14-Way SSD Hard Drive Roundup

Samsung 2.5” 64 GB SSD SATA-2: The Reference

Samsung was one of the first manufacturers that contacted us once we wrote about the flash SSD Hoax. While well-designed flash-based solid state drives are both faster and more efficient than conventional hard drives, the majority of drives available are not (yet). Samsung, in fact, had good reason to submit its latest 64 GB flash SSD to us for review, as it is the only drive that truly combines high performance with amazing efficiency.

We first wrote about OCZ’s 64 GB SATAII SSD in our flash SSD Update instead of the Samsung drive, but mainly because the OCZ product, which is a Samsung white label, arrived at our test lab before the Samsung sample. At the same time, Samsung does not officially sell its Flash SSD at retail, preferring to provide the drives to system builders.

The performance results of the 2.5” 64 GB SSD SATA-2 are very much in line with what we measured for the OCZ 64 GB SATAII SSD, as both are based on the latest Samsung hardware. There is 90 MB/s read and write throughput as well as idle and peak power of 0.2 W and 0.8 W, respectively. I/O performance is acceptable, and application performance is at great levels as well. If you want to get the best flash SSD solution available, this is it.

Samsung’s 64 GB SSD SATA-2 drive provides high performance at superior energy efficiency and, as a result, receives the Best of Tom’s award, along with OCZ’s 64 GB SATAII SSD, which is also based on Samsung hardware.