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REAL WORLD TRANSFER SPEED TESTING
For this test, all three PCIe SSDs were compared, as well as the Samsung 840 Pro SATA 3 SSD for a basis of comparison. This test entailed placing 25GB files of video, ISO and data samples, on each drive and then copying them into another folder on the same SSD.
In conducting actual transfer tests of video, ISO and OS files, the Mushkin Scorpion Deluxe PCIe SSD bettered the KingSpec MultiCore, however, was beaten by the Revo 3×2 which had its first true showing in this report. Having the best 4k performance throughout, the Revo 3×2 was a natural for the movement of OS files. Just as a point of interest, the OS files consisted of a total of 38086 files within 34092 folders.
TESTING IN STEADY STATE METRICS – 4 CORNERS
Steady state testing consisted of running four tests for a period of one hour each with our goal being to obtain the absolute best throughput and IOPS possible. For throughput, we started with a 128KB file at 100% read and write, 0% random with four workers at 64 OIO each, and expanded that to a 1GB filesize at 100% read and write with 100% random data. IOPS utilized 4K 100% write 100% random with the same worker setup.
As remarkable as it is that the KingSpec is still capable of hitting that 2.5GB/s mark in steady state, full points have to go to all the PCIe cards for their solid performance.
It was not until seeing the OCZ results in the excel results (and confirming them 5 times) that we remembered that the OCZ Revo 3×2 IOPS specification is 200,000. We were very surprised that it stood up to that after all this time. With respect to the Mushkin Scorpion Deluxe, it easily surpassed the KingSpec MultiCore in write IOPS and met its specification, even while in steady state.
TESTING IN STEADY STATE – SERVER METRICS
Last but not least came our server profiles which are configured to present the drive with more complex workloads tailored to enterprise environments. Most of these profiles are heavy on reads, but with just enough writes to give lesser flash controllers problems.
Although the KingSpec had a healthy jump in Web Server testing, the Mushkin Scorpion Deluxe definitely showed its colors in Database and WorkStation analysis, leading the pack in both.
Were your steady state tests with incompressible data, or fully compressible data which is essentially writing zeros to the drive?
Incompressible for an hour….
We tried to explain individual test makeup in steady state paras and it also varies, depending on server needs.
When you are testing with incompressible data, what actual data type are you picking in Iometer, is it Psuedo Random?
Testing in steady state was done and reported in incompressible. The test methodology was explained Thanks ahead.
Thank you Les! That was one of the best reviews!
Only one thing is missing. Add a second 840 Pro in RAID and let’s see the
battle of the year. Almost same price, same capacity but what about performance?
I’m not expecting two 840pro to Surpass that 2GB/s seq read but what about low 4k write?
I’m sure existing owners of high end ssds like 840p, vector etc. Whould LOVE to know
which is the best upgrade path for their OS drive> one of this beasts or Raid their Drives?
Mike, check the results for this drive once again in steady state. I wasn’t comfortable with such low steady state numbers so the tests were conducted once again with better results that are posted. These results are high sequentials in a 100% random environment.
Thank you for the effort and constant improvement.
Whitelisted the site in adblock btw.
I ordered the 240GB version of the Scorpion DeLuxe earlier this week. This review made me even more excited! 🙂
Great to hear. Similarly just before posting, another e-mailed stating he had just received his and was ecstatic at the performance. Make sure you follow the instructions because this SSD requires a power cable connection.
I’m using an OCZ Revodrive 3 x2. I waited to buy until OCZ patched its firmware problem with the SandForce controller that apparently caused a BSOD. Not had a problem with it and it still super fast. I am not quite ready for an upgrade because it is still so quick, but I am glad to see some competition at last for enthusiast SSDs. Maybe it will force the pace a little for when I am ready to upgrade.
Funny,you test with all compressible data. no wonder its so fast.
Having read your review of the Adaptec 72405 I think the 7805 8-ssd controller with two 1tb disks would make for a very price and performance competitive alternative to the 1920GB Mushkin PCI-e, and it would be scaleable. Based on what you know what’s your take on advantages/disadvantages between the two?
The disadvantage of course might be the caliber of 1TB SSDs that you are putting in there, in accordance to your needs. I don’t think you are price matching any enterprise level SSDs with this. As well, although IOPS might be similar (or even a bit better), you won’t be reaching the throughput of the Scorpion.
when this hits $200, it’s mine!
I wonder what Mushkin could have achieved by utilizing 4x M.2 sticks on this card.
I’ll bet the SATA3 interface of the current sticks is holding back some performance.
Hello Les, its just the average gamer and Windows user, do you think this ssd will make a good system drive for Windows lets say or for storage of games, music, etc? Thanks very much
Yes. This drive has been installed as just that on one of our main systems in fact.
Soooo, why no simple user tests, like loading game levels or file transfers? Also, it appears this card is internally raided, but what happens to benchmarks if it was externally (motherboard or software) raided?
No File Transfers? Read the review please. Thanks ahead.
See ‘Real World File Transfer Testing’ In Report
??? ???? ?????????? ??????? ? ?????????????, ???????? ?? ??? ????????? ? ?????????? ?????? ??? ??????? ?????? ? ????????????? ? ???????? ?? ????? ????? (SSD PCI-E) ????????????.))) ??? ??????? ?????? ?????, ??? ??? ?????? ????? ? ??????????????? OCZ, ???????? ? ???? ?????? ?? ?????????. ??????? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??????.
Exciting drive!
I’d like to see OS boot time comparisons, and how well it does creating a system image to itself and other media like a SATA 3 connected SSD. Does Windows need a clean install, or can you image the Scorpion from another SSD of the same capacity or smaller? For me, money wise, this drive is a big leap, and I hope it would not have issues in day to day use as the main drive.
I’d like to see 4×256 Samsung 840 Pro in RAID 0 competing with this. I don’t think it would make much sense to pay for the 1TB version of the Scorpion.
Would you be using onboard raid? Because the only thing that could come close to these numbers would be a PCIE 8x LSI Raid card….. And then it’s the same thing really just takes up more space.
RAID 0 doesn’t even need an onboard RAID. Software RAID 0 is as good as the most expensive hardware RAID card. Hardware RAID is only useful for parity RAID (5 or 6).
Necroposting to waste other people’s time is not nice.
Uh No
https://augmentedtrader.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/10-things-raid/
https://www.adaptec.com/nr/rdonlyres/14b2fd84-f7a0-4ac5-a07a-214123ea3dd6/0/4423_sw_hwraid_10.pdf
Not only that but the logic is flawed. How pray tell could a combined work load be better than a dedicated load. Now your processor has to work a little harder and those resources are now taken up by software raid. Dedicated cards free up those resources to better be used elsewhere. Now I’m not saying that it doesn’t work, but in mission critical environments there are too many downsides to a software raid. And, to me mission critical includes workstations and gaming hardware. Not only that but so long as you use a single gpu solution you have all of these pci express lanes dedicated to the raid card. Which is a lot better than having to go through a southbridge. Lets not forget either that RAID 0 has the biggest impact on sequential reads and writes. So unless you are a workstation or a highend gamers recording video, real world performance isn’t going to be as noticable beyond boot times. Which still baffles me as to why boot times are a poor mans benchmark……
For low cost software raid is the way to go, but defiantly not for workstations or servers. So low cost sure. But if you are looking for performance then I’ve made my point.
Well, if “to you”, mission critical includes gaming hardware, I’ll leave you with your nonsense right here.
Big words you think of them all by yourself? Should I even defend myself against such stupidity? Guess I just did. Server’s, Firewalls and Routers went without saying. How about thinking before you make an ass of yourself and assume? Oxygen thief.
Thanks both and I believe both points have been stated. We are not in favor of removing posts, yet at the same time, don’t condone lack of respect for opinion.
Fair enough. Great site by they way.
Thank you…appreciated.
Actually, for a single-user, non-enterprise solution there have been tests done to prove that in most cases OS software raid can even outperform HW raid done by websites such as Anandtech. Look it up.
Holy shiz, 2GB/s read/write…
I am assuming you can boot from this SSD?
Of course and I believe we mentioned in the review that it has a very quick boot compared to others.
We elected to trade that for real life transfer and enterprise testing.
Will This Support my Asus Rampage III Extreme Motherboard? the motherboard has 4 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (dual x16 or x16, x8, x8 or quad x8). Also Can i install Windows 7 on it and boot from it? Please help me out. Thanks in advance.
Yes, yes and yes.
I think RAIDR Express will suit your motherboard better
You think so? Asus RaidR express read and write speed is slower. And this one seems faster. I dont mind spending the money for the 480gb Mushkin Scorpion. Will it run fine on my Windows 7 desktop. I want my pc to be super fast. Please let me know. Thanks in advance.
My friend i have this VERY card as our boot drive on the system displayed in this review…which is my main system and I love it…Boots fine but I prefer sleep where starting back up is like a second or two.
After reading your reviews, I want this card so bad. I just don’t want a problem installing this card and later see that my motherboard doesn’t recognize the card in bios setup when installing windows. I usually don’t put my computer to sleep. Its just start and shutdown after using it and restart if i need to.
We have looked at 3 cards now that are the newer ‘plug and play’ type of cards and not had any difficulties whatsoever with installation.
Perfect. So the Mushkin scorpion plug and play. Then i wont have any problem. Thank you for replying so fast. I really appreciate your help.
Just picked up one of these. With Crystalmark I seem to get slightly better results than you on everything bar 4K write which is ~80MB/s. Any idea why that would be?
Amazing !
I really want it, but it seems impossible to find it around the web, no availability at all.
Where to buy suggestion??
I really want to upgrade my mac pro definitely.
Thanks in advance!
I might contact Mushkin….?
I already did, but thanks
I would hold off on buying this card. I just talked to the “God” of enterprise reviews and he says this drive is no bueno. Wait till a real enterprise reviewer runs his testing.
Do you happen to know if the Scorpion Deluxe can be used under Linux OpenSuse?
The Manufacturer lists drivers for some Linux distributions, but OpenSuse is not listed explicitly.
I’m sorry no. Have you tried to contact Mushnin?
I tried to, but they are “currently experiencing technical issues with their phone and support ticket system”…
Too bad, I cant wait to get one of these. Some nice benchmarks by the way, its a pity that manufacturers dont present the performance of their product in detail.
I have the test unit in this main system still; I enjoy it.
Still no feedback at all from Mushkin support and sales
I am beginning to wonder if this is the right kind of company to buy a 2000$ piece of hardware from, no matter how outstanding the performance is apparently.
Have you tested this card in a pci-e 3.0 x4 slot? Is there a difference in performance. I’m using a Z87 motherboard but with two graphics cards (this is a production computer and the duel Nvidia cards are used for CUDA calculations)…with all 3 pci-e 3.0 slots populated the speeds are x8 x4 x4…I would keep the main graphics card in x8, so the Scorpian would be relegated to x4 (but pci-e 3.0…not 2.0).
Anyway, any thoughts on how performance would be compromised?
thanks, and GREAT site you have here.
-Greg
PCI 3.0 in 4x is roughly equivalent to pciE 2.0 8x within a 1% margin. SSD are really the only component that can flood the PCIE lanes and this will definitely do it. Keep in mind that there are other things running on it as well. Intel chipsets like yours have some dedicated lanes to VGA so it should only impact the other things like LAN, SATA, USB, FIREWIRE, Peripherals really. Might I suggest if you are worried about performance impact maybe upgrading to an X79 chipset since it is a production computer.
Its 2.0
https://ark.intel.com/products/75013/Intel-DH82Z87-PCH
Does it work with mac os x?
No, dont use apple rubbish
I see no reason why it wouldn’t work, the card is presented as a logical disk to the OS just like any other HDD in your system. There are no drivers required as it is handled by the bios on the card itself so this will work in any device with a PCI-E slot
don’t use apple! (yes, os doesn’t matter)
Any idea how this drive does running Win8 productivity software? i.e. PCMark 7 or Sysmark?
No, I am sorry but we don’t use PCMark 7 in our testing as it is very confusing for the reader and SYSMark is not a fair evaluation system in our opinion as the exact same system configuration must be present to provide comparable results. Our results may be consistent in our system but would never mean anything to the reader as their system makeup always differs significantly. Our ideal is to provide benchmarks that can be copied and similar results attained.
Hi, Les. That’s a good point about PCMark7/Sysmark. I think many people who would be interested in running this for a desktop/workstation (non-server) would still like to know how fast it will run on win7/8 applications.
How about PCMark Vantage HDD? I’ve seen you run this on other SSD’s, and you wrote that the XP941 was the current champ at 140k. Do you think the Scorpion deluxe would be faster? Or is it optimized more for server loads? Thanks! BTW, love your site.
It is more optimized for server loads which is why we curbed our testing for that direction. Thanks for the comps by the way!
Hackintosh compatible??
Looking for any other reviews of this device aside from this one. This seems to be the only review that I can find 🙁
You would be absolutely correct on that. Is there something else you are looking for? Does the review not answer a particular question?
No, it’s just that I like to get multiple points of view before dishing out large sums of money.
Definitely see your point there!
Do you know if this suport uefi bios
The SSD boots before the UEFI bios into its own bios.
what they don’t tell you is that it increases 30 seconds more to boot time. Just got one and am very disappointed.
You might want to check your installation as it definitely does not addd 30 seconds to boot time. It adds 10 seconds very top while the initial bios boots, something we have mentioned in several PCIe reports.
Thanks for the input and hollar if we can help.
?????? ?????! ?? ???????? ?? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ?????????? Mushkin Scorpion Deluxe PCIe ? ????? ? ??? ???????????
Each SSD contains four modules of Toshiba Toggle Mode MLC NAND flash memory that is not so easily identifiable as normal branding is not present on the face of the SSD. Each package is 32GB in size for a total of 128GB RAW capacity.
Hello I’m working as an editor and i have a Custom mac aka Hackintosh witch i use for editing. I wanted to know if this ssd is working with Hackintosh could u please help me? I’m having i7 3770k and Asus P8h77-v le motherboard. and I’m using mavericks 10.9.5
I see no reason why it wouldn’t work, the card is presented as a logical disk to the OS just like any other HDD in your system. There are no drivers required as it is handled by the bios on the card itself so this will work in any device with a PCI-E slot.
I know this is really old. but does the card take any blade ssd. Like could you use a newer 1tb and put 4 in to end up with 4tb 2GB/s? Also have you spoke to the maker do they plan to make a pci3 maybe with 8 plugs to match the 8x controler? These are barley bigger than the pcie slot. I am sure they could get 8 connections stepped like laptop ram does and still have room to spare for air flow.
for less than 16kb, my benchmark shows this working slower than a normal sata ssd. It’s only after 16kb that it shows better numbers.
Can you boot to Windows 10 with it?
I’m looking for the card by its self, or any low cost 4 slot m.2 card (without the m.2’s installed). Thanks for any help…
I have the Mushkin Scorpion 1920 GB PCIe SSD. Bought is back in 2014. One of the 4 SSDs is bad. I am trying to find a replacement and remove the bad one. The SSD is a SandForce 2281 VB4-SPC.
This is an old apple SSD with 6 + 12 pin configuration. I can’t seem to find one to buy. Do you know where I might buy one? It would be 512 GB.
Not on EBay.