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 | Samsung 850 Pro 128 GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: EXM01B6Q |
| Samsung 850 Pro 256 GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: EXM01B6Q | |
| Samsung 850 Pro 1024 GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: EXM01B6Q | |
| Comparison Drives | Plextor M6e 256 GB M.2 PCIe x2, Firmware: 1.00 |
| Plextor M6S 256 GB SATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: 1.00 | |
| Plextor M6M 256 GB mSATA 6 Gb/s, Firmware: 1.00 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 T60 |
| 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 | DM2012 v980, JEDEC 218A-based TRIM Test, Protocol Test Suite |
| Test Specific Hardware | SAS/SATA Power Hub, DevSlp Platform |
| Tom's Hardware Storage Bench v1.0 | Intel iPeak Storage Toolkit 5.2.1, Tom's Storage Bench 1.0 Trace Recording |
| Iometer 1.1.0 | # Workers = 1, 4 KB Random: LBA=16 GB, varying QDs, 128 KB Sequential, 16 GB LBA Precondition, Exponential QD Scaling |
| PCMark 8 | PCMark 8 2.0.228, Storage Consistency Test |
| PCMark 7 | Secondary Storage Suite |
- Samsung 850 Pro SSD: Introducing V-NAND
- Inside Of Samsung's 850 Pro
- How We Tested Samsung's 850 Pro
- Results: 128 KB Sequential Read And Write
- Results: 4 KB Random Read And Write
- Results: Tom's Hardware Storage Bench v1.0
- Results: PCMark 8's Expanded Storage Testing
- Results: TRIM Testing With DriveMaster 2012
- Testing The DevSlp Power State With Some New Gear
- Results: Power Testing
- Results: Latency And Performance Consistency
- SATA Is Maxed, But The 850 Pro Still Pushes Faster
I don't know if this really changes anything for you. Two EVOs are still going to be better than one 850 Pro in [most] every way. But I understand the sentiment!
Christopher Ryan
You just ordered a few hours ago. Just cancel your order if you really want this 850 Pro.
I can guarantee that in 10 years you won't own that drive anymore.
Can you test on an AMD platform which makes it easier to over clock that bus and some of the connected components?
I don't know if this really changes anything for you. Two EVOs are still going to be better than one 850 Pro in [most] every way. But I understand the sentiment!
Christopher Ryan
Not quite. One is for my Desktop, the other is for my Father's Desktop.
For my Desktop, I'll be stepping up from 2x OCZ Vertex 2 60GB in RAID 0. Hope it'll be worth it...
I don't know if this really changes anything for you. Two EVOs are still going to be better than one 850 Pro in [most] every way. But I understand the sentiment!
Christopher Ryan
Not quite. One is for my Desktop, the other is for my Father's Desktop.
For my Desktop, I'll be stepping up from 2x OCZ Vertex 2 60GB in RAID 0. Hope it'll be worth it...
That would be to give more room for the sidebar adverts.
But the limit has now been reached in almost every way.
Which solution will stick? Anyone care to guess?
I disagree. SATA Express melds the convenience of SATA and pcie performance. With NVMe and Gen 3 PCIe, I think there WILL be much to like.
Christopher Ryan
I'd rather start seeing IOPS crank up to RAM levels.