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THE SSD REVIEW TEST BENCH AND PROTOCOL
SSD Testing at TSSDR differs slightly depending on whether we are looking at consumer or enterprise SSDs. For consumer SSDs, our goal is to test in a system that has been optimized with our SSD Optimization Guide. Benchmarks for consumer testing are also benchmarks with a fresh drive so, not only can we verify that manufacturer specifications are in line but also, so the consumer can replicate our tests to confirm that they have an SSD that is top-notch. We even provide links to most of the benchmarks used in the report.
We should mention that, having recently introduced the new ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac motherboard into our test environment, this motherboard has a very unique UEFI graphic BIOS, one that is very user friendly. Unlike many motherboards, this BIOS is set up standard for optimal settings and has an optimal setting for CPU states which is set automatically. For the most part, all CPU states are on with this motherboard.
This TSSDR Test Bench build was the result of some great relationships and purchase; our appreciation goes to the below mentioned manufacturers for their support in our project. Our choice of components is very narrow, in that, we choose only what we believe to be among the best available and links are provided to each that will assist in hardware pricing and availability, should the reader be interested in purchase.
SYSTEM COMPONENTS
| PC CHASSIS: | InWin D-Frame Open Air Chassis |
| MOTHERBOARD: | ASRock Z87 Extreme11/ac EATX Motherboard |
| CPU: |
Intel Core i7-4770K CPU |
| CPU COOLER: | Corsair H100i CPU Cooler |
| POWER SUPPLY: | be quiet Dark Power Pro 10 1000W PSU |
| SYSTEM COOLING: | be quiet Silent Wings 2 PC Fans |
| GRAPHICS CARD: |
EVGA GTX 770 Superclocked with ACX Cooler |
| MEMORY: | Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 1600Mhz Memory |
| KEYBOARD: | Corsair Vengeance K95 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard |
| MOUSE: | Corsair Vengeance M95 MMO/RTS Laser Mouse |
| ROUTER: | NetGear R6300 AC1750 Dual Band Gigabit WiFi Router |
| HBA | HighPoint RocketU 1144C 4 x USB 3.0 20Gb/s HBA |
BENCHMARK SOFTWARE
The software we will be using for today’s analysis is typical of many of our reviews and consists of ATTO Disk Benchmark, Crystal Disk Info, Crystal DiskMark, AS SSD Disk BenchMark, PCMark Vantage and Anvil Storage Utilities. Most of this software is available free of charge and may be downloaded by clicking on the title…if it is free and downloadable that is.
ATTO Disk Benchmark is a relatively easy-to-use benchmark tool, which happens to be the benchmark of choice for many manufacturers. ATTO uses compressible data rather than random data, which results in higher performance and thus, higher benchmark scores. In our testing, we have selected the transfer size to range from 0.5KB to 8192KB, and have set the total length of the test to be 256MB.
Our initial ATTO results are right in line with listed specifications and this is much as we might expect from the Phison controller. Rather impressive is the steady increase in performance as file size increased, this generally being very representative of a strong SSD.
CRYSTAL DISK BENCHMARK VER. 3.0.3 x64
Crystal Disk Benchmark is visually straightforward, and is used for measuring the speeds at which your storage device reads and writes in both compressible (0Fill/1Fill) and random, mostly incompressible, data. Random data is more consistent with everyday use of a computer, such as transferring videos, pictures and music.
Crystal results were similar regardless of testing sample makeup and we were just a bit disappointed in the write performance, knowing of course that we are using a Phison controller and only two modules of memory. It was really a given and even Phison representatives would quickly point out that the intended direction for the SC2 family is that of a caching SSD,
AS SSD Benchmark uses incompressible data to test your storage device, essentially providing results that would be consistent with using the heaviest workload, thus lower speeds are expected. IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) are seen in the first picture below and transfer speeds (MB/s) are the second.
Surprisingly, read performance remains very strong and we could point out several top tier SSDs that didn’t have high sequential read performance above 500MB/s in AS SSD. We also get a first look at IOPS and 38537 IOPS was better than we expected, although being nowhere near an upper tier score.
Similarly, the SC2 surprised us in AS SSD Copy Benchmark as the transfer speeds for the ISO and Game are excellent and better than we have seen from many other SSDs.
I think the choice of 42mm size is a smart one as it matches the small confines of many current laptops, specifically the latest Lenovo Thinkpads such as the T440x.
It’s $99.99, not $89.99
It’s $89.99…just clicked the link.
And now it’s $80. The mSATA has held steady at $89.99.
However, the M.2 SATA mentioned in this article was $99.99 when I first posted and very recently dropped to $80.
I hope this isn’t asking too much but would be the process or sequence to use this a dual boot/cache ssd? I’m building a system soon, when I’m installing windows would I create say a 60gb partition for windows then install the hybridisk software and just select the other half of the ssd to be the cache? Is it that easy? Would still want to leave ~20% unused for trim?
The SSD is already TRIM compliant so no worries…..and yes it is that easy. Install the SSD and hard drive. Partition the SSD and install Windows. Install Hybridisk and partiton for the remaining SSD logical drive as your cache…simple as that.
Now you have a pure SSD boot and cached hard drive with perfrormance close to that of a SSD.
when i install this, i partition 40gb for my OS and 24gb for the caching but do i stall hybridrive on the OS partition or the other unused (unallocated space) also do i need to make the other space not used for the OS into another volume. please include correct installation details please very interested but this hardware being so new i cant find to much as far as guides or walkthroughs.
Hello,
When we have a 128gb ssd , the optimal partitioning could be like this ?
100 gb for windows and most used programs
20 gb for cache
8 gb for windows cache (like linux partition, if it works for windows?)
Do you have any suggestions ?
Thanks for the reply! I was only eyeing a 120gb drive to use for the OS because I don’t really have the coin for a higher capacity ssd and didn’t want to get caught up in what’s worthy of going on the ssd, continuously uninstalling programs, or moving files to make room. This sounds like great way to use some of that left over space on the ssd to leverage performance from a platter drive; exciting stuff. I’m going to be using the asus maximus vi impact which is mITX and has that additional adapter that you weren’t fond of on your review of the ADATA AXNS360E back in September. Any concern’s there? Thanks again for the reply.
The only reason I wasn’t fond of it was because it was a last minute implementation that limited the size of the M.2 SSD we could use at the time. IN addition, it is limited to a single PCIe lane.
It is still a M.2 SSD solution, however, and if you have the compatible SSD…all the power!
Hi I just bought one of these for my Elitebook 840 G1 with a 500gb hdd and will use as dual boot/cache device. What partition ratio would you advise? is 20gb enough for hdd caching?
Would you also install programs on the ssd or only the OS?
I might go with a 30/40 cache and yes…OS and programs on the SSD.
Hi Les, I got the m.2 drive and managed to migrate the OS (Win 8.1) with EaseUS backup…al working well. I installed Hybrid Disk but it won’t show me the HDD as a master for caching…it only shows the SSD? Any idea why? could it be that the migrations was not successful?
I was considering the 128gb version of this drive as boot drive for a thinkpad t440p. Then I read your review and now it seems that using it as cache may make more sense. Why mess around with having 2 logical drives and restrictions on what can be stored in C:, when you can have almost as good performance using it in cache mode. In which case I can save some money by getting the 64gb version, which should be enough for cache for the 500gb main HDD. What are your thoughts on that?
You could go that route but, IMHO, these drives have a wicked price point. I would favor 64GB for the OS and then the remainder as a cache, rather than 32GB for the OS.
I was thinking 64gb as cache, no separate partition for the OS. That way you keep it simple with only one logical drive.
I’ve just ordered a Lenovo S540 and it comes with a 1 TB HDD (5400 rpm) + a 16 GB M.2 SSD for caching. This leads to several questions related to the SC2 Super Cache 2:
1. Could I swap out the 16 GB M.2 that comes with the Lenovo, replace it with the MyDigitalSSD SC2 Super Cache 2, install the OS and apps on it and use it as the primary boot drive?
2. What’s the difference between the MyDigitalSSD 128GB Super Boot Drive and the MyDigitalSSD SC2 Super Cache 2 42mm SATA III 6G M.2 NGFF M2 SSD Solid State Drive?
3. How reliable is this M.2 SSD in comparison to a Crucial MX100 or a Samsung EVO?
4. Would it just make more sense to pluck the M.2 and HHD from the computer and install a 500 GB Crucial MX100 or a Samsung EVO?
Thanks in advance for any feedback / advice on this.