Plextor M5S 256GB SATA 3 SSD Review – True Speed Through and Through

BENCHMARK PROTOCOL AND THE TEST BENCH

This is our new Intel Z77 Test Bench. A quick click on the photo will give you a better look.

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 Intel, Corsair, Patriot, OCZ, and Be Quiet, for sponsoring components of our Test Bench.

BENCHMARK SOFTWARE

The software we will be using for today’ analysis is typical of many of our reviews and consist 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.

CRYSTAL DISK INFO VER 3.9.3

Crystal Disk Info provides some excellent information about the SSD itself to include its health, operating temperature, product information, power on information as well as the characteristics of the SSD. In the case of the Plextor M5S, their isn’t a great deal of the SMART information available but this could only be expected from any value minded product.

CDI provides relatively few details with respect to SMART attributes but the software does confirm that TRIM is functioning as well as identifying the number of times it has been powered on and the number of hours in service