Our SSD Reviews

PCMARK VANTAGE HDD SUITE We left the best for last as we believe that PCMark Vantage is the gold standard of benchmark evaluations.  The data simply cannot be manipulated and a result is provided based on the transfer speeds observed in eight simulated user activities. This is also a widely accepted opinion held by many reviewers and storage enthusiasts. Through …

Intel took the SSD realm by storm this week with the long awaited release of their first 510 series SATA 3 SSD. Although consumers were anxious for the news, reviewers had to remain tight lipped having received their pre-release sample a day or so prior and being sworn to silence until Intels release date of 29 Feb 11. . We can …

INTERNAL COMPOSITION We almost feel like there should be some type of warning with respect to the pictures below of the PCB, a warning that might assure the reader of photograph authenticity.  The simple truth is that we were left speachless on first observation of the internal SSD components. The Intel 510 Series 250GB SSD is controlled by the Marvell …

CRYSTAL DISKINFO ATTO DISK BENCHMARK V. 2,46 ATTO Disk Benchmark is the quickest and simplest method to determine transfer speeds and utilizes the same test methodology as manufacturers in arriving at performance results.  It simply measures raw seguential transfer speeds for both read and write access at various transfer sizes and produces a very easily understood result.  These results are …

HDTACH V. 3.0.4.0 WIN7 EXPERIENCE INDEX The Win7 Experience Index represents Microsofts method of rating computer systems and, more specific to our usage provides a storage evaluation which provides a rating up to 8 on the PC components and system as a whole.  Our system produce a HDD score of 7.9 out of 8 and, for the first time, we …

PCMARK VANTAGE 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 …

CRYSTAL DISKMARK VER. 3.0.1 X64 (Random Data) This is the basic Crystal test where many go wrong in testing SandForce controlled SSDs.  For the Vertex 3, OCZ lists the maximum write speed to be 525MB/s whereas it is shown here as 292MB/s.  The reader should understand that this result has absolutely no bearing on end performance and is just an …

CRYSTAL DISKINFO VER 3.10.0 ATTO DISK BENCHMARK VER.2.46 As we can see with ATTO results of 552MB/s read and 500MB/s write for high sequential disk transfer performance, specifications are pretty much bang on the money.  ATTO is the best program for testing if one is trying to confirm that their new SSD is in line with manufacturers specifications. CRYSTAL DISKMARK …

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 …

CONCLUSIONS Our opening line in this article was a definition of Goliath as being of colossal power or achievement and, as fitting as it is for this drive with respect to power, the exact same thing can be said of SandForce, a company that wasn’t even known two years ago. To both OCZ and SandForce, this release of the client …