Some 840 EVOs still vulnerable to read speed slowdowns

Last year, users discovered a problem with Samsung's 840 EVO SSD that caused dramatic slowdowns when reading older data. Samsung attributed the issue to an algorithmic error in the management routine that tracks the status of cells over time. A firmware fix and accompanying Performance Restoration utility were issued in October, and they seemed to do the trick. However, new evidence suggests that the problem persists.

A couple of TR readers (thanks Horia and Richard) pointed me to recent entries in the original Overclock.net thread complaining of slow read performance. Those reports come from drives running the supposedly fixed EXT0CB6Q firmware, and they prompted me to test an EVO I've been saving for just such an occasion. The results don't bode well for the TLC drive.