The SSD Relapse: Understanding and Choosing the Best SSD
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 30, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Sequential Read/Write Speed
Finally, to the roundup. We’ll start with the traditional tests. Using the latest build of Iometer I ran a 3 minute long 2MB sequential write test over the entire span of the drive. The results reported are in average MB/s over the entire test length:
Sequential write speed was what all SSD makers focused on in the early days of consumer drives. The JMicron lesson taught us that there's much more to system performance than sequential write performance, and most have learned. Regardless, sequential write speed is still very important and as we can see here the majority of drives do very, very well. The high end Indilinx drives approach 190MB/s, while Intel's SLC X25-E actually breaks 200MB/s.
The same can't be said for Intel's mainstream MLC drives, both of which are limited to 80MB/s. While it doesn't make the drives feel slow in real world usage, it is a significant blemish on an otherwise (as you'll soon see) flawless track record.
The standings don't really change with the drive in a used state. The Indilinx drives all fall around 15%, while the Intel drives stay the same.
Ha! Read speed is ridiculous on these drives. See the wall at around 260MB/s? We're hitting the limit of what's possible over 3Gbps SATA. Expect read speeds to go up once we start seeing SATA 6Gbps drives and controllers to support them.
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Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, August 31, 2009 - link
Intel insists it's not an artificial cap and I tend to believe the source that fed me that information.That being said, if it's not an artificial cap it's either:
1) Designed that way and can't be changed without a new controller
2) A bug and can be fixed with firmware
3) A bug and can't be fixed without a new controller
Or some combination of those items. We'll see :)
Take care,
Anand
Adul - Monday, August 31, 2009 - link
Another fine article anand :). Keep up the good work.CurseTheSky - Monday, August 31, 2009 - link
This is absolutely the best article I've read in a very long time - not just from Anandtech - from anywhere.I've been collecting information and comparing benchmarks / testimonials for over a month, trying to help myself decide between Intel, Indilinx, and Samsung-based drives. While it was easy to see that one of the three trails the pack, it was difficult to decide if the Intel G2 or Indilinx drives were the best bang for the buck.
This article made it all apparent: The Intel G2 drives have better random read / write performance, but worse sequential write performance. Regardless, both drives are perfectly acceptable for every day use, and the real world difference would be hardly noticeable. Now if only the Intel drives would come back in stock, close to MSRP.
Thank you for taking the time to write the article.
deputc26 - Monday, August 31, 2009 - link
been waiting months for this one.therealnickdanger - Monday, August 31, 2009 - link
Ditto! Thanks Anand! Now the big question... Intel G2 or Vertex Turbo? :) It's nice to have options!Hank Scorpion - Monday, August 31, 2009 - link
Anand,YOU ARE A LEGEND!!! go and get some good sleep, thanks for answering and allaying my fears... i appreciate all your hard work!!!!
256GB OCZ Vertex is on the top of my list as soon as a validated Windows 7 TRIM firmware that doesnt need any work by me is organized....
once a firmware is organised then my new machine is born.... MUHAHAHAHAHAHA
AbRASiON - Monday, August 31, 2009 - link
Vertex Turbo is a complete rip off, Anand clearly held back saying it from offending the guy at OCZ.Now the other OCZ models however, could be a different story.
MikeZZZZ - Monday, August 31, 2009 - link
I too love my Vertex. Running these things in RAID0 will blow your mind. I'm just waiting for some affordable enterprise-class drives for our servers.Mike
http://solidstatedrivehome.com">http://solidstatedrivehome.com
JPS - Monday, August 31, 2009 - link
I loved the first draft of the Anthology and this is a great follow-up. I have been running a Vertex in workstation and laptop for months know and continue to be amazed at the difference when I boot up a comparable system still running standard HDDs.gigahertz20 - Monday, August 31, 2009 - link
Another great article from Anand, now where can I get my Intel X-25M G2 :)