Internals, Testing Methodology and System Setup
Internals:
After disassembly:
Standard SSD assembly stuff here.
Front side of PCB shows 8 packages full of 16nm dies, Marvell controller, and necessary DRAM.
8 additional flash packages appear on the back side of the PCB.
A close-up of the controller and near-by components. Extra post lighting was required to make the faint silk screening / etching of the part numbers legible.
Testing Methodology
Our tests are a mix of synthetic and real-world benchmarks. PCMark, IOMeter, HDTach, HDTune, Yapt and our custom File Copy test round out the selection to cover just about all bases. If you have any questions about our tests just drop into the Storage Forum and we'll help you out!
Test System Setup
We currently employ a pair of testbeds. A newer ASUS P8Z77-V Pro/Thunderbolt and an ASUS Z87-PRO. Variance between both boards has been deemed negligible.
PC Perspective would like to thank ASUS, Corsair, and Kingston for supplying some of the components of our test rigs.
| Hard Drive Test System Setup | |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4770K |
| Motherboard | ASUS P8Z77-V Pro/TB / ASUS Z87-PRO |
| Memory | Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR3-2133 CL9 |
| Hard Drive | G.Skill 32GB SLC SSD |
| Sound Card | N/A |
| Video Card | Intel® HD Graphics 4600 |
| Video Drivers | Intel |
| Power Supply | Corsair CMPSU-650TX |
| DirectX Version | DX9.0c |
| Operating System | Windows 8.1 X64 |
- PCMark05
- Yapt
- IOMeter
- HDTach
- HDTune
- PCPer File Copy Test
Tempted I am on upgrading my
Tempted I am on upgrading my 4 year old c300 256 gig sata 6, to these in raid 0 or 2 evos 500 gig models. I feel these are more about reliability then performance.
2 cheap ssds in raid 0 or upcoming sata express ssds.
Does this site have a mobile
Does this site have a mobile version?
Not currently, no, but that’s
Not currently, no, but that's in the works!
What device are you using? What problems did you have with the readability?
One 840 1TB EVO is the same
One 840 1TB EVO is the same price as two of these right now, and the mx100s are on sale.
how about making a nas with
how about making a nas with these badboys.
Not sure that I see much wow
Not sure that I see much wow factor out of this one. All presented models has more or less the same performance.
Only difference with the newer model is probably the reduced cost (still minimal) which is starting to show for all SSD on the market. And the actual die has reduced in size.
For a budget, the 128GB would be my pick. An additional HDD would support additional greater storage for the same cost. All my HDD has outlast all my flash devices.
As for the controller, ain’t the Marvell the same as the Sandforce? My mother board doesn’t like Sandforce controllers.
Which flash devices failed on
Which flash devices failed on you?
I have a c300 data 6 256 gig about 4 and a half years now still performs as day one.
Sata 6 *
Sata 6 *
The failed flash devices were
The failed flash devices were not SSD. However, though they were primarily USB flash devices, the concept is the same. You could blame the poor components, but consumers often don’t have control over that aspect.
One of the devices were replaced without any cost or questions asked as it was still under it’s warranty. Luckily, before it failed, I had a backup made of its contents. Backing up your data to various media is key.
I also have another USB flash device that is 10 years old. I treat it like a travelling floppy disk. The only one that has shown best compatibility among various systems used and shows little symptoms of wear.
Currently, I have another USB flash device which is starting to show a lot of wear. It’s primary cause is due to extreme data writing at low bytes. I have reduced it’s wear by optimizing the tool(software) when it was targeted a the source.
All this is great. I am not suggesting that the technology is a failure, however, when looking at cost and reliability, I prefer to have each of both worlds. From experience, Disc platters can sustain much greater amount of data wear than Flash. As proof, I still have 20 years old HDD, though now it no longer has a purpose due to it’s fading technology.
Hope that clarifies my comment.
Cheers!
There really is no comparison
There really is no comparison on relative reliability of USB flash drives vs. SATA and up SSDs. USB drives are not rated at anywhere near the longevity / usage.
I JUST bought a 240gb M500
I JUST bought a 240gb M500 for $100 last week. Is is worth sending it back in exchange for an MX100 256gb, or am i better off just keeping my M500?
great review allyn 😀 though
great review allyn 😀 though this line really needs a 1tb option.
according to this, yes you
according to this, yes you should exchange it (tho ssds are all pretty fast, and the real-life performance gains may be negligible, so ymmv)
http://techreport.com/review/26532/crucial-mx100-solid-state-drive-reviewed/7
Hi Allyn,
I just read a
Hi Allyn,
I just read a review on http://www.trustedreviews.com. They said,
“the MX100 is at greater risk of the electricity leaks that can effect transistors when they’re packed in such close quarters”, is this true?