# Do I need to set over provisioning on 840 evo



## P4-630 (Nov 27, 2015)

I have a 500GB samsung evo for about a year now with latest firmware installed and it performs as new.
I have created 2 partitions on it, one 302GB for games (127GB free) and one 162GB for data (55GB free).
Since I still have a lot of free space on the drive, do I still have to create a partition for this?
There is no OS on it installed.

Thanks!


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## Jetster (Nov 27, 2015)

Samsung does recommend some unallocated space for over provisioning. Just use the Samsung Magician. So it wouldn't be a partition


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## P4-630 (Nov 27, 2015)

Jetster said:


> Samsung does recommend some unallocated space for over provisioning. Just use the Samsung Magician. So it wouldn't be a partition



I tried 10% and 8%, I'm getting this:


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## Vayra86 (Nov 27, 2015)

*OP and the 840 Series SSD*
As NAND process technology advances, the chips themselves become increasingly smaller. As they shrink, the chips also become less reliable at holding data. There are a number of ways to mitigate this problem, including using Error- Correcting Code (ECC). As explained above, any time we give the controller more work to do, it requires more room on its “work bench” to do it efficiently.
The 840 Series represents the first consumer SSD to implement 3-bit/cell MLC (also called TLC) technology. This technology, as its name suggests, stores 3-bits of data per cell, as opposed to the 2-bits per cell that today’s more common Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND holds. Because, as just mentioned above, the size of the chips themselves is also shrinking, in effect we are squeezing even more information into a smaller space.
This is nothing a good firmware algorithm can’t handle, however. Samsung’s 3-bit/cell MLC-based SSD 840 Series, equipped with mandatory OP, will still far outlast the useful life of the hardware it powers.

Mandatory OP. I think your OP is already built into the hardware, just like my current BX100 has. Keep in mind that Magician caters to ALL Samsung SSD's so while the option is there for you, it may not have a use.


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## P4-630 (Nov 27, 2015)

Vayra86 said:


> *OP and the 840 Series SSD*
> As NAND process technology advances, the chips themselves become increasingly smaller. As they shrink, the chips also become less reliable at holding data. There are a number of ways to mitigate this problem, including using Error- Correcting Code (ECC). As explained above, any time we give the controller more work to do, it requires more room on its “work bench” to do it efficiently.
> The 840 Series represents the first consumer SSD to implement 3-bit/cell MLC (also called TLC) technology. This technology, as its name suggests, stores 3-bits of data per cell, as opposed to the 2-bits per cell that today’s more common Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND holds. Because, as just mentioned above, the size of the chips themselves is also shrinking, in effect we are squeezing even more information into a smaller space.
> This is nothing a good firmware algorithm can’t handle, however. Samsung’s 3-bit/cell MLC-based SSD 840 Series, equipped with mandatory OP, will still far outlast the useful life of the hardware it powers.
> ...



So there won't be issues as long as I keep some free space left on the SSD?


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## Vayra86 (Nov 27, 2015)

P4-630 said:


> So there won't be issues as long as I keep some free space left on the SSD?



Better than that. The overprovisioning is already in the hardware, so it won't show for you, but it's always there. You can fill it up entirely. Evidenced by total disk space of your partitions: 465.76 GB.


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## Jetster (Nov 27, 2015)

Vayra86 said:


> Better than that. The overprovisioning is already in the hardware, so it won't show for you, but it's always there. You can fill it up entirely. Evidenced by total disk space of your partitions: 465.76 GB.



I don't think so Just go read the Samsung site. Although there some that is allocated for trash cleanup. You can fill it up. It will just get slower as time goes on

Your graphic shows no unallocated space. So it 0%

Okay, we are both right

http://www.samsung.com/global/busin.../SSD/global/html/whitepaper/whitepaper05.html


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## Vayra86 (Nov 27, 2015)

Trash cleanup space, is exactly what Overprovisioning is for.

ANY SSD that gives you an unorthodox amount of space such as 240, 480 GB you can safely assume has the rest of the NAND reserved as overprovisioned space.

You can use more space for OP, this is correct, but that is a personal measure of speed versus storage capacity and the usefulness for this additional OP is very, very limited.


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## Jetster (Nov 27, 2015)

The irony of all this is if your have a small SSD and its full, the more OP space you need

Quote from Samsung
"A casual user with a large-capacity SSD may not need to set aside any extra space for OP. The SSD will naturally use any available free space to perform its maintenance algorithms. If you have a small SSD, on the other hand, it is recommended to set aside some OP (between 6.7 and 10% of total drive space) to minimize the risk of accidentally filling the drive to capacity. While filling a drive with data isn’t harmful, it will have a severe impact on performance."


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## AsRock (Nov 27, 2015)

Jetster said:


> Samsung does recommend some unallocated space for over provisioning. Just use the Samsung Magician. So it wouldn't be a partition



You don't need the software, you just need some un-partitioned space on the drive which can be done though disk management.

But yes your right it is better to have than not too.


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## Bill_Bright (Nov 27, 2015)

Jetster said:


> While filling a drive with data isn’t harmful, it will have a severe impact on performance."


For "normal" usage (basically, all but busy file servers and data centers), this really depends on the type of data. If you fill the drive with static files, that is, files that will never be or rarely modified over the years (tunes and family photos, for example), WITH CURRENT GENERATION SSDs, the data will survive long after your computer does. That is, newer state-of-the-art technologies will come and go and you will have already backed this data up to new computers and new technologies before you encounter any problems.

And the fact of the matter is, all drives suffer performance issues when full - at least those containing the OS and there are many writes, along with the reads. 





AsRock said:


> You don't need the software,


I agree. It should be noted that modern versions of the latest operating systems know how to maintain SSDs too.

Today's generation of SSDs do NOT suffer from the problems early generation SSDs did. And modern operating systems are very SSD aware. SSDs today don't need the special care and hand-holding early generation SSDs did. We don't need proprietary software to keep them running at peak performance.

As for those Samsung whitepapers, I sure wish they would timestamp them.   With the way SSD technologies have so rapidly advanced and address early generation woes, even a 3 year old white paper is out of date.

And for the record, I don't like Samsung Magician. By default, it runs in real-time and eats up unnecessary resources. Plus, unless they have revised it since I last tried it, its "Performance" settings prevent your computer from going to sleep.  I've uninstalled where I previously installed, and have not installed on any recent new builds either.


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## Vayra86 (Nov 28, 2015)

^ this.

I will reiterate: on the more recent SSD's with unorthodox capacity formats like 240, 480 etc. GB there is OP space in the hardware that you cannot see or reach. But it's there and eliminates most of the benefits you can get from additional OP. On consumer SSD's and with regular use (ie using an OS and some (game) data that is constantly accessed) there is *zero*. I repeat. ZERO noticeable impact of having more OP than set by manufacturer.

The Samsung Whitepaper is not just about the EVO. It is about SSDs in general. My older Samsung 830 SSD requires me to set aside OP space manually. My newer BX100 does not.


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