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TEST BENCH AND PROTOCOL
Our analysis today will be conducted with our new Asus Z77 Premium Test Bench.
In testing, our main objective is to obtain results as pure and as accurate as possible and we want to ensure that no anomalies slip through. Simply put, we want to provide you with the absolute best results the tested hardware can provide. Repetition in testing is standard and, if necessary, we may conduct specific tests in Windows 7 safe mode to ensure the OS has little to no influence on the end result.
In order to validate and confirm our findings, testing is supported by industry accepted benchmark programs. All results are displayed through capture of the actual benchmark for better understanding of the testing process by the reader.
We would like to thank ASUS (P8Z77-V Premium
), Intel (Core i7-3770K), Crucial (Ballistix), Corsair (H100) and Be Quiet (PSU/Fans) for supporting the build of our Z77 Premium Test Bench.
BENCHMARK SOFTWARE
The software we will be using for today’s analysis is typical of many of our reviews and consists of ATTO Disk Benchmark, Crystal DiskMark, AS SSD, Anvil Storage Utilities and PCMark Vantage. We rely on these as they each have a way of supporting one another yet, at the same time, adding a new performance benchmark to the total picture. Much of the software is free and can be downloaded simply by clicking on the linked title.
SSD COMPRESSION AND TESTING FLUCTUATIONS
All SSDs are not created equal and many new SSD enthusiasts realize that when they test their new drive to confirm specifications and ensure all is in order. LSI SandForce controlled SSDs, as in the ADATA SX300 SSD we are testing today, use compression techniques in storage whereas many others do not. This creates a bit of confusion when enthusiasts test the drive with random data through benchmarking programs such as AS SSD and Crystal DiskMark. The results seem to be lower than the listed specifications.
For today’s testing, we are using the Renice mSATA to SATA adapter which allows us to test through our Asus Z77 Premium Test Bench. Performance shown here will match the performance seen if this SSD were installed and being tested in today’s SATA 3 notebooks or ultras.
Crystal Disk Info provides some excellent information about the SSD itself to include its health, product information, power on information as well as the characteristics of the SSD. We can see that the SSD is capable of TRIM as it is not greyed out as with AAM.
The important thing to note about this CDI result is that the firmware in use is 5.02. Although not yet available with ADATA, a new firmware has been released by LSI SandForce and should be available soon enough.
How are you able to use Anvil Storage Utilities RC1.
Both RC1 and RC2 have expired and no longer working.
Only RC3 works for me
Not really hard to figure out I am sure…
Change your windows date and it will work just fine 🙂
Not sure if you get notifications for comments in your other reviews, but I was hoping you could shed some light on the differences between this and the MyDigitalSSD drive. I know you could not identify the memory modules on the latter, any progress in that aspect? Other than possibly the memory chips and warranty, do the firmware updates differ? Are there any other things I might have missed?
hi can i know sx300 or m4 128gb is better?
It is simply the point of reading the reviews and making a decision.