PCPer File Copy Test
Our custom PCPer-FC test does some fairly simple file creation and copy routines in order to test the storage system for speed. The script creates a set of files of varying sizes, times the creation process, then copies the same files to another partition on the same hard drive and times the copy process as well. There are four file patterns that we used to try and find any strong or weak points in the hardware: 10 files @ 1000 MB each, 100 files @ 100 MB each, 500 files @ 10 MB each and 1000 files at 1 MB each.
Our file creation test rubs some of the SandForce optimizations the wrong way. In practice, the OCZ-tweaked Vertex 3 performs better than the base firmware present on the Corsair Force GT, yet those tweaks cause the Vertex to score lower when creating a large batch of 100MB files. The 520 spiked a bit here, suggesting it is tweaked, yet those optimizations haven’t hit it as negatively in these areas. Not perfect, but a good sign so far.
File copies were in line with other SandForce units.
They command a 20% Price
They command a 20% Price premium vs competitor’s products. not a good buy in my opinion. I just upgraded my system with a 64GB OCZ synapse cache drive. And I am happy and set. BF3 level load fast!
Is it worth upgrading from my
Is it worth upgrading from my 160GB X-25M?
hmm, i dunno. IMO, a SSD
hmm, i dunno. IMO, a SSD upgrade from an SSD is kind of a hard sell 😛 If you have the money and don’t know what else to spend it on, sure it’ll be faster but won’t be as large of a jump in performance as the jump from a hard drive to that X-25M was.
There is a fatal flaw in
There is a fatal flaw in these drives.
If the ATA password is lost there is NO way to reset the drive and it is bricked with no hope!
Unlike other FDE drives, you CANNOT secure erase or reset the password or drive to the factory null state. Worse yet, if you do try to secure erase these drives, the ATA password will be lost and again the drive is dead.
Nobody knows why Intel made this fatal mistake, but they did.