The SSD Review The Worlds Dedicated SSD Education and Review Resource | 
If anything starts to seem familiar with this solid state drive, thats understandable because it really is an Intel X25m in disguise. The controller is the Intel PC29AS21BAO that has had such success in the X25m and X25v series SSDs and once again the flash is none other than Intel 34nm 29F16B08JAMBA flash modules. The 80GB version contains 5x16GB flash chips.
Intel even stayed with ISSI for their cache, be it at the smaller capacity of 32mb, with the 32MB IS42S16160D DDR chip. Why would anyone consider changing the success of the X25 series especially when you can now make it standard in notebooks without taking up the hard drive space?
OUR TEST BENCH, SOFTWARE AND TEST PROTOCOL
TEST BENCH CONFIGURATION
| Motherboard | Asus Rampage III Gene SATA 6Gb/s USB3 |
| CPU | Intel i7-930 CPU@2.80Ghz (OC’d to 3.2Ghz) |
| RAM | 6Gb G.Skill 1600 Triple Channel |
| Graphics | MSI N460GTX DDR5 768MB |
| Power Supply | OCZ ModXStream-Pro 600w |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212+ |
| OS | Windows 7 64 Bit Ultimate |
| Wifi | Belkin Surf & Share Wireless USB Adapter |
| Monitor | Dell E228WFP 22″ Flat Panel |
| Desktop Case | BitFenix Survivor Mid-Tower ATX Gaming Case (x) |
| Front Loading Mobile SSD Rack | Icy Dock SSD 4 x 2.5″ Mobile Rack (x) |
SOFTWARE
Software used for testing by The SSD Review consists of Crystal Disk Mark, HDTune Pro, ATTO Benchmark, HDTach, along with FutureMark PCMark Vantage. The first four do a great job of showing us the numbers that we want to see, or don’t want to see in some cases, while PCMark Vantage x64 is an excellent program which recreates tests that mimic the average users activity, all the while providing a medium to measure each.
All tests are conducted in Windows 7 safe mode, wherever possible, as this gives the truest result for evaluation purposes; the sole exception being PCMark Vantage which would not function in safe mode. Where the opportunity exists, tests are repeated to ensure accuracy and consistency of results.
SSD INFORMATION – CRYSTAL DISK INFO
Crystal Disk Info does a good job of showing the Intel 310 Series characteristics and displays that, in our testing, we have put through 23GB of host writes, primarily through use of Crystal Disk Mark and AS SSD. At The SSD Review, we don’t concern ourselves with SSD lifespan because we know the SSD will always outlive the hard drive and we have never questioned the lifespan of the hard drive. The consumer has been inundated with so much information about SSDs that it seems pandemic that many actually believe they will wear out their SSD through over use.
The truth is, regardless of your computing pattern, the SSD will outlive your use and most likely be upgraded before it reaches end life. Unlike a hard drive which crashes and you lose everything, SSD end life still allows you full access to stored information and the drive simply cannot be written to further.
Pg 1 – Introduction and Specifications
Pg 2 – SSD Build and Test Protocol
Pg 3 – Benchmarks
Pg 4 – More Benchmarks
Pg 5 – PCMark Vantage Testing and Final Thoughts