Test Setup And Firmware Notes
We are using the same testing protocol outlined in our earlier 60 GB SandForce round-up, which focuses on out-of-box performance. If TRIM and garbage collection are working, the performance of a desktop-oriented SSD should remain fairly consistent. We will also cover the other end of the spectrum, and measure the performance during reads and from a “dirty” drive. Performance will always fall between those two extremes.
Firmware Notes:
Since we updated our m4 SSDs to the latest 0309 firmware, we noticed a small benchmark change. Performance in 4K random reads tends to be a little slower at low queue depths. Otherwise, everything is the same as before. This validates Crucial's change log, which suggests that moving from 0009 would have little effect on performance.
Test Hardware | |
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Processor | Intel Core i5-2400 (Sandy Bridge), 32 nm, 3.1 GHz, LGA 1155, 6 MB Shared L3, Turbo Boost Enabled |
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 |
Memory | Kingston Hyper-X 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1333 @ DDR3-1333, 1.5 V |
System Drive | Crucial m4 256 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 0309 |
Tested Drives | Crucial m4 64 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 0309 |
Crucial m4 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 0309 | |
Corsair Performance Pro 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s Firmware: 1.0 | |
Plextor M3 64 GB SATA 6Gb/s Firmware: 1.01 | |
Plextor M3 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 1.02 | |
Plextor M3 Pro 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 1.01 | |
OCZ Vertex 3 120 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 2.15 | |
OCZ Octane 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 1.13 | |
Graphics | Palit GeForce GTX 460 1 GB |
Power Supply | Seasonic 760 W, 80 PLUS Gold |
System Software and Drivers | |
Operating System | Windows 7 x64 Ultimate |
DirectX | DirectX 11 |
Driver | Graphics: Nvidia 270.61 RST: 10.6.0.1002 Virtu: 1.1.101 |
Benchmarks | |
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Iometer 1.1.0 | # Workers = 1, 4 KB Random: LBA=16 GB, varying QDs, 128 KB Sequential |
PCMark 7 | Storage Suite |
HD Tune Pro | v5.0, LBA= Full Span |