Our consumer storage test bench is based on Intel's Z77 Platform Controller Hub paired with an Intel Core i5-2400 CPU. Intel's 6- and 7-series chipsets are virtually identical from a storage perspective. We're standardizing on older RST 10.6.1002 drivers for the foreseeable future.

Updates to the RST driver package occasionally result in subtle performance changes. They can also lead to some truly profound variance in scores and results as well, depending on the revision. Some versions flush writes more or less frequently. Others work better in RAID situations. Builds 11.2 and newer support TRIM in RAID as well. Regardless, results obtained with one revision may or may not be comparable to results obtained with another, so sticking with one version across all testing is mandatory.
| Test Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2400 (Sandy Bridge), 32 nm, 3.1 GHz, LGA 1155, 6 MB Shared L3, Turbo Boost Enabled |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte G1.Sniper M3 |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1866 @ DDR3-1333, 1.5 V |
| System Drive | Intel S3500 480 GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: 0306 |
| Drive(s) Under Test | Adata SP920 1024 GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: MU01 |
| Adata SP920 512GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: MU01 | |
| Adata SP920 256 GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: MU01 | |
| Adata SP920 128 GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: MU01 | |
| Comparison Drives | Crucial M550 1024 GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: MU01 |
| Crucial M550 512 GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: MU01 | |
| Intel SSD 730 480 GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: L2010400 | |
| Samsung 840 EVO mSATA 120 GB, Firmware: EXT41B6Q | |
| Samsung 840 EVO mSATA 250 GB, Firmware: EXT41B6Q | |
| Samsung 840 EVO mSATA 500 GB, Firmware: EXT41B6Q | |
| Samsung 840 EVO mSATA 1000 GB, Firmware: EXT41B6Q | |
| SanDisk X210 256 GB, Firmware X210400 | |
| SanDisk X210 512 GB, Firmware X210400 | |
| Intel SSD 530 180 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: DC12 | |
| Intel SSD 520 180 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 400i | |
| Intel SSD 525 180 GB mSATA, Firmware: LLKi | |
| SanDisk A110 256 GB M.2 PCIe x2, Firmware: A200100 | |
| Silicon Motion SM226EN 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: M0709A | |
| Crucial M500 120 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: MU02 | |
| Crucial M500 240 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: MU02 | |
| Crucial M500 480 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: MU02 | |
| Crucial M500 960 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: MU02 | |
| Samsung 840 EVO 120 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: EXT0AB0Q | |
| Samsung 840 EVO 240 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: EXT0AB0Q | |
| Samsung 840 EVO 480 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: EXT0AB0Q | |
| Samsung 840 EVO 1 TB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: EXT0AB0Q | |
| SanDisk Ultra Plus 64 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: X211200 | |
| SanDisk Ultra Plus 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware X211200 | |
| SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware X211200 | |
| Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware DXM04B0Q | |
| Samsung 840 Pro 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware DXM04B0Q | |
| SanDisk Extreme II 120 GB, Firmware: R1311 | |
| SanDisk Extreme II 240 GB, Firmware: R1311 | |
| SanDisk Extreme II 480 GB, Firmware: R1311 | |
| Seagate 600 SSD 240 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: B660 | |
| Intel SSD 525 30 GB mSATA 6Gb/s, Firmware LLKi | |
| Intel SSD 525 60 GB mSATA 6Gb/s, Firmware LLKi | |
| Intel SSD 525 120 GB mSATA 6Gb/s, Firmware LLKi | |
| Intel SSD 525 180 GB mSATA 6Gb/s, Firmware LLKi | |
| Intel SSD 525 240 GB mSATA 6Gb/s, Firmware LLKi | |
| Intel SSD 335 240 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 335s | |
| Intel SSD 510 250 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: PWG2 | |
| OCZ Vertex 3.20 240 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 2.25 | |
| OCZ Vector 256 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 2.0 | |
| Samsung 830 512 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: CXMO3B1Q | |
| Crucial m4 256 GB SATA 6Gb/s Firmware: 000F | |
| Plextor M5 Pro 256 GB SATA 6Gb/s Firmware: 1.02 | |
| Corsair Neutron GTX 240 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: M206 | |
| Graphics | MSI Cyclone GTX 460 1 GB |
| Power Supply | Seasonic X-650, 650 W 80 PLUS Gold |
| Chassis | Lian Li Pitstop |
| RAID | LSI 9266-8i PCIe x8, FastPath and CacheCade AFK |
| System Software and Drivers | |
| Operating System | Windows 7 x64 Ultimate |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Drivers | Graphics: Nvidia 314.07 RST: 10.6.1002 IMEI: 7.1.21.1124 Generic AHCI: MSAHCI.SYS |
| Benchmarks | |
|---|---|
| ULINK DriveMaster 2012 | JEDEC 218A-based TRIM Test |
| Tom's Hardware Storage Bench v1.0 | Trace-Based |
| Iometer 1.1.0 | # Workers = 1, 4 KB Random: LBA=16 GB, varying QDs, 128 KB Sequential, 8 GB LBA Precondition, Exponential QD Scaling |
| PCMark 7 | Secondary Storage Suite |
| PCM Vantage | Storage Suite |
- Adata's SP920: Quite Literally, A Familiar Face
- A Primer: The Art Of The Platform, SMART, And You
- Test Setup And Benchmarks
- Results: Sequential Performance
- Results: Random Performance
- Results: Tom's Hardware Storage Bench v1.0
- Results: Tom's Hardware Storage Bench v1.0, Continued
- Results: TRIM Testing With ULINK's DriveMaster 2012
- Results: Power Consumption
- Adata SP920: Adding Value With A Nice Bundle
The X210 is pretty awesome, but newer Marvell implementations are built with Haswell-style power features in mind. If you're looking for a drive to use in mobile applications, mind the heat and power consumption stats.
Regards,
Christopher Ryan
I have to say, the plastic or metal chassis a drive comes in doesn't mean much. In the lab, I like a nice heavy metal SSD casing, but in a laptop? You probably want a flimsy plastic chassis. It's not conductive and doesn't add much weight.
Regards,
Christopher Ryan
I agree that a substantial chassis tends to reinforce the perception of a drive's build quality, but much of the time its aesthetic. The component choice on the PCB speaks more to quality. I've seen some downright terrible drives in the fanciest of cases.
Regards,
Christopher Ryan
Impressive ... power consumption is a bit high though, compared to the Samsung 120GB Evo (my current $80 fav)
Are 'microseconds' considered 'milliseconds' ??
Case in point. I read ADATA had released driver updates back in February. I have a SX 900 64G I use for benchmarking. After downloading and running the 525 FieldUpdater it was obvious that no matching driver was included in the newly released 525 driver update package I had downloaded despite the SX 900 being on the list.
I emailed tech support and didn't receive a reply for 7 days despite the confirmation of receipt stating a response would come in 1 to 3 days. I did get a reply after a posting the issue to their Facebook page in which I was told "Please see the attached for the signature file you needed for the firmware update as it took us some time to obtain it from our headquarters"
Indeed a matching 525 FieldUpdater driver had been included in this email and I installed it.
The result was something to see, erratic and downright wonky, come to mind. A malfunction in the installation I presumed and so I downloaded the ADATA software suite SSD Tool which wouldn't and couldn't Security Erase the disk. Parted Magic was then installed and did the job allowing me to clean reinstall the driver I'd been emailed and hopefully resolve the erratic performance issue. In part it resolved erratic reads and writes but now every ATTO write above the 128k mark had lost 40% of its performance capability from the benchmarks using the previous driver.
Support were emailed including ATTO screen captures, and their response was to send it back for replacement.
_Wait a minute just sent me the old driver I stated in my response
Can't "After consulting with our headquarters, it’s confirmed that once the firmware is updated, it cannot be removed or fallback to the older version".
Having no choice I hinted that as this debacle had originated with them that an upgrade from 64G would be an appropriate compensation for the enormous waste of time, and additional costs I was incurring.
The disk was packaged and insured then sent to ADATA for a cost of 20$ and it should be noted that locally this additional $20 represented the retail difference between a 64G and a 128G capacity.
Tracking informed me ADATA received the disk in 5 days and later confirmed by them. Once the 3 to 5 days turn over stated by them came and passed and on day seven a status inquiry was sent and 6 hrs later, confirmation a package to me had been put in the hands of mail services.
That was March 21 and I received the disk 11 days later April 1st in my snail mail box no signature required (a less scrupulous person could easily exploit that).
The round trip experience total is six weeks with a dollar output of over 20% of the sticker price the disk was purchased for. Total time wasted on their error, fiddling with downloads installing and removing ADATA brand software that didn't accomplish the required tasks (additionally the Acronis suite that was packaged with the drive never successfully completed the key transaction on their site) research, installations removal... ya'll get the picture.
Does the SX 900 perform well/competitively... all the published reviews and accompanying benchmarks hold true, so yes it's a cracker even in the 64G capacity.
Would I recommend it?
Only to a tech masochist with tons of time to waste as well a a few bucks.
Now you have a more complete picture.
Impressive ... power consumption is a bit high though, compared to the Samsung 120GB Evo (my current $80 fav)
Are 'microseconds' considered 'milliseconds' ??
Remember (at least for idle) that these are active numbers. That is, the drive and host aren't collaborating to put the drive in a lower power state. In a mobile application, most every SSD is going to drop to lower sleep-state levels, but at the cost of higher latency when returning to idle. For the sake of consistent testing we choose to use active idle.
Did we mix up our units somewhere?
Regards,
Christopher Ryan
I disagree. I actually like seeing the authors chime in. I think it builds a better community as the authors seem more accessible and thus reliable and relatable.
I also don't think Christopher Ryan is trolling in the strictest definition of the word; He's not trying to stir things up for the sake of starting a post war. He's simply continuing to give his opinion and replies in threads. Why should they not be able to make comments on articles they've written? It is expected that any knowledge they can impart to the community is considered of value, regardless if it's in the original article or in the comments section. I think there's also a potential consideration where maybe they have more to share, but due to time constraints or simply available space, they didn't say all they really wanted. So they chime in in the comments section. Kinda like the "extras" on a DVD or BR... "Oh, Director Commentary. Cool!"
I disagree. I actually like seeing the authors chime in. I think it builds a better community as the authors seem more accessible and thus reliable and relatable.
I also don't think Christopher Ryan is trolling in the strictest definition of the word; He's not trying to stir things up for the sake of starting a post war. He's simply continuing to give his opinion and replies in threads. Why should they not be able to make comments on articles they've written? It is expected that any knowledge they can impart to the community is considered of value, regardless if it's in the original article or in the comments section. I think there's also a potential consideration where maybe they have more to share, but due to time constraints or simply available space, they didn't say all they really wanted. So they chime in in the comments section. Kinda like the "extras" on a DVD or BR... "Oh, Director Commentary. Cool!"
I'm making an effort to try and encourage more discussion, which means becoming more active in the comment section. Previously, I tended to let them be. Now, I think I can increase the utility of the comments section over time by more active participation.
As someone who used to read and post comments on Tom's as a reader, I always thought it was awesome that I had a place where I could interact with the author. I want to see more of that with my reviews, so my participation is the best way to make that happen.
Regards,
Christopher Ryan
mSATA SSDs are still using the SATA 3.1 host spec, as are most M.2s. There are a few M.2 PCIe SSDs, but there are currently next to no applications for them. We have more M.2 and mSATA reviews on the way, so you should be able to judge for yourself.
Regards,
Christopher Ryan