[Info] SSD Reviews/Benchmarks Repository

[Super Nade]

dominick32 has been at the forefront of SSD technology since the day it debuted.

Read THIS first!
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O.k guys, it is about time we made this place the one stop shop for SSD info.

Dig up all technical info you can and give me links to any personal benchmarks you have run. I will try to collate all information in one place under these headings. I plan to have this polished and ready to roll by the end of July.

Reviews, Articles, Controllers and OEMs:

• PCPerspective's detailed database of SSD reviews. One more comparing Intel vs the rest, HERE, 34nm 160Gb review HERE
• A nice review comparing OCZ, Kingston (Intel), SuperTalent and Corsair drives.
• SSD Reviews consolidated in one spot
• Anandtech's SSD Write-up
• The Techreport's SSD Review
• Impact of Cache/buffer depth on SSD performance at Anandtech
• HardOCP compare SSD Raid Scaling under Windows 7
• Corsair P64 Review at Hardware Canucks
  

• Intel - Intel, Kingston SSDNow E/M Series
  
• Indilinx Bigfoot - OCZ Vertex, GSkill Falcon
  
• Samsung - Corsair P256, OCZ Summit, Samsung
  
• JMicron - OCZ Core Series
  

Member Benchmarks:

• Corpsejockey's Intel X25M 80Gb MLC Test Results
• Ashura provides us with detailed Intel X25-M, GSkill Titan , and Corsair (MLC) tests.
• Imposter's OCZ Vertex Raid-0 Benchmarks.
• Super Nade's preliminary X25-M Benchmarks. More HERE
• HyperAsus is benching MTron drives HERE
• xtkxhom3r has a nice video that showcases the speed of an SSD HERE
• Evilsizer tests the Agility series drives HERE
• Randyman checks out the X25-M for us HERE

Known issues and quirks:

• SSDs slow-down dramatically as they get filled up. PC Perspective investigate the issue HERE
• Intel Responds to ad fixes the fragmentation problems. Story HERE
• Techreport looks at the degradation issue HERE
• Intel's 34nm drives were affected by a firmware issue that occurs when a drive password is set in the BIOS. If the password is changed, the data on the drive cannot be read.

Tips and Tweaks:

• xtkxhom3r points us to tweaks and tips from OCZ's forums
• Intel's Firmware update tool documentation and the Tool
• Ashura points us to Intel's spec sheet for their MLC Drives HERE(pdf).
  

 

[xtkxhom3r]

man i wish i had my hd tune SS's i would run some right now but i havnt trimmed the drives since i bought them so the benches wouldnt be accurate maybe next format i will trim them and run some benches

but here are some links on things you should do as soon as you get your ssd's installed

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54859

here is a link to the new firmware for the vertex series fw 1.3
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57516&highlight=trim+vertex+raid

and here is an alternative to TRIM for ppl that are running these drives in raid

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56837

 

[Super Nade]

Updated with a bit more info

 

[dominick32]

Nade,
I thought I already had a great thread:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=530580

 

[Super Nade]

You sure do! This will be a links only thread (like the one in the lounge) that I will keep updating.

 

[Automata]

Nade,
I thought I already had a great thread:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=530580

You have massive amounts of good information, but it is difficult to read because of the formatting.

 

[dominick32]

You have massive amounts of good information, but it is difficult to read because of the formatting.

So, lets re-format it! lol

 

[dominick32]

LOL. Thanks for the bump of status upgrade Nade. Let me put my #1 link to your thread. Give me two minutes.

Dom

 

[Ashura]

This thread has my X25-M ATTO benches immediately before, immediately after and a week after the firmware upgrade along with a description of my typical usage: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=602929

My G. Skill Titan benches on both a desktop and an ASUS EEEPC 1000H here: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=593079

My Corsair 1st gen MLC SSD benches on both desktop and ASUS EeePC 1000H here: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=594618

EDIT: It should also be noted that a number of the OCZ tweaks are excessive/unnecessary provided you have a decent drive (Intel, Vertex, Samsung, etc.). They were originally made to overcome the limits of the horrible JMicron controller prevalent in a lot of cheap SSDs. A recent discussion over that was held at notebookreview: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=208242&page=641

All that seems necessary is 1. allignment 2. disabling defrag and 3. adjusting the write-caching policy.

 

[Know Nuttin]

All that seems necessary is 1. allignment 2. disabling defrag and 3. adjusting the write-caching policy.

Don't forget disabling indexing also.

 

[imposter]

Hey, SN i have 2 X 30GB OCZ vertex drives in raid 0

let me know what you need!

edit pictures added!

picture to the left is while the drive is empty, the picture to the right is when the array is ~50% occupied

pretty big difference, just a note, that these are under different firmware

 

[Ashura]

Don't forget disabling indexing also.

I don't think even that is necessary/really all that helpful. It was initially advised because indexing leads to multiple small writes which overwhelmed the JMicron drives. With a drive like the X25-M, you get no improvement by disabling indexing. I would bet the case is the same with the Vertex although I can't say for 100% sure since I've never played with one.

 

[Super Nade]

A year old XP install on a 36Gb WD Raptor. Scores are pathetic...looks like my Windows is on its last legs. Curiously, I have not had a single BSOD in about a year.



My X25-M from mwave arrived today. I'm moving to Win7, lock, stock and barrel.

Stock clocks, fresh Win7 install...

 

[Ashura]

Anand's SSD picks as of 6/24/2009:

1) The X25-M continues to be my top pick.
2) The Samsung based drives (e.g. Corsair 256GB) offer great compatibility (that's what Apple uses in its MacBook lineup) but their worst case performance isn't as good as the Indilinx or Intel drives. This won't be an issue for everyone but it does leave a sour taste in my mouth.
3) The Indilinx based drives (e.g. OCZ Vertex) seem to provide the best of both worlds between the X25-M and the Samsung based drives. You get higher peak transfer rates (like the Samsung) but you get better random write performance (like the X25-M).

http://anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3590

 

[Super Nade]

I need some help on on drive cache/buffer and how it impacts performance etc...

 

[Ashura]

I need some help on on drive cache/buffer and how it impacts performance etc...

See page 10 of anandtech's X25-M review: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3403&p=10

 

[Super Nade]

Got it. Thanks. Anybody know what "Enable Advance Performance" in Win7 actually do? Does this need to be ON?

The screen below is from Vista not Win7. I could not find this option in 7.

 

[Super Nade]

Added a few more links and reviews.

 

[Super Nade]

Other benchmarks:

Raptor

SSD

 

[Ashura]

Got it. Thanks. Anybody know what "Enable Advance Performance" in Win7 actually do? Does this need to be ON?

The screen below is from Vista not Win7. I could not find this option in 7.

It's in the same place in both W7 and Vista, found by going to Device Manager, right clicking the SSD and selecting properties, and going to the Policies tab. See a screen from my W7 here:

As for what it does exactly I can't say for sure, but considering Intel keeps it on when doing benchmarks for their own spec sheet it's probably meant to be kept on.

See page 8 of http://download.intel.com/design/flash/nand/mainstream/mainstream-sata-ssd-datasheet.pdf.