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TSSDR TEST BENCH AND PROTOCOL
SSD testing at TSSDR differs slightly, depending on whether we are looking at consumer or enterprise SSDs. For consumer SSDs, our goal is to test in a system that has been optimized with our SSD Optimization Guide. To see the best performance possible, the CPU C states have been disabled, C1E support has been disabled, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST) has been disabled. Benchmarks for consumer testing are also benchmarks with a fresh drive so, not only can we verify that manufacturer specifications are in line but also, so the consumer can replicate our tests to confirm that they have an SSD that is top-notch. We even provide links to most of the benchmarks used in the report.
SYSTEM COMPONENTS
This Test Bench build was the result of some great relationships and purchase; our appreciation goes to those who jumped in specifically to help the cause. Key contributors to this build are our friends at ASRock for the motherboard and CPU and be quiet! for the PSU and cooling fans. Also, a big thank you to Thermaltake for the case and Kingston for the RAM. We have detailed all components in the table below and they are all linked should you wish to make a duplicate of our system as so many seem to do, or check out the price of any single component. As always, we appreciate your support in any purchase through our links!
| PC CHASSIS: | Thermaltake Core V51 |
| MOTHERBOARD: | ASRock Z97 Extreme6 |
| CPU: | Intel Core i5-4670K |
| CPU COOLER: | Corsair H75 |
| POWER SUPPLY: | be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W |
| SYSTEM COOLING: | be quiet! Silent Wings 2 |
| MEMORY: | Kingston HyperX Beast 2400Mhz |
| STORAGE: | Samsung 850 Pro |
| IRST DRIVER: | 13.1.0.1058 |
BENCHMARK SOFTWARE
The software in use for today’s analysis is typical of many of our reviews and consists of Crystal Disk Info, TRIMcheck, ATTO Disk Benchmark, Crystal Disk Mark, AS SSD, Anvil’s Storage Utilities, PCMark Vantage, and PCMark 8. We prefer to test with easily accessible software that the consumer can obtain, and in many cases, we even provide links. Our selection of software allows each to build on the last and to provide validation to results already obtained.
Crystal Disk Info is a great tool for displaying the characteristics and health of storage devices. It displays everything from temperatures, to the number of hours the device has been powered, and even to the extent of informing you of the firmware of the device.
Under Crystal Disk Info we see the NVMe Interface is detected and the transfer mode is properly detected as well. There is a working temperature sensor, read and write attributes, and a few other handy SMART attributes for us to monitor over the life of the drive. The firmware revision we will be testing on today is 57CZ4102, which differs from that of the Toshiba XG3.
We’ve covered TRIMcheck in the past. It is a great tool that easily lets us see if TRIM is actually functioning on a SSD volume in your system.
As can be seen in the screenshot above, TRIM is indeed working.
ATTO Disk Benchmark is perhaps one of the oldest benchmarks going and is definitely the main staple for manufacturer performance specifications. ATTO uses RAW or compressible data and, for our benchmarks, we use a set length of 256mb and test both the read and write performance of various transfer sizes ranging from 0.5 to 8192kb. Manufacturers prefer this method of testing as it deals with raw (compressible) data rather than random (includes incompressible data) which, although more realistic, results in lower performance results.
256GB
512GB
1TB
ATTO reveals speeds that easily meet OCZ’s stated specs. The 256GB model achieved over 2.6GB/s read and over 1.1GB/s write speeds while the 512GB and 1TB models were hitting 2.7GB/s read and over 1.6GB/s write! As indicative of the graphs above, the OCZ RD400’s performance tends to jump quite a bit from the 4KB file size and up and absolutely blow SATA drives out of the water.
One thing I am concerned about with the ocz brand is how reliable they really are vs Intel as had plenty of the ocz die and they didn’t honor warranty.
I got a bad experience with OCZ product. When you hit the compatible issue with you SSD and reported to their forum. They will direct you to seeking help from notebook maker. They will ban your login ID and deleted your comment status and put you into their future request. Never ever buy this brand. Luckily I got two weeks warranty period with newegg. Ended up I return to newegg and bought new SSD from Samsung without any issue plugged into my rig.
You failed to mention the notebook but, when purchasing that notebook the warranty ONLY applied to the notebook and not OCZ whatsoever. It would be the same as you buying a brand new car and then contacting a spark plug manufacturer with an engine problem for assistance. Maybe I am missing something. What compatibility issue are you speaking of with respect to their SSD? Then again, how were you aware that their SSD was even installed in the product?
Looks like you are a paid Samsung fanboy. No need to spread advertised lies here.
Yes. Totally agree with your point of view. Make sure you bought from newegg.com which has one or two weeks warranty. If could not use just return for replacement. Their forum is full of complaints. If users having problem with their SSD and submitted request for solution. At first they will try to solve. If got no solution, they will ask you seeking solution from Vendor like HP, Dell and etc. Further follow up, they just put users away by moving user request to future requests and locked down user from giving comment.
One problem, the highly coveted 1TB model does not appear on that amazon link…plus it’s not up anywhere else. Where I can I order the 1TB RD400?
1TB appears behind the amazon link for me. No one has stock, but they’ll let you order it. I’d call that pretty similar to not being able to order it though 🙂
i see. I was just early…I have a google alert set up for “950 pro 1tb” and when this article first went up, the 1tb was not there…but now it is, but not avail as you said. What’s also a light rub, this price for just the card is $30 more on Amazon and Newegg than the article stated (769 vs the article’s 739).
I looked into purchasing the competing Intel model, and ended up being discouraged by 1) all the reviews said the excellent benchmark performance made for no perceptible difference in actual consumer workloads as compared to more regular SSDs; and 2) it added a ridiculous delay to system boot times, iirc something like 8-10 seconds. Is this drive any different in those respects?
One important point, these M2 cards are not compatible with Intel RST raid controllers, I just brought 2 512GB models and found out the hard way. Also had trouble configuring as a Win 8.1 boot drive and gave up (could have been the MSI Z170A Mpower mainboard).No biggie as I wanted them mainly for games so I just use 1 for steam and the other as a video editing scratch drive. They are super fast without the raid zero config, copying between them the write speed topped out at 1.52GBs!
Last time I was using their new SSD product with HP Elitebook 8570W running Raid 0. It had compatibility issue and pop up blue screen. I logged a report in their Tech Forum. Their forum is full of complaints. If users having problem with their SSD and submitted request for solution. At first they will try to solve. If got no solution, they will ask you seeking solution from Vendor like HP, Dell and etc. Further follow up, they just put users away by moving user request to future requests and locked down user from giving comment. Luckily I got warranty from newegg.com which allow me to swipe with other brand. I later used the Samsung SSD which give me peace of mind. Pls stay away with their product without QC.
I don’t see any mention of this being Mac compatible. Is this a pure Windows oriented site? Thanks in advance.
Hi – does anybody know if a samsung 960 pro would work in the add in card that comes with the ocz rd400
If I remember later, I can check for you. There is no reason that it shouldnt work though because the OCZ M.2 SSD is not tied to that board in any way shape or form. The board should work as a typical adapter PCIe for any M.2.
thanks Les for the replay. hopefully you will have good news later.
the reason i ask the question is that i will be upgrading my pc in oct / nov time frame and until then i want to be able to take advantage of nvme and the only option i have with my current board is to use an AIC card as my board does not have an m.2 slot.
Hi Les
Did you get a chance to check this out
Thanks
Flan
My apologies… busy as heck but I just pulled out the device…what drive did you want me to match it with?
i am hoping to get the 2tb samsung 960 pro but i persume that a test with any 960 pro would work
I plugged my main system into the this and we are now running as the Samsung 960 Pro 2TB SSD set on the OCZ RD400 adapter…as the boot drive. No problem whatsoever. My bench is the ASUS ROG Apex Z270.
Thanks Les Great News – so i will buy the cheapest rd400 since you cannot get the adapter on its own, and then just use the adapter for the samsung 960 pro
How does that went for you Flan ? As far as I know, the AIC cards are mere adapters, as the controller is in the SSD itself, but curiously enough, it depends on bios from Z97 or preferible forward Z170 and Z270 is kinda sure to already have native support since earlier bioses.
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