Crucial BX100 SSD Review (500GB/1TB) – True Value Defined

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 along with C1E support and Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST). 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 Urban T81
MOTHERBOARD:	ASRock Z97 Extreme6
CPU:	Intel Core i5-4670K
CPU COOLER:	Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate
POWER SUPPLY:	be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 850W
SYSTEM COOLING:	be quiet! Silent Wings 2
GRAPHICS CARD:	MSI GTX 660 Ti PE OC
MEMORY:	Kingston HyperX Beast 2400Mhz
STORAGE:	Samsung 850 Pro

BENCHMARK SOFTWARE

The software in use for today’s analysis is typical of many of our reviews and consists of ATTO Disk Benchmark, Crystal Disk Info, Crystal Disk Mark, AS SSD, Anvil’s Storage Utilities, PCMark 8, and PCMark Vantage. 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 VER. 6.3.0

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.

Crystal Disk Info verifies TRIM, NCQ, and DevSleep support. It also shows working temperature sensors and a working total host write counter. There are also a plethora of useful S.M.A.R.T. data counters available to the end user to read.

ATTO DISK BENCHMARK VER. 2.47

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.

ATTO shows that the rating Crucial gave stacks up to the actual values. Read speeds are well over 535 MB/s and write speeds top out at just over 450 MB/s.

CRYSTAL DISK BENCHMARK VER. 3.0 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.

Crystal Mark shows us the 4K write speeds, the 500GB reaching just above 140 MB/s and the 1TB just below 140MB/s. 4K reads average 34MB/s. Both SSDs were also able to each over 550MB/s read and 450MB/s write.

AS SSD BENCHMARK VER 1.7

The toughest benchmark available for solid state drives is AS SSD as it relies solely on incompressible data samples when testing performance.  For the most part, AS SSD tests can be considered the ‘worst case scenario’ in obtaining data transfer speeds and many enthusiasts like AS SSD for their needs. Transfer speeds are displayed on the left with IOPS results on the right.

500GB:

1TB:

The 500GB and 1TB BX100 reach a total score of 991.  Read speeds both reach over 520MB/s and write speeds of 420MB/s. The read IOPS benchmarks did not measure up the rated speeds for the 500GB and 1TB. Both SSDs reach 31MB/s for 4K read and over 120MB/s for 4K write.

During the Copy test both SSDs have very similar performance with the ISO file, but the 1TB is faster with program files and the 500GB is the fastest with game files each with a 30MB differential from each other.

ANVIL STORAGE UTILITIES PROFESSIONAL

Anvil’s Storage Utilities (ASU) are the most complete test bed available for the solid state drive today.  The benchmark displays test results for, not only throughput but also, IOPS and Disk Access Times.  Not only does it have a preset SSD benchmark, but also, it has included such things as endurance testing and threaded I/O read, write and mixed tests, all of which are very simple to understand and use in our benchmark testing.

With a result of 4,391.32 points the 500GB beats out the 1TB overall which achieved 4,375.22 in this test. Looking at 4K performance again, we see that both capacities were able to hit 32MB/s read and over 130MB/s write.

IOMETER

Iometer is an I/O subsystem measurement and characterization tool for single and clustered systems. It was originally developed by the Intel Corporation however, they discontinued work on the program. In 2003 it was re-launched by an international group of individuals who are now continuously improving, porting and extend the product that is now widely used within the industry.

500GB:

1TB:

During our testing of the read IOPS it seems that the 1TB was a bit lower than rated specs, while in contrast, the 500GB has met the rating. However, both of the SSDs have substantially passed their write ratings. The IOPS benchmarks for the 5ooGB model reached 92,472 read IOPS and 80,125 write IOPS, while the 1TB model reached a mere 72,752 read IOPS and 80,380 write IOPS.