Test Setup, Transfer Diagram
Low Level System Hardware Processor(s) 2x Intel Xeon Processor (Nocona core), 3.6 GHz, FSB800, 1 MB L2 Cache Platform Asus NCL-DS (Socket 604), Intel E7520 Chipset, BIOS 1005 RAM Corsair CM72DD512AR-400 (DDR2-400 ECC, reg.), 2x 512 MB, CL3-3-3-10 Timings System Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar WD1200JB120 GB, 7,200 RPM, 8 MB Cache, UltraATA/100 Mass Storage Controller(s) Intel 82801EB UltraATA/100 Controller (ICH5)Promise SATA 300TX4Promise FastTrak TX4310 Driver 2.06.1.310 Networking Broadcom BCM5721 On-Board Gigabit Ethernet NIC Graphic Subsystem On-Board GraphicsATI RageXL, 8 MB
System Hardware Performance Measurements c't h2benchw 3.6, PCMark05 V1.01 I/O Performance IOMeter 2003.05.10, Fileserver-Benchmark, Webserver-Benchmark, Database-Benchmark, Workstation-Benchmark Performance and Power Measurements IOMeter 2006.07.27, Workstation-Benchmark, Streaming-Benchmark
System Software and Drivers OS Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Service Pack 1 Platform Driver Intel Chipset Installation Utility 7.0.0.1025 Graphics Driver Default Windows Graphics Driver
Efficiency Test Platform Notebook Dell Latitude D630 , Mobile Intel GM965 Express ChipsetCPU Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 (45nm; 2600 MHz, 6 MB L2 Cache)RAM Corsair ValueRAM 2x 2048 MB DDR2-667 SDRAM 5-5-5-15DVD-ROM 8x DVD+/-RW Wireless Intel 4965 WLAN (802.11a/g/n) mini Card Screen 14.1 inch Widescreen WXGA+ LCD (1400x900)Graphics Card Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Sound Card Integrated Power Supply 9-Cell/85WHr Primary Battery
System Software and Drivers OS Windows Vista Ultimate 6.0 Build 6000 SP1 DirectX Version 10 Platform Drivers Intel Version 8.2.0.1014 Graphics Drivers igdumd32.dll (7.14.00.10.1253)
X25-E Transfer Diagram
The X25-E doesn’t provide throughput that’s as steady and controllable as on a hard drive, especially on writes, but the overall performance is still more than impressive. Bear in mind that this isn’t a drive one would buy for its throughput; modern 15,000 RPM hard drives aren’t too far away from these numbers at only a fraction of the cost. The X25-E was made to dominate in I/O performance, as you’ll see on the following pages.
