Intel Optane SSD 900P Review (480GB) – Understanding Disruptive Technology

CRYSTAL DISK BENCHMARK VER. 5..5.0 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.

This test is where the Intel Optane SSD 900P starts to really show off.  As much as the high sequential results of 2.7GB/s read and 2.2GB/s write are falling in line, the results we see in the next two columns below that are solid.  Looking at the 4K result, we are seeing an 8x performance increase at 339MB/s 4k read, whereas we might normally see 40MB/s.  The low 4K write performance of 314MB/s is also something we have never seen in prior tests.

AS SSD BENCHMARK VER 1.9

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although the 4K read and write throughput result is once again very strong, IOPS of 619K read and 499K write are extremely healthy results.

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.

Anvil typically will give us just a bit lower throughput results which is no surprise but seeing IOPS over 500k is great for the Optane SSD 900P.

PCMARK VANTAGE X64 HDD SUITE

The SSD Review uses benchmark software called PCMark Vantage x64 HDD Suite to create testing scenarios that might be used in the typical user experience. There are eight tests in all and the tests performed record the speed of data movement in MB/s to which they are then given a numerical score after all of the tests are complete. The simulations are as follows:

• Windows Defender In Use
• Streaming Data from storage in games such as Alan Wake which allows for massive worlds and riveting non-stop action
• Importing digital photos into Windows Photo Gallery
• Starting the Vista Operating System
• Home Video editing with Movie Maker which can be very time consuming
• Media Center which can handle video recording, time shifting and streaming from Windows media center to an extender such as XBox
• Cataloging a music library
• Starting applications

INTEL SSD 900P 480GB NVME VANTAGE RESULTS

PCMark Vantage displayed impressive results with a high transfer speed of 1.8GB/s and all eight tests were above the 1GB/s data transfer speed threshold.  With a score of 341422, this may be the highest consumer SSD result we have had to date.