The SSD Review The Worlds Dedicated SSD Education and Review Resource | 
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, although CPU C States have may or may not have been optimized depending on the motherboard base configuration. 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
Purchased by myself at the end of 2012, this Test Bench build is a little out of date, however, it still has 2 high performing Intel SATA 6Gb/s ports for us to test any SATA 6Gb/s SSD on no issue. All of the components we use for testing and evaluation can be easily purchased at a relatively affordable price. The links provided below can assist in pricing, as well as availability for those of you who may find interest in our equipment.
| PC CHASSIS: | Corsair 650D |
| MOTHERBOARD: | Asus P8Z68-V |
| CPU: | Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.5GHz Quad Core |
| CPU COOLER: | Thermalright Silver Arrow |
| POWER SUPPLY: | Corsair TX650 PSU |
| SYSTEM COOLING: | Cooler Master MegaFlow 200 |
| GRAPHICS CARD: | MSI GTX 660 Ti PE OC |
| MEMORY: | G.Skill Ares DDR3-1866Mhz Memory |
| SOUNDCARD: | Asus Xonar DX |
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 Disk Info, Crystal Disk Mark, AS SSD, PCMark Vantage, and Anvil’s Storage Utilities. In consumer reports, 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.
In the results please note that the MX100 256GB drive will always be on the left while the MX100 512GB will be on the right.
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.
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.
CRYSTAL DISK BENCHMARK VER. 3.0 X64
Crystal Disk Benchmark is used to measure read and write performance through sampling of highly compressible data (oFill/1Fill), or 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.
This drive is an insane value, especially given performance. It’ just too bad, that they won’t offer 1TB version.
Samsung should really update it’s aging 840EVO, because crucial is destroying them 🙂
Performance wise, the 840 EVO actually is competitive compared to this. The drawback is that it is a TLC drive. Even at 16nm, the MLC MX100 will be a better choice (that and it has power loss protection). Judging by the performance, only the 512 GB version seems to fully saturate the controller. Heck, the 512 GB version is about as fast as the M550, which is supposed to be the “performance” version of Crucial’s SSD line. The 256 GB version is slower. I would imagine that the 128 GB version is even slower.
The only thing I wish was a better controller. Marvell 88SS9189 powers this chip. On one hand, it’s a reliable, proven beast. We should not have any hitches on this drive. Usually for those who want reliable, it’s become standard advice on the computer enthusiast forums to wait a few months when a new controller hits the market to make sure that there are no issues. On the other, it’s not the fastest chip around. Write performance isn’t top notch it looks like. I guess at this price point, it’s not possible to get a top of the line chip.
We seem to be seeing the proliferation of enterprise-like features onto consumer SSDs.
This drive offers:
– Power loss protection
– Encryption support
– Some pretty solid data protection features
There have been other “enterprise-like features” on consumer drives.
– The Corsair Neutron GTX’s LAMD controller offered really good sustained write performance – especially in sequential benchmarks
– OCZ’s Vector 150 too seemed to have good performance consistency and judging by the PR around the Vector 180, it seems to be following in delivering enterprise features to enthusiasts
I think that looking forward, the lines between consumer SSD and entry level enterprise SSD are beginning to blur.
I’d love to see a LAMD-like controller with power loss protection, data protection, and offered with premium quality MLC NAND – at consumer prices like this. Judging by how ferocious competition is getting, that may not be far.
> The only thing I wish was a better controller. Marvell 88SS9189 powers
this chip. On one hand, it’s a reliable, proven beast. We should not
have any hitches on this drive. Usually for those who want reliable,
it’s become standard advice on the computer enthusiast forums to wait a
few months when a new controller hits the market to make sure that there
are no issues. On the other, it’s not the fastest chip around. Write
performance isn’t top notch it looks like. I guess at this price point,
it’s not possible to get a top of the line chip.
Actually, Marvell *89 (and 87*) is a wicked fast silicon; so fast in fact, that the fastest drive on sata6gbit is acutally based on the very same controller (or a older revision of that) — Sandisk Extreme PRO.
Its not the controller, that makes the MX100 a lesser performing drive. Its the use of “subpar” NAND and firmware that makes mx100 (and other crucial drives) middlerange at best. But to be honest, its not like someone buying such a drive is gonna notice the difference anyway. Especially writes speeds (which are often criticized). Bulk of workload is reads anyway. There is little use for very fast sequential writes on consumer drives anyway.
Re-reading the Sandisk reviews, you may be right. They do use the same family of controller. Hmm interesting, so it is the NAND that is holding the chip back.
Hmm, this drive might get somewhat faster with newer firmware. But yeah you are right that the 16nm NAND is not that good.
” But to be honest, its not like someone buying such a drive is gonna
notice the difference anyway. Especially writes speeds (which are often
criticized). Bulk of workload is reads anyway. There is little use for
very fast sequential writes on consumer drives anyway.”
It will depend on how the end user uses their SSD.
But I agree that for most consumers, they are mostly doing reads, so read speed will dictate real speed most often. Then again, it’s probably not worth for most consumers paying the premium for something like the Extreme Pro either. For real world stuff, it’s probably not noticeable for most consumers.
I think we are seeing some sort of segmentation like we did for hard drives. Western Digital for example has a “Black” series of drives that are faster, at the expense of cost:capacity, noise, and power consumption.
Higher end SSDs seem to cost about 50-60% more per unit of storage, but offer higher quality NAND.
looks like someone turned off their cstates for once
Yes… we are running a bit of a balancing act on this one, leverage coming from the fact that all new motherboards are optimized with C States off. It is still very funny how little education there really is on the benefits vs vulnerability with C States on or off.
Can the Guide get an update about “C States” ?
It looks like one was planned but I do not see it in the Guide:
https://www.thessdreview.com/Forums/ssd-optimization-guide/2763-altering-c1e-c3-c6-ssd-performance-enhancement-pros-cons-3.html
This HP Guide claims “C States” affect latency due to turboing: https://www.fusionio.com/load/-media-/2ojjak/docsLibrary/Configuring_and_Tuning_HP_Servers_for_Low-Latency_Applications-c01804533.pdf
Thanks.
It’s worth noting that the 256 is actually a 320 drive. With 20% overprovisioning the MX100 performance won’t degrade like a bargain drive with 7%
Ralph-
What do you mean by, “…the 256 is actually a 320 drive…”? When you pop it in, how many GB are available? Could somebody clone a nearly full 320GB HDD (Hard Disc Drive) onto this?
Jim
He meant it’s not 256, you get 220 GB (not 320 wtf) 🙂
Actually, you get 238GiB of useable space 🙂
“Although the total RAW capacity of these SSDs are 256GB and 512GB, usable storage space is only 238GB and 476GB respectively.”
This is incorrect. Usable storage space is still 256GB and 512GB. The 238GB and 476GB is just Windows reporting the available space with the wrong suffix. It should be 476GiB, which is equal to 512GB. You can see it is in fact 512GB, by going into the properties window for the drive and you will see the capacity listed as over 512,000,000,000 bytes.
it’s hard to chose between the samsung evo 250 gb and mx 100. read different reviews on the mx100 that contradict one another. Guess some of these review sites get payed to say something positive or negative insteead of being objective. I have a samsung 830 now and i’m satisfied with it, never failed me. But i need a bigger one now. I like the protection and encryption on mx100. Samsung 840 evo doesn’t have that right? The price of the mx 100 is a bargain, but the writing performance is not great. Yeah single mode is ok, but not mixed workloads. Some give me some advice. Gonna use it for audioproduction
Just go with MX100.
While on paper write performance isn’t all that great, its actually better than EVOs (330 vs 250MB/s) once evo runs out of fake SLC cache.
Powerloss protection, MLC flash and lower price makes it a nobrainer against EVO.
You either get price/GB king or something a lot better (like 850pro or pci-e based solutions). Everything thats inbetween makes little sense, given how much more it costs.
I bought the drive, but Crucial failed to deliver. Got it on sale and even got an order confirmation from Crucial. Didn’t mean anything though, the next day they cancelled my order, telling me if I wanted to buy that drive I still could, but at a much higher price. I might be able to understand that if they hadn’t confirmed my order at the original price, but they did. For unethical companies that’s a bait-and-switch technique (and illegal) not what you’d expect from a company that wants you to think they’re reputable. No way I’d ever buy a product from a company with that much contempt for customers and customer service. If you can get a similar price for a similar product from any other company you’ll be better off. That or hope you never have problems with the product and need customer service. Ever.