NVELO Dataplex Caching Software Review With 7 mSATA SSDs Discussion

[The SSD Guy]

Well, it has been a LONG week testing seven mSATA SSDs in a Lenovo X220 notebook with NVELO Dataplex SSD Caching software; one of my longest prep sesions yet as a matter of fact.

I like the end result, however and think you may as well:

NVELO Dataplex SSD Caching Software Review - Seven mSATA SSDs Prove An Amazing Concept - The SSD Review

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[Brian]

I know that the focus was on Dataplex but it was another VERY useful and timely review for me! I am in the process of deciding what mSATA SSD to put in the mSATA slot in my ThinkPad X220. I already have an Intel 160GB SSD in the ultrabay slot.

I know that that mSATA slot is limited to 3Gbps and when I started reading what mSATA's you would be testing, I expected to the results to show that Runcore T50 and Renice X3 tests would be much the same while the Adata XM13 would be close behind. Your tests pretty much confirmed that for me.

I bought a 120GB Kingfast mSATA SATA 3 that is made by Runcore (it has Runcore imprints on both side too). It is cheaper but it supposedly performs the same as the Runcore T50. I found that it was incompatible with the mSATA slot in the ThinkPad X220. The SSD cannot be formatted successfully and, when I was able to install an image on it, it was very flaky and I eventually had to remove it. (Caveat: There is a small chance that the SSD was defective rather than incompatible -- I don't have to test with).

I had decided that I want to now get the 120GB Renice X3 (SATA 2) SSD and your tests have confirmed that that would be right choice for me.

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I have looked very closely at the Kingfast mSATA that I tested and it looks EXACTLY like the Runcore T50 that you tested. Even the imprint on the top edge (RC 550 SF03 V2.0 Date: 2011-07-15) is the same. The Intel IMFT flash memory (29F32B08JCME2) is the same. The SandForce part # is SF-2281V81-SDC too. Only difference I can see is mine has "2411 TAIWAN" on the Sandforce processor while yours has "2511".
I'm wondering if somehow I didn't configure mine right? Maybe there was something that I was supposed to change in the BIOS? If you didn't change anything, can you tell what the relevant BIOS settings are on your X220?

Thanks!

[Johnny Lucky]

Great Review. Hope it gets everyone's attention. Nvelo first caught my attention when I read the OCZ ssd review. I went straight to the Nvelo web site and discovered their caching software was not for sale to the general public. What a bummer!

[Computurd]

Very good review, great read and very thorough!

[Sean]

I missed the news on the OCZ Synapse when it launched, so until I saw this review, I assumed that the OCZ Synapse was just an SSD designed for the Sandy Bridge's Smart Response cache and didn't know that it used this NVELO Dataplex caching software. Very impressive to see how it performs with the various mSATA SSDs.

It's a pity they don't have a public release on this, as I'm sure they would make plenty of sales just from people looking to speed up their desktop PC without reinstalling the OS or moving any data. For example, I know people who absolutely avoid reinstalling the OS until it eventually keels over! For consumers like this, all they would need is to pick up an SSD and install this software.

After seeing some user reviews of the OCZ Synapse, one thing I'm curious about is if they fixed the lengthy repair process after an unsafe shutdown. For example, I seen a few user reviews on Amazon saying they had to wait an hour or longer for the repair process to take place after an unexpected power outage.

[The SSD Guy]

Its not a repair process, but rather, a file verification tyo ensure that there are no damaged files. A new release has cut down the time significantly. During my review, I tested for this to make sure that it wasn't a repair of 'data corruption' and verified that it wasn't.

[Sean]

That's good to hear; thanks for clarifying.