The SSD Review The Worlds Dedicated SSD Education and Review Resource | 
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 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
OWC 6G SSD VANTAGE HDD SUITE RESULTS
The OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G 120GB SSD did extremely well in our comparison tests with a overall suite score of 66016 points which puts it just behind the OCZ Vertex 3 and well ahead of the two other recent SATA 3 releases of the Intel 510 and Crucial M4. The peculiar part of the puzzle here is that the OWC drive tested is a 120GB SSD in comparison to the OCZ which is a 240GB SSD and recent discussions that there should be significant difference between the two capacities of SSDs.
Lets see how the OWC Mercury Extreme 6G stands up compared to other SSDs and RAID configurations:
CONCLUSIONS
The Mercury Extreme Pro 6G 120GB SSD is our second taste of the new SandForce SF-2000 series processor and our first evaluation of a 120GB SSD in that footprint. As much as we are going to see other similar releases available soon from several manufacturers, OWC has chosen wisely to get out of the gate quick so as not to get lost in the crowd. We all expect these new releases to hold a premium in purchase and its good to see that OWC has not only stayed in the price range of OCZ, but actually beat their present price point of the 480GB SSD.
With respect to performance, the OWC Mercury Extreme 6G betters 3 RAID 0 configuration results, two of which were conducted with SATA 3 drives and another being the OCZ’ RevoDrive. With 500MB/s transfer speeds now becoming common in a SSD and new SATA 3 laptops on the horizon in both Mac and PC configurations, consumer technology has again jumped leaps and bounds.
There is one small detail that we have held back on that makes the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD a must have and that follows the line of company ethics and reputation. OWC is truly ‘The Little Engine That Could’ ,in that, it is a company that was built from the ground up and, believe it or not, started in the family home garage of the company President, Larry O’Connor. His core values have built a family of employees that truly love their job which has carried on to a reputation of customer service which is hard to match in any industry.
For more information on the G6 and purchase options go directly to their press release or click on the size of interest; 120GB, 240GB or 480GB.
Editors Choice without a second thought! Great job OWC!
Pg1 – Introduction
Pg2 – Bench Configuration & Test Protocol
Pg3 – Initial Benchmarks
Pg4 – HDTune Pro Benchmarks