New Samsung drives officially posted. One is a 2.2 bel idle.

IdontexistM8 · Post by **IdontexistM8** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 4:59 am

Derek Baker wrote:Coming soon apparently here: http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=307909&cks=PRL

That's some good news for us Brits!

dis · Post by **dis** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:34 pm

Hopefully the SATA drive won't be far behind, i'm in need of a new HDD and these look like they'll fit the bill nicely.

ronnylov · Post by **ronnylov** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 12:07 am

ronnylov wrote:SP2014N:Samsung SpinPoint P120 200GB IDE ATA/133 8MB cache 7200RPM, Preliminary in stock 2005-03-15 here in Sweden:
http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.asp?sku=307 ... C9BABE7E21

Nice price too compared with other 200 GB models.

I have bought this disc and it arrived yesterday.
I don't have any other Samsung drives to compare noise level with. It was not noisy when I formatted it, but I use it in a rather noisy computer so it's hard to tell.

It has a motor with following marking:
NIDEC
F0505121F
P120 2D

yeha · Post by **yeha** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 8:00 pm

these kiwis claim to have a grand total of 1 ide model in stock, but none using sata. then there are all these german vendors with some pretty appealing prices for the 200gb model.

i'm surprised no one in the silenthardware.de forums has gotten a hold of one yet. mucho suspense!

atus · Post by **atus** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 4:17 pm

ronnylov wrote:
ronnylov wrote:SP2014N:Samsung SpinPoint P120 200GB IDE ATA/133 8MB cache 7200RPM
I have bought this disc and it arrived yesterday.
I don't have any other Samsung drives to compare noise level with. It was not noisy when I formatted it, but I use it in a rather noisy computer so it's hard to tell.

It has a motor with following marking:
NIDEC
F0505121F
P120 2D

You must be one of the 1st ones to get the new Samsung hard drive

Can you tell anything about its performance? Any benchmark (Sandra, HDTach...) would do. It'd be nice if we could compare it to other SATA 2 drives reviewed.

Thanks!

peteamer · Post by **peteamer** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 1:34 am

atus...

Welcome to SPCR !!!

atus · Post by **atus** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 6:08 am

peteamer wrote:atus...

Welcome to SPCR !!!

That was nice, thanks!

RoleX · Post by **RoleX** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 12:28 pm

atus wrote: You must be one of the 1st ones to get the new Samsung hard drive Can you tell anything about its performance? Any benchmark (Sandra, HDTach...) would do. It'd be nice if we could compare it to other SATA 2 drives reviewed.

Thanks!

Hi i got my 2 Spinpoints almost at same time as ronny, here is couple of pictures.

It is Nidec as u can see in this picture
http://hem.bredband.net/torr/Diskar/P3230173.JPG

My old Samsung 160gb drives with JVC
http://hem.bredband.net/torr/Diskar/P3230174.JPG

HDtach on the first drive
http://hem.bredband.net/torr/test/hdd1.jpg

Hdtach on the second drive
http://hem.bredband.net/torr/test/hdd2.jpg

Please Link large pictures instead of posting them. --Moderator

atus · Post by **atus** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 1:17 am

RoleX wrote:
HDtach on the first drive

Hdtach on the second drive

Welcome to SPCR, RoleX!

Thanks for the benchmarks. The scores are certainly within 10-15% range of the current speed king Maxtor DiamondMax 10s (see http://www.gamepc.com/labs/print_content.asp?id=ncq300 or http://www.gamepc.com/labs/print_conten ... amondmax10 ), and the SATA versions will probably score even better.

How would you compare the old and new Samsungs acoustically? Could you tell us the HDTach scores of your old drives (for comparison)? Thx a lot!

RoleX · Post by **RoleX** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 1:05 pm

Sorry couldnt make any test on my old drives

i sold it couple of days ago, gonna buy another 2*200gb instead

or when 250gb cames out.

atus wrote:
RoleX wrote:
HDtach on the first drive

Hdtach on the second drive
Welcome to SPCR, RoleX! Thanks for the benchmarks. The scores are certainly within 10-15% range of the current speed king Maxtor DiamondMax 10s (see http://www.gamepc.com/labs/print_content.asp?id=ncq300 or http://www.gamepc.com/labs/print_conten ... amondmax10 ), and the SATA versions will probably score even better.

How would you compare the old and new Samsungs acoustically? Could you tell us the HDTach scores of your old drives (for comparison)? Thx a lot!

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 4:52 pm

250 GB have showed up at Komplett, not in stock though. Still no SATA.

ronnylov · Post by **ronnylov** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 5:06 am

Here are some benchmarks:

http://img81.exs.cx/img81/5533/samsung2 ... ach5fz.png

http://img115.exs.cx/img115/7926/samsun ... dra9xu.png

http://img174.exs.cx/img174/2048/samsun ... kil4wr.png

http://img237.exs.cx/img237/1396/samsung200atto1nd.png

Note: The tests was done on an older motherboard with ATA100 speed as maximum (motherboard model ECS K7S5A with an AMD XP2400+ CPU)

In the first link I have overlayed the hdtach graph of SP1614N (from the results database, not my own disc). It seems to have similar performance as the new Samsung 200 GB model.

yeha · Post by **yeha** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 8:37 pm

maybe i missed something, but i don't remember hearing anything about a 250gb 5400 rpm drive coming from samsung. "ha250jc" as the product code? eh?

dis · Post by **dis** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:02 am

The 250Gig SATA is showing up on Komplett.se
http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.asp?sku=307913&cks=PRL

Not in stock yet but hopefully that won't take too long, then i guess another 2 weeks before it hits the UK?

atus · Post by **atus** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 12:34 am

Alright, Sasmung SATA-II drives have arrived to my country. The local hardware shop will get me two of them by this time next week.

If anyone gets them in the coming days before I do, please tell us about the acoustic experience. I'm particulary interested in whether it's a Nidec or a JVC, and the idle whine. Thanks!

madman2003 · Post by **madman2003** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 3:46 am

Are these as quiet as the specs claim them to be? Do they come with nidec motors or is it the same story as with the p80 series.

dan · Post by **dan** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 5:32 pm

apparenty same story

edmil · Post by **edmil** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 1:53 am

I just received two SP2014Ns from Germany and they both have Nidec motors. System is not yet fully-built so I have not tested them yet.

Grubert · Post by **Grubert** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 2:36 am

Here in Switzerland (digitec.ch), the 2014N is available now, and the SP2014C is announced for "calendar week 16" (ie next week).

I'm looking forward to a comparison between this HD and my other candidate, the Maxtor DiamondMax 10.

Ackelind · Post by **Ackelind** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:14 am

I sure hope those sata-ii drives from komplett in sweden is with nidec motors. I sent them an email about it, but i got the reply that they coulndn't check such a thing, because the product code was the same for both types (if there now ARE any new P120's with JVC engines at all).

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:21 am

Ackelind wrote:they coulndn't check such a thing

Silly komplett

! Of course they can do it, it's printed here whether it's NIDEC or JVC. (BTW that one is a NIDEC)

Ackelind · Post by **Ackelind** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:34 am

rpsgc wrote:
Ackelind wrote:they coulndn't check such a thing
Silly komplett ! Of course they can do it, it's printed here whether it's NIDEC or JVC. (BTW that one is a NIDEC)

Yeah, i know it's written on the back side of it, but komplett couldn't check directly on the drives, probably because they are boxed or something.

I'll just hope someone orders one before me, so i can check whatever model they recieved.

atus · Post by **atus** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 12:36 pm

Hi there all. I just got two new Samsung SP2004C SATA-II models. They are currently being tested, after which I'll put them into a nice RAID-1 (mirrored) array. Since nobody I know posted data about these models, here is some preliminary mini-review. I'll post again once the RAID array is built.

I decided not to post images so the numbers are available even if / when the site hosting the images is down. The benchmark numbers for the two drives are not very different, so I will not repeat them. (There is an 8% difference in raw sequential read speeds though**, I'm posting the better benchmark numbers in those cases.)

The mainboard is an ASUS A8N (nForce 4 SLI chipset, SATA-II capable). In Windows, the nVidia nForce IDE driver is not used (for a reason; will test later with all drivers installed). The drives are connected to the 1st and 3rd nVidia SATA-II controllers.

Hdparm on Linux (Knoppix 3.8 ):
# hdparm -t /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 174 MB in 3.02 seconds = 57.59 MB/sec
# hdparm -T /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing cached reads: 3184 MB in 2.00 seconds = 1589.86 MB/sec

HD Tune 2.10 on WinServer2003:
- transfer rates in MB / sec: maximum = 59, minimum = 30, average = 48
- access time is 14 ms, burst rate is 115 MB / sec
- error scan done in about 69 minutes, with a 31 MByte/sec average read speed. (I tested the two drives simultaneously in two HD Tune windows.)
- all SMART values OK

HD Tach 3 short test on WinServer2003:
- transfer rates: same as HD Tune
- access time: same as HD Tune
- CPU utilization: 0%
- burst rate: 180 MB / sec! (SATA - 300 in action, even without the nForce4 drivers installed!)

Temperature readings:
- 30-33C in a well-ventillated case.

Okay, time for acoustics.
- both drives are Nidec
- very silent, much more so than the units I'm retiring now (a 20G IBM, which is no loud either, and a 4G Quantum, which is).
- the two units are more silent than my 8cm blower fan. (Gotta think about silencing that now. ... Also gotta stop constantly silencing components and get to work

)
- idle noise is not audible in closed case
- seek noise is deep suppressed tone, not disturbing at all
- track-to-track seek not audible with the case closed
- no recalibration / off line seek etc. noise like with some Barracudas and Hitachis (just in case you didn't know).
- vibration -- which was an issue with some SP16xx 's --: Samsung seems to have got that under control. My new drives don't vibrate any more than the old ones. At least I don't have to fiddle with / spend money on suspension and stuff.

Overall, on the first day, I'm pretty satisfied with the purchase. Hope they prove reliable during and after the 3-year warranty period.

HTH!

** Here is an XBitLabs article on how the previous SpinPoints were built: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storag ... p80_5.html. The article says a great deal that explains differences in read speed. /Yes, the images are missing from the linked article./ If you wonder why Samsung is using plates with different bit and track densities, please note that (1) this improves the reliability of the drive since data density is adjusted to the quality of the surface, and (2) the surface tests that I performed finished within a 1.5% time difference, so benchmark results that are different at the outer tracks level out when you measure the whole drive.

cmm0325 · Post by **cmm0325** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 1:08 pm

I'm building a new system and I like to use a couple of these new SATA II drives in it. Does anyone know when these 200GB/250GB drives will be available in USA? Thanks.

atus · Post by **atus** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 2:01 pm

cmm0325 wrote:I'm building a new system and I like to use a couple of these new SATA II drives in it. Does anyone know when these 200GB/250GB drives will be available in USA? Thanks.

Pls read the 1st page of this forum topic, Mats' post, dated Mar 15.

cmm0325 · Post by **cmm0325** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:23 pm

Well, I read Mats' post and if it's true then I should not have my hopes set high.

Any place across the ocean handle oversea orders?

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:43 pm

Mats wrote:
Somehow I find it difficult to believe their new two-platter 250 GB drives are quieter than the previous single platter Spinpoint 80 GB drives.
I don't think so. If those numbers are based on worst case scenario, then all they have to to make it more low noise in idle is to only use Nidec motors. I do believe that a single platter HD with JVC motor can be noisier than a two platter HD with Nidec motor.

I wonder if they will stop using JVC, or if we will have the never ending search for HD's with Nidec motors this time too....

There's a store near me that has cheap nidec ones. I am going to buy one or two. Im nervous though, I wouldnt want to get 160's and have them obsolete in a year or two. But I think I should buy them up.... not many hd's get recommendations from spcr.

(if anyone wants I can ship them a nidec 160 gb jobbie)

atus · Post by **atus** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 7:19 pm

atus wrote:- error scan done in about 69 minutes, with a 31 MByte/sec average read speed.

Correction: 31 MB / sec is the final scan speed, the average is of course ~48 MB / sec.

[still testing the drives]

dis · Post by **dis** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 1:58 am

OK, the 200Gig SATA drive is in stock at Komplett.se, the UK date is listed as the 9th of next month, they're estimated dates seem pretty reliable, or at least regularly updated.

atus · Post by **atus** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 4:13 am

I recently finished testing my two mirrored 200G SATA-II Samsungs. I promised I'd share the RAID-1 performance numbers:

- access time is the same as before (actually a bit better, 13.8 ms)
- average read speed is ~40 M / sec, 18% down from 48 M/sec with one drive
- burst rate is 41 M / sec, down from 180 M / sec (!)
- CPU usage is the same low value
[these numbers are based solely on HDTach benchmark]
- my subjective observation is that during typical desktop usage, it is noticeble that the mirrored config is a little slower

- idle noise is evidently still inaudible
- seek noise is louder with two drives doing the seeks together. I guess it's still OK, but after getting used to the seek noise level during the first few days, it's a little disturbing. Maybe because of stronger vibration, I'll check that.
- both drives are set to performance mode, AAM is off. (BTW, none of Samsung's tools seem to work with the drives, had to use the Hitachi Feature Tool to check that.)

- since Windows is using the NVidia RAID driver, programs can't read the drives' SMART values like they did when they were seen as two drives. I hope the BIOS or the NV driver still check that internally.
- haven't found any Linux NVRaid drivers on the Net

I don't care very much about synthetic results (like the drop of burst rate), but I don't like the fact that the performance hit with RAID-1 is noticable in everyday use. I'm still thinking about whether sticking with RAID-1 to have the peace of mind, or use the drives individually, or maybe convert to RAID-0, and prepare for everyday backups.

Bye all!