Plextor S2C SSD Review
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Conclusion
Pricing and value-add features are becoming more important as the industry turns once-exciting SSDs into commodity items, but the Plextor S2C lacks a feature that makes it stand out from the other typical low-cost consumer SSDs on the market.
The Plextor S2C doesn't stand out from the crowd on the performance front, and the pricing isn't exceptional, either. The 512GB model we tested retails for $139.99, and many of the comparison products cost less. Some, like the Sk Hynix SL308 and OCZ Trion 150, deliver better performance in more diverse workloads. Plextor does have a hidden feature that we shouldn't overlook, though.
Plextor has an advanced software package that only works on some of its products. The S2C does support the full list, but unfortunately, many users will simply ignore the list. The retail package doesn't cover the extra value-add software features, so you will either need to know about them, or lose out. Many of the software features are available through third-party developers, like the hide-and-seek hotkey that changes the accessibility of user configured folders. DRAM cache is hardly revolutionary, but Plextor did a good job of putting granular control in the hands of the user. That isn't always a good thing, though. The SC2 has a nice free software package, but I don't think I would pay a premium for it.
As an upgrade product, the Plextor S2C isn't an SSDreplacement, but it is a hard disk drive replacement. If you have a desktop or notebook and simply want a low-cost, drop-in performance upgrade, then the S2C is one viable option. The problem comes from other products that are superior in one way or another. If you want the best of everything the 850 EVO is still the default--but it comes at a price premium.
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Chris Ramseyer was a senior contributing editor for Tom's Hardware. He tested and reviewed consumer storage.
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wtfiwin @skoalreaver relax probably just meant what it says.Reply
can't wait to see some QLC or 3D-QLC for mass storage 20TB SSDs. -
Medric it is a pro cause its here but a con because this will start to be standerd; no more 8 channel so you know this could go alot faster than it is but i wont so it sucksReply -
chumly @ChrisReply
I never buy anything except for Samsung SSDs (unequaled performance numbers). However I run them in RAID. I was curious if RAID performance, especially in the real world application (game loads), would take less time or more time. I have never seen a comparison done in the kinds of tests you guys do with storage performance in tandem. I'm curious if it's worth the average person's time to run paired discs vs. unpaired. -
CRamseyer It is a pro and a con. As mentioned above, it is a good thing because we will get lower prices but a con because this type of performance is now the norm. It really all depends on when you jumped on the SSD train. I've been riding along since 2007 and saw performance rise, continue to rise for several years and then suddenly use "tricks" to achieve high levels of performance.Reply
If you only recently used SSDs then the least common denominator method is normal and acceptable.
If your workload requires or uses heavy sequential reads and writes then RAID for performance (RAID 0) is a powerful tool with SATA SSDs. NVMe products are generally fast enough where RAID doesn't deliver the same performance increase. The bottleneck moves away from the storage device and to other areas like the file system. -
HERETIC-1 Hi Chris,Reply
Nice review as always.Wouldn't surprise me if Plextor/Liteon wasn't the OEM
for the Intel 540.
One change I'd have made was-Drop the Crucial lemon from the charts,and
added 750 EVO........................ -
CRamseyer Pricing for the 750 EVO is so hit or miss these days in relation to the 850 EVO. If Samsung could keep it a good 20-25% less we would take it more serious. The difference in the 250GB capacity size right now on Amazon is less than $10. Unless you are digging through the couch to fund the purchase the easy pick between the two is the 850 EVO.Reply -
daglesj 32GB of ram to use the Turbo Feature? Someone didn't bother optimising their software.Reply -
daglesj I'd be intrigued to find out how the old budget fave the Kingston V300 fares against these TLC parts.Reply -
CRamseyer Which version of the V300? I don't know how many exist now but it's a handful of different controller and NAND configurations.Reply
I'm working on a page that will have tests from a bunch of SSDs in very long, organized, charts.