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TEST BENCH AND PROTOCOL
Our analysis today will be conducted with our Asus Z77 Premium Test Bench. Clicking on any pictures or benchmarks will bring up a more easily viewable high resolution image.
In testing, our main objective is to obtain results as pure and as accurate as possible and we want to ensure that no anomalies slip through. Simply put, we want to provide you with the absolute best results the tested hardware can provide. Repetition in testing is standard and, if necessary, we may conduct specific tests in Windows 7 safe mode to ensure the OS has little to no influence on the end result.
In order to validate and confirm our findings, testing is supported by industry accepted benchmark programs. All results are displayed through capture of the actual benchmark for better understanding of the testing process by the reader.
We would like to thank ASUS (P8Z77-V Premium
), Intel (Core i7-3770K), Crucial (Ballistix), Corsair (H100) and Be Quiet (PSU/Fans) for supporting the build of our Z77 Premium Test Bench.
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 DiskMark, AS SSD, Anvil Storage Utilities and PCMark Vantage. We rely on these as they each have a way of supporting one another yet, at the same time, adding a new performance benchmark to the total picture. Much of the software is free and can be downloaded simply by clicking on the linked title.
THE MARVELL 88SS9187 CONTROLLER
Marvel’s 9187 controller replaced the previous 88SS9174 and is an eight channel controller capable of sustained sequential write performance in the area of 500MB/s, even when the drive is dirty and has been in use for some time.
Although today we are also seeing the use of Marvell’s 88SS9175 four channel low power controller for improved battery life, the 9187 is still the cream of the crop and has been seen on some of the best SSDs released.
Crystal Disk Info provides some excellent information about the SSD itself to include its health, product information, power on information as well as the characteristics of the SSD. We can see that the Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme is capable of TRIM as it is not greyed out, much like AAM.
Comparing this CDI result to that of the M5 Pro we reviewed, the only difference really observed is the new designation of the Xtreme SSD.
Why is the 256GB OCZ Vector that was reviewed by this site missing from the Top 25 SATA 3 SSDs in the Vantage Chart?
Our apologies and this will be corrected later today, to include all other reviews that may have been affected since the Vectors release.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention!
Where is the Vertex 4….?
The Vertex 4 never made the grade with Vantage testing and is explained here:
https://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews/ocz-vertex-4-sata-3-ssd-review-indilinx-infused-and-game-changing-performance-results/2/
Where is that Vantage Chart i cant find it.
https://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews/plextor-m5-pro-extreme-ssd-review/4/
Your link to Amazon actually shows the Extreme, with shipping, is a little more expensive than the Pro, which ships for free.
Jim
Bought it last weekend because of this review!! 😀
I think Les you should definitely update yours “SATA 3 SSD PCMark Vantage Point Total” in “SSD Benchmark Locker”.
People could draw the wrong conclusions from the current results
Still looks like if a fella wants the overall fastest, the Samsung 840 Pro is it. What’s a few dollars?
I have to say, for the price point of this drive, it performs very well. I have been a longtime user of OCZ products as I have never had any problems with them and their Vector line is incredible. With that said, I am currently using the Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme and the performance is exactly as stated in this review. It is a solid drive and I recommend anyone who wants to save a bit of money and still have great performance to get this drive.
I’d like to follow up with another comment about this drive. I have continued to be impressed with this hard drive. After reviewing many different drives and testing their performance, this one still continues to impress. Let’s be realistic here. You take the top 5 best drives, which Plextor M5P is apart of, and put each one into identical setups you are highly unlikely to see any different in boot speed or how fast programs open and close. It is simply a great drive and a great price. Do yourself a favor, and purchase it. I couldn’t be happier.