Samsung Electronics on Wednesday started shipping its 840- and 840 Pro-series solid-state drives based on new types of NAND flash memory. For a limited time, the 840 Pro SSDs will also include a code for a downloadable full version of the highly anticipated video game Assassin’s Creed III, with purchase of the 128GB, 256GB or 512GB models.

Samsung’s new SSD 840 Pro is based on proprietary Samsung MDX controller and new-generation multi-level cell NAND flash memory with Toggle DDR 2.0 interface. The drives deliver sequential read speeds up to 540MB/s as well as sequential write speeds up to 520MB/s. The SSDs deliver up to 100 000 input-output operations per second (IOPS). Samsung 840-series SSDs are available in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB capacities and are based on triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash memory with Toggle DDR interface as well as the MDX controller. The SSD 840 drive offers similarly fast random read speeds: up to 97 000 IOPS as well as sequential read speeds up to 530MB/s.

It is noteworthy that Samsung is enclosing a video game with its solid-state drives as it signals that once expensive SSDs are now becoming affordable enough for gamers, who usually spend huge budgets on graphics cards and save on other components.

“We cannot wait for gamers to enter the world of Assassin’s Creed III. Running the game from a Samsung 840 Pro SSD will deliver an even more immersive experience, since boot times and level loads practically become a thing of the past. Because the game is larger than previous Assassin’s Creed installments – thanks to its more powerful graphics and lifelike animations – this performance boost will really impact gamers,” said Geoffroy Sardin, chief EMEA sales and marketing officer at Ubisoft.

The Samsung SSD 840 Pro will be available at major retail and online outlets in capacities of 128GB, 256GB and 512GB. The Samsung SSD 840 will be available in capacities of 120GB, 250GB and 500GB. The SSD 840 models are also optionally available with an upgrade kit including mounting brackets, USB cable and SATA cable – for easy installation in a desktop or laptop PC. Samsung also will include its Samsung SmartMigration software with the new drives, which makes it easier than ever to migrate data from an existing drive to an SSD.

Tags: Samsung, SSD, MLC, TLC, NAND, Flash, 21nm, 20nm