RAPID Mode
RAPID (Real-time Accelerated Processing of I/O Data) Mode is an innovative performance enhancement tool which processes data on the system level by utilizing free DRAM memory as cache. RAPID Mode was designed to increase the overall performance of PC, combining fastest SSD available in the market and the most advanced storage management algorithm in Magician 4.2.
RAPID Mode analyses a user’s application and data usage, optimizes the I/O for Samsung SSDs accordingly, and eliminates system performance bottlenecks.
In order to deliver the fastest and the most reliable user experience, RAPID Mode focuses on improving the random performance with low queue depth and small size data. When frequently used data (hot data) is recognized, RAPID Mode can also enhance the sequential performance as well. However, improvement on sequential performance can vary depending on user scenarios.
Enabling RAPID Mode is very simple – just launch Samsung Magician, click on RAPID Mode and then click Enable – very simple!
Because of the way RAPID Mode works it will take a while before it really shows results, and as such I can’t comment in this review if it really makes a difference, but in a few months I will take a look again.
Different Kits
There are three different kits available.
These are the standard retail kit:
The Laptop PC Upgrade kit comes with a SATA to USB 3.0 connector and a mounting spacer.
The Desktop PC Upgrade kit includes a SATA to USB 2.0 connector, a SATA data cable, screws, a 2.5” to 3.5” adapter bracket.
Final Thoughts
The Samsung SSD 840 EVO line-up is available in five capacities: 120GB, 250GB, 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB, as well as the three different kits (see above). For this review we had the 1TB model.
The drive is fast, very fast and work’s very well indeed. In fact it is the fastest SSD I have ever tried. There are a number of really great features with the drive too!
At the time of writing this review, Samsung had yet to release the final version of their Magician software, so the review was completed using a beta of version 4.2 but I didn’t have any problems with it at all.
I didn’t test out the full disk encryption (FDE) functionality as the motherboard I was using didn’t support it.
RAPID Mode is an interesting addition, and time will tell if it actually brings any benefit, but I certainly like the idea of it.
If you want an easier life and you want to keep all your software and settings I recommend going for one of the upgrade kits with the Data Migration software on – it is quick and works perfectly.
The warranty period on the series 840 EVO drives are 3 years in case you were wondering, but hopefully you will never need it! I have been using Samsung SSD’s for a few years now and so far I haven’t had a single problem with one.
So I cannot rate this SSD highly enough – it is fantastic! It is the best SSD I have ever tested and now is my main drive!
Prices start from £86.99 for the 120GB SSD all the way up to £509.99 for the 1TB model and should be available from today.
