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TEST BENCH AND PROTOCOL
Our analysis today will be conducted with our Asus Z77 Premium Test Bench. Clicking on any pictures or benchmarks will bring up a more easily viewable high resolution image.
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 todays 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. SandForce controlled SSDs, as in the Intel 335 Series SATA 3 240GB 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.
The results actually present a false portrayal of the drives ability when compared to other drives such as Samsung, Crucial or Intel. It is for this reason that all of our comparison testing is done through PCMark Vantage. PCMark Vantage HDD Suite simply provides evaluation results based on transfer speeds reached through typical user patterns. Vantage provides a better testing medium, in that, it sees through the typical synthetic benchmarks and provides us with true to life results of the drive.
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 Intel 335 Series SSD is capable of TRIM as it is not greyed out, much like AAM. We won’t find much in the way of SMART attributes on this SSD though.
From your comments, it seems like this is equivalent in performance to 330 SSD, but the price in not much lower than current prices… in fact, today the 335 is more expensive on newegg than 330! (how does that happen?)… I am sure it will change. Is there something else I am missing on this SSD that makes it better for consumer? Just asking….
Technology is what makes this SSD so interesting. I must admit that I never expected retailers to actually up the manufacturers suggested listed price. For the most part, 20 nm memory increases the potential value and potential size of solid-state drives. Thanks ahead.
agreed, using 20nm is great. IF the price goes down due to 20nm, then it is interesting. So Intel and Plextor are the only companies with 19nm/20nm SSDs now?
BAD DRIVES – Sorry for OT, but Anandtech tested Intel 335 240GB (IMFT 20nm sync):https://www.anandtech.com/show/6388/i…240gb-review/2
“In a few days, I managed to write a total of 37.8TB to the NAND and during that time, the MWI had dropped from 92 to 79. In other words, I used up 13% of the drive’s available P/E cycles. This is far from being good news. Based on the data I gathered, the MWI would hit 0 after around 250TB of NAND writes, which translates to less than 1,000 P/E cycles.”
Is there a reason for using very old Crystal Disk Info for test? Intels 330 shows the Host Write and NAND Write, I ask whether the 335 also can show that?
The latest version of Crystal Disk Info is only a recent release and we will update for future review. Thanks ahead!