SanDisk X210 256 And 512 GB: Enthusiast Speed; OEM Reliability

Results: Performance Vs. Capacity

I really like HDTune Pro. It's a decent canned storage test full of helpful tools. The utility is great for evaluating hard drives, though a little less relevant to SSDs. The software's most prominent feature is its ability to write and read to the entire surface of a storage device. When you're testing rotating media, it's easy to observe speed dropping from the outer to inner tracks. That's just physics. With SSDs, the "surface" is the entire capacity, minus over-provisioning or spare area, and isn't directly mappable to a physical location.

Now, there are good reasons to use HDTune in SSD reviews. But there are notable limitations to be aware of as well. Most strikingly, HDTune writes in easily compressible zero-fill data, which isn't particularly useful for testing SandForce's technology. Also, I want more control over how the utility does its job. So, I created my own script-based version to do what I need.

Starting with a freshly erased drive, I write to the entire capacity and display my results as a percentage of the capacity. I separate the 256 and 512 GB SSDs into sequential chunks 1/200th of their total capacity. Then, each segment's average throughput is displayed as a data point representing 0.5% percent of the "surface".

This is what a 1 MB write across the entirety of the accessible LBA range looks like on the two X210s. With the write immediately preceded by the read, we get a sense of any peculiarities that SanDisk's drives might be trying to hide. We already knew what to expect based on early work with similar configurations, though: brutal and proficient speed at every position. Standard fare for most SSDs these days, with just a few exceptions.

  • vertexx
    I logged onto Tom's this morning totally expecting a Kaveri review. What's up?
    Reply
  • TeraMedia
    Is the warranty 5 years or 3? Last page says one thing, an early page says another.Decent review, decent drives. Has THG considered doing something similar to what the car mags do, where they take certain products and use them for a year? It would be great to capture that kind of longer-term info on certain types of products, especially the kind that wear out (ODDs, fans, cases, HDDs, SSDs, etc.).
    Reply
  • Quarkzquarkz
    What about Samsung SSD pro 512GB? I bought 2 of these and on that chart is only 128 and 256GB
    Reply
  • vmem
    @vertexxthere isn't anything particularly exciting about Kaveri going by Anand's review. I shall want for the A10 version with higher clocks
    Reply
  • smeezekitty
    MLC with 5k write endurance!And affordable and fast?We may very well have a new solid contender in the SSD world
    Reply
  • eklipz330
    anandtech has one? sweeeet, later tom's!
    Reply
  • RedJaron
    I agree with Chris. I don't need the fastest bench speeds in a SSD. Most models now are very fast and the user won't see the performance difference. I want reliability and longevity. Looks like this is a smart choice for any new builder.
    Reply
  • Phillip Wager
    sweet finally another company that can compete with intel's 5 year warrenty!
    Reply
  • jake_westmorley
    Can we PLEASE have some normal graphs for once? The graph on page 5 in stupid 3D is so bad it's comical. The "perspective" effect completely screws with the data. This has zero added value and is almost as bad as still using clipart.
    Reply
  • Duff165
    I find it hard to believe that the author has had "literally dozens of SSd's die" on him over the years. This would suggest that many systems have contributed to the demise of many of the SSD's being used, which seems somewhat outlandish. Just the cost factor involved in the purchase of so many SSD's and then having over a dozen of them fail, supposedly also from various companies, since if they were all from the same company it would not really be conducive to good sales. One, or maybe two I could live with, but dozens? No.
    Reply