How Nosotros Test, Organization Specs

In add-on to our featured wink devices, the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM hard drive has been included for comparison'southward sake. Other SSDs tested for comparing feature controllers such every bit the SandForce SF-2281, JMicron JMF616, Intel PC29AS218A, Marvell 88SS9174, Toshiba TC58NCF618GBT and Samsung S3C29MAX01. Our testing suite consists of four constructed benchmark programs and our own file copying and load fourth dimension tests.

As y'all likely know, while manufacturers merits impressive elevation I/O operation out of the box, this performance can diminish over time. Unlike a conventional hard bulldoze, whatsoever write operation fabricated to an SSD is a two-step process: a data cake must be erased and then written to. Obviously if the drive is new and unused there will be nothing to erase and therefore the first pace tin can be bypassed, but this just happens once unless the drive is trimmed.

Because this, nosotros'll test how much functioning you can expect to lose from each SSD over time. We'll examine all drives in their clean unused state, and then run the HD Tach full criterion several times to fill up the entire drive. This simulates heavy usage and clearly indicates how operation will be afflicted afterward normal long-term use.

All drives in this roundup support the Windows 7 TRIM office, which is meant to counteract these negative furnishings.

Examination System Specs

  • Intel Core i7-2600K (LGA1155)
  • x2 4GB DDR3-1600 G.Skill (CAS 8-8-eight-20)
  • Asus P8P67 Deluxe (Intel P67)
  • OCZ ZX Series (1250w)
  • Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB (3Gb/s)
  • OCZ Vertex 4 256GB (6Gb/s)
  • OCZ Agility 4 256GB (6Gb/s)
  • OCZ Octane 512GB (6Gb/s)
  • Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB (6Gb/s)
  • Kingston HyperX 240GB (6Gb/s)
  • Kingston SSDNow 5+200 240GB (6Gb/southward)
  • Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB
  • Patriot Torqx 2 128GB (3Gb/south)
  • Patriot Pyro 120GB (6Gb/southward)
  • Crucial m4 256GB (6Gb/s)
  • Crucial v4 256GB (3Gb/s)
  • Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB (6Gb/southward)
  • Samsung 470 Serial 256GB (3Gb/southward)
  • Intel SSD 320 Serial 300GB (3Gb/s)
  • Intel SSD 510 Series 120GB (6Gb/southward)
  • Samsung 830 Series 512GB (6Gb/southward)
  • Samsung 470 Series 256GB (3Gb/s)
  • Asus GeForce GTX 580 (1536MB)

Software

  • Microsoft Windows seven Ultimate SP1 (64-bit)
  • Nvidia Forceware 301.34