Intel SSD 310 80 GB: Little Notebooks Get Big Storage Flexibility
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Page 1:Notebooks: One Drive Only?
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Page 2:Meet Intel's SSD 310: Like X25-V, Only Smaller
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Page 3:mSATA: Completely New
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Page 4:Test Setup
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Page 5:Benchmark Results: I/O Performance
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Page 6:Benchmark Results: Iometer Streaming
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Page 7:Benchmark Results: CrystalDiskMark Streaming Performance
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Page 8:Benchmark Results: 4 KB And 512 KB Random Reads
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Page 9:Benchmark Results: 4 KB And 512 KB Random Writes
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Page 10:Benchmark Results: PCMark Vantage Storage Test
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Page 11:Benchmark Results: Mobile Performance
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Page 12:Benchmark Results: File Transfer Performance And Power Consumption
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Page 13:Final Words
Test Setup
| Test Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2500K (Sandy Bridge), 3.3 GHz, LGA 1155, 8 MB Shared L3, Power-savings enabled |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-H67MA-UD2H |
| Memory | Kingston Hyper-X 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1333 @ DDR3-1333/1066, 1.5 V |
| Hard Drive | Intel X25-M 160 GB SSDSA2M160G2GC, SATA 3Gb/s (System Drive) |
| Kingston SSDNow 100 V+ 120 GB SVP100S2/128G, SATA 3Gb/s | |
| OCZ Agility 2 120 GB OCZSSD2-2AGTE120G, SATA 3Gb/s | |
| Seagate Momentus 5400.6 500 GB ST9500325AS, SATA 3Gb/s | |
| OCZ Vertex 2 120 GB OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G, SATA 3Gb/s | |
| Intel SSD 310 80 GB SSDMAEMC080G2, SATA 3Gb/s | |
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics 3000 |
| Power Supply | Sparkle 1250 W, 80 PLUS |
| System Software And Drivers | |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit |
| DirectX | DirectX 11 |
| Graphics Driver | Intel Display Driver 8.15.10.2266 |
| Benchmarks | |
|---|---|
| Performance Measurements | CrystalDiskMark 3.0 x64, set to read and write random data to drive PCMark Vantage 1.0.2.0 |
| I/O Performance | IOMeter 2008.08.18, default configuration, not reading/writing random data File server Benchmark, Web server Benchmark, Database Benchmark, Workstation Benchmark Streaming Reads, Streaming Writes 4 KB Random Reads, 4 KB Random Writes |
While the mSATA can't be natively plugged into a SATA port, we have a interposer card that converts the mSATA interface to the standard seven-pin SATA connector. This does not create any sort of bottleneck, as mSATA still utilizes native SATA signaling.
Update: If you have been paying attention to the news, you already know about the SATA degradation problem in the H67 and P67 chipsets. We want to remind everyone that the problem only affects the 3 Gb/s ports. We're only testing on the 6 Gb/s ports here, so our results are unaffected.
Summary
- Notebooks: One Drive Only?
- Meet Intel's SSD 310: Like X25-V, Only Smaller
- mSATA: Completely New
- Test Setup
- Benchmark Results: I/O Performance
- Benchmark Results: Iometer Streaming
- Benchmark Results: CrystalDiskMark Streaming Performance
- Benchmark Results: 4 KB And 512 KB Random Reads
- Benchmark Results: 4 KB And 512 KB Random Writes
- Benchmark Results: PCMark Vantage Storage Test
- Benchmark Results: Mobile Performance
- Benchmark Results: File Transfer Performance And Power Consumption
- Final Words
Been rocking an SSD for about a year now, and there is no going back to mechanical drives, SSD for the laptop segment makes even more sense. I think most of us however would like to see price drops a bit faster though, my 120GB OCZ Vertex Turbo cost me over 500 dollars.
I believe the last report I read mentioned close to 60% of all SSD purchases are mobile related. SSDs can really mark up a notebook's price, so I'm right there with you on prices. We need price drops, more of them, and in quicker succession.
Cheers,
Andrew Ku
TomsHardware.com
We have fast, extremely fast drives but at prices that touch the sky, wouldn't it be better to just have loaded or embedded the OS straight onto the mobo.... cheaper until it's capable of handling the high data flow rates offered by SSD... yet not being able to saturate the SATA flow rates or capacities.....
History has been made. SSD's are finally starting to hit a dollar/GB. Keep those prices dropping!
My Steam folder alone is 437GB. I have another 100GB+ on non steam games also. Then add my OS and etc.
I currently enjoy the faster speeds of 4x500 RAID 0 with the OS on a 1TB. I would actually be running 8x500GB RAID 0 if my case was large enough, and my graphics card weren't so large (blocks 2 slots).
How does Toms feel about doing a showdown between $500 of modern HDD vs $500 of modern SSD? With and without a dedicated controller.
I know for my next build I don't know whether I want 4x 3TB or a 3TB with 2-3x SSD or 3x 3TB with a single small SSD, or is it better to go with, say, 8x 1TB or 4x 3TB in either RAID 0, 10, 5, 6, 50, 60 etc.
So, if I would have to choose between old-school 500GB HDD, overkill 256GB SSD, or just simple 60-128GB SSD + external 2.5" HDD for a laptop, I'd go with the last one.
It is all relative. I have a 256GB SSD on my m15x laptop and I can tell it boots slightly faster then my desktop but loads apps about the same. My desktop has 2 velociraptors stripped 0 raid. I have no complaints with the desktop but would I like to replace the raptors with SSD's? Of course but it makes more sense to start with mobile since it really helps more on that.
Yes but that is AFTER a $75 mail in rebate. Computer companies are not good with rebates, the last time I sent in a batch of them I received half of them back. I wouldn't want to gamble on a rebate that is 60% of the final cost of the product. And that is the old generation of Kingston drive, probably a closeout because they have new versions on the market now.
I think you have to figure almost $2 per Gb to get a quality drive with good performance, and that is after searching for sales.
Reliability is still questionable though. The reliability ratings for good hard drives are still much higher than they are for SSD's.
I have 3 laptops that need upgrades so I really do need to see some big price drops.
That's AFTER rebate. Read the not-so-fine print. It's $180 before rebate. It's not really the same thing as saying prices are almost at 1$/GB. The $/GB is still getting better, but not by as much as most were hoping. I think SSD prices will gradually get lower from the spring to the fall, where I would expect them to take a more significant dive in relative cost. You see some good deals, but nothing crazy good. If you want a relatively spacious drive you will still have to pay for it. Its not going to get really cheap out of nowhere. The Intel x25-V is still about the same price, and the same speed as it was at launch. A 60GB SF drive is still round $120, the same price as the 60GB Idilinx drives they replace. SSDs are still way better and cheaper than they were 2 years ago. Just don't expect any miracles any time soon.
What if I am traveling and I want to throw a few blu-rays (25-30gb each)from my media center to my netbook to watch on the plane/in the airport etc... I know you can use an external drive and all that, but it is a pain to get it out and have it wired to your setup while you are on the go.
The point is, it will be awesome when we can have a 40 or 80 GB SSD for OS/apps along with a hard drive for media in ultraportable devices...
Im really excited about these new mSATA devices that intel is producing. I just purchased a HP Pavilion dm1z netbook based on AMD's Fusion APU and it looks like it has an open SATA in addition to the HDD, although I have not been able to find out if it supports mSATA...if anyone knows it would be awesome to post it here...
Well, I guess if the Samsung and Toshiba products that preceded it don't count. And in Tomshardwareland, anybody who buys a Macbook Air must not be "the masses"...
Well, of course, a future hybrid solution would be optimal, since dragging that external drive is a pain for all of us, but that's wishful thinking about the rosy future rather than an option right now and here. So either live with your slow HDD, overpay for huge SSD, or endure the agonizing pain of standing in line for check-in, baggage drop, security check, boarding, getting into your seat, and those never-ending additional 60seconds of attaching your dedicated "Movies/music&other junk" ext-HDD.
Besides, watching raw Blu-Rays on an everyday laptop while on a plane is like listening to FLAC or raw PCM through a gramophone or your phone speaker.
The 40 GB version of this device can be had for $100 (albeit a bit slower). How much does a decent external drive cost? 40-50 bucks at the minimum? I would rather have one of these and keep the 320GB HDD in the laptop. Then you get speed and capacity--for what a $50 premium? Hybrid solutions like this are imminent,not too far off in the rosy future. And .mkv playback sounds rather IMHO nice on a decent pair of headphones.
I have no desire to re-encode my entire blu ray collection (i ripped them in native format for optimal quality and to serve as a true backup) using a dual core Athlon II chip just so it will fit on a SSD.
I'm not trying to start a war here; mostly im agreeing with the point of the article, and that is a hybrid solution will be the next big step in mobile computing. The point I was trying to make is that needing more than 128 GB is not so "un-average" these days: I'm not a serious gamer, nor a professional graphics/video/content creator etc. But by the time you use up the space required by windows 7, your software suit, 7-8GB of music etc...etc...etc...its not as uncommon to use up 120GB of space.
The Dell M4400 (15.6" screen) and other dell models allow for removing the CD-ROM drive (no tools required) and replace with a second hard drive or battery. So a 750 GB Western Digital mechanical drive is also in my Laptop.
The finishing touch is a 48 GB File-Mate (Win-Tec) PCI-Express SSD Card that I use for running Virtual PC's. Total of 3 "spindles" in a 7 pound Laptop.
This is for sure a High End setup, but the replacement for the CD-ROM drive is $50 plus the drive you add, everyone can get 750 GB extra for under $150. The enclosure is available for most Dell Latitude and Precision Laptops.
The article complained that two manufacturers produced non-standard devices using miniPCIe connectors, but did not explain why they thought they needed to do this. It complained that the market was fragmented, but adding yet another 'standard' using the same connector seems to also fragment the market. As the article points out in the Lenovo specs, it confuses the market since the connections look the same.
The article showed a diagram where the pink PCIe/SATA signal conversion is either on the motherboard or on the card. In theory, this would mean the motherboard is more expensive with mSATA, and the SSD is more expensive with miniPCIe.
But it seems like that is not the case on the SSD side: mSATA SSDs are currently more expensive than miniPCIe SSDs. Since miniPCIe SSD drives are cheaper, some people are claiming to save money by modifying/rewiring the connections on the miniPCIe SSD so they work in mSATA sockets.
So why not use miniPCIe instead of mSATA ? What did I miss?
(I hope there is a technical rationale I've missed. Or is this simply an industry marketing maneuver to fragment the market so each card is less of a commodity, and drive up profits?)