program.

[Figure. 2] TurboWrite Performance benefit (CDM)

PCMark7 benchmark, which reflects real-life usage environments, shows a 7% system performance improvement and 15% SSD storage performance (raw score) with TurboWrite. This result implies that TurboWrite Technology has a performance benefit not only for sequential write alone, but in various real-life use scenarios.

PCMARK7(120GB)

For example, when transferring large files or using Photoshop, both scenarios, which mostly consist of sequential writes, the 840 EVO(with TurboWrite) completed the tasks faster than the 40 Series (without TurboWrite) - almost 52% less time when copying files and 27%(120GB) and 12%(250GB) when using Photoshop.

Closing Thoughts

Samsung is proud to introduce the evolutionary technology that allows the 840 EVO to surpass the traditional 3-bit MLC’s performance limit. Samsung’s new TurboWrite Technology delivers significantly faster sequential write performance and offers a significant upgrade over the previous 840 Series.

www.samsung.com/ssd

Customer Reviews and Common Complaints

Customers generally praise Samsung SSDs with TurboWrite technology for their reliability and performance. However, some users report that sustained write operations beyond the buffer's capacity can lead to performance drops. Despite this, the technology is well-regarded for enhancing user experience during typical usage.