Question 1

Does the newegg package include the installation kit (cable and cd) described on the samsung site?

Accepted Answer

Neither are included, however typically this is plugged directly into a motherboard's M.2 slot, it doesn't use cables like a SATA drive.  No CD is required as any motherboard will recognize it.  Windows 7 found it and formatted it just fine upon OS installation.

Question 2

Hey all! Forgive me in advance. But why is this SSD with double the storage cheaper than SAMSUNG SM951 M.2 256GB PCI-Express 3.0 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM? Thank you in advance!

Accepted Answer

Overall performance of the SM951 is much higher (higher read/write speeds) and a longer life.  Still, you're not going to really notice the actual difference in performance unless you're a computer.  You will still replace this with a 4TB SSD for the price you're paying now long before this dies on you.

Question 3

I have a asrock Fatal1ty 990Fx MB with a M.2 gen 2 x2 on the MB. it supports alot of these drrives. for the money should i get this M.2 sata 3 drive r the more costly Kingston HyperX Predator SHPM2280P2/240G M.2 2280 240GB PCI-Express 2.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) thinking of future upgrades...????

Accepted Answer

Thanks for asking. My experience with a working M.2 is practically none. As I stated in my review with my ASUS MAXIMUS HERO z97 board, it was inconpatable, so I retured it, and got the SAMSUNG EVO 850 SSD instead. It works great. The thing is, that these new devices are so new, that the board manufacturers did not test "every" maker. I would say, contact ASROCK and see what there take is on the devices you are looking at. NewEgg was good enough to give me store credit on my returned m.2 and then I bought the SSD. Either way, these drives are going to be super fast. I only wish mine had worked, but I will keep it in mind for later upgrades. Eventually, I think a firmware or BIOS update will fix the problems with the m.2. Good Luck.

Question 4

Will this bootup in a Asus Z10PE-D8 WS or Z10PE-D16 WS motherboard?

Accepted Answer

To be honest with you, I wouldn't know. What I can suggest is that you contact ASUS and see what they can tell you. They were kind of vague when I pressed for an answer. There are Spec sheets that ASUS has that can tell you which ones were tested. 
The other option is try it. Maybe contact SAMSUNG and see if they have any feed back. Not a lot of reviews, because the testing hasn't been done in most cases. Hope this helps.

Question 5

Will this work on an MSI X99S Gaming 7 motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Sure does, as long as it has an m.2 slot.

Question 6

Hi, Is this SSD compatible for macbook air 2014?

Thanks,

Paul

Accepted Answer

No, it only works in macbook air 2010-2012 with a special adapter called macbook air m.2 ssd adapter for $20, they vary year to year so you have to pick the right adapter for your model year, after 2012 apple moved to faster ssds that cannot be replaced by normal ssds like the 850 EVO.

Question 7

Does anyone know if this will work in a Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 MOBO? It's not listed in their support list but how does one know when that list gets updated?

Accepted Answer

I used the Samsung 500GB SSD in a Dell XPS 13 (9343) Linux laptop, not a Gigabyte MOBO.  As long as the Gigabyte specs call for M.2 interface, I would expect it will work.

It worked in the Dell without any problem. Of course the SSD didn't come with partition table or partitions; so I had to install them; I used systemrescuecd and gparted.

Question 8

Will it work with Mac Pro 2013?

Accepted Answer

At first glance I would say "no you can't."  Generally speaking, Mac uses a PCI express interface rather than a SATA interface as most other M.2 formats use.  I am unsure as to why Apple decides to go with the PCIe AHCI format... One other issue you may run into is that SSD drives require overprovisioning (OP).  Essentially, 20% or so of the disk space is used to drain each battery circuit on the SSD drive that way the life of the drive is extended and cells don't go bad due to overuse.  I am unsure how Mac handles software OP.  I know that Samsung Magician software is available for windows, but I don't know about a mac version of it.  I know that the SSD hardware does have dedicated OP built in, but not to the extent that the Magician software will protect your components.  In a nutshell, you need to first ask Apple what kind of SSD interface your Mac uses, then find a model you wish to buy and as Apple, again, if the product you want to buy is supported.  SSD's can be tricky... If you find that your apple uses an PCIe AHCI interface, I would suggest buying the Samsung XP941, however you will be paying at least a 100 more dollars for it.  Sorry!  Macs are proprietary and you have to deal with those consequences if you decide to purchase one, however, they are diehard systems that will last you 10 years on average.  I have a macbook pro 2007 model that is still running strong!

Question 9

will this work on a Macbook pro 15-inch late 2013 model?

Accepted Answer

No. Apple does not use an M.2 interface for its SSD drives. It is proprietary.

Question 10

Will this work in a 13" HP Spectre x360?

Accepted Answer

The Service manual unfortunately doesn't specify whether the M.2 slot will take an 8cm drive, and the picture seems to depict a 4cm drive. You'll have to remove the bottom cover of the computer and visually check. As long as the drive can physically fit in the space provided (again, it's 8cm long), everything should be fine. Look up the service manual for instructions on how to remove the bottom cover and replace the drive. Unfortunately, Newegg won't let me link it.

Questions & Answers