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CRYSTAL DISK INFO VER. 8.17.8 X64
Crystal Disk Info is a great tool for displaying the characteristics and health of storage devices. It displays everything from temperatures, the number of hours the device has been powered, and even to the extent of informing you of the firmware of the device.
We wanted to include our Crystal DiskInfo result of the Seagate Ultra Portable because we noticed that TRIM wasn’t specifically listed as a feature. Although TRIM itself isn’t necessary as garbage collection would take care of things, we wanted to explore this a bit as it just isn’t the norm in today’s SSD storage. For anyone interested, we posted a great article authored by Kent Smith way back in 2012 that provides a great understanding of the difference between TRIM and GC that remains valid to date. With respect to this SSD we were able to confirm that TRIM works both through DOS commands (fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify) and our Windows 11 Optimize Drives utility:
Now for some speed tests… An important consideration with respect to whether you might reach these speeds is whether your Type-C connector on your laptop or PC is USB 3.2 Gen 3 (10Gbps) and capable of data transfer over 1000MB/s.
UPDATE – We reached out to Seagate with respect to our question as to whether TRIM was supported as it does not appear to be an identified feature on our crystal Disk Info result. We received the following statement, ‘ TRIM is not supported on the Ultra Compact SSD, as it is a SATA command. However, the Ultra Compact SSD supports UNMAP.’ Our Result above displays TRIM as functional because UNMAP performs the exact same function as TRIM for SCSI disks.
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.
Data transfer rates in ATTO are 993MB/s read and 975MB/s write which are just below listed specifications. Also a great indicator of a solid device are the gradual speed progression results as data sample size increases.
CRYSTAL DISK BENCHMARK VER. 8.0.4 x64
Crystal Disk Benchmark is used to measure read and write performance through sampling of random data which is, for the most part, incompressible. Performance is virtually identical, regardless of data sample so we have included only that using random data samples.
TxBench is one of our newly discovered benchmarks that we works much the same as Crystal DiskMark, but with several other features. Advanced load benchmarking can be configured, as well as full drive information and data erasing via secure erase, enhanced secure erase, TRIM and overwriting. Simply click on the title for a free copy.
REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
Having completed out testing of the Seagate Ultra Compact SSD, a number of things became apparent in addition to the great performance of over 1000MB/s read and write data transfer shown above. This device is very well constructed and the fact that it is of a single piece of aluminum is great. 3-metre drop assurance along with IP54 dust and water resistance is key, remembering of course that this is tied into the silicon sleeve and cap being on the device. There are plenty of comparable drives available, however, none seem to combine the small size, structure and speed of the Seagate Ultra Compact Portable SSD.
A consumer confidence note perhaps is that we don’t even compare similar products unless they have a reputable brand name. There are simply too many fly by night companies that use sub-standard components, only to result in data loss sooner than later. Two things we might like to see would have been data protection software along with a lower price point. Great product and worth the investment!
CHECK SEAGATE ULTRA COMPACT SSD PRICING AT AMAZON
