Intel SSD 330 Review: 60, 120, And 180 GB Models Benchmarked
Test Setup And Benchmarks
Firmware Notes:
In late April, OCZ released v3.02.06 of its Toolbox software, along with the 2.22 firmware update for the Vertex 3, Vertex 3 Max IOPS, Agility 3, Solid 3, RevoDrive 3, RevoDrive 3 X2 and Synapse lines.
According to the OCZ, the update resolves two specific problems relating to SSD slumber and secure erase, possibly improving performance in some workloads. After updating our 120 GB Vertex 3, however, we were not able to measure any speed-ups. As a result, we elected not to retest all of our OCZ-branded SSDs.
Test Hardware | |
---|---|
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 | OCZ Vertex 3 240 GB SATA 6Gb/s |
Tested Drives | Intel SSD 320 300 GB SATA 3Gb/s, Firmware: 1.92 |
Row 5 - Cell 0 | Intel SSD 320 80 GB SATA 3Gb/s, Firmware: 1.92 |
Row 6 - Cell 0 | Intel SSD 330 180 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 300i |
Row 7 - Cell 0 | Intel SSD 330 120 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 300i |
Row 8 - Cell 0 | Intel SSD 330 60 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 300i |
Row 9 - Cell 0 | Samsung 830 256 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: CXMO |
Row 10 - Cell 0 | Samsung 830 64 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: CXMO |
Row 11 - Cell 0 | Crucial m4 256 GB SATA 6Gb/s Firmware: 0309 |
Row 12 - Cell 0 | Crucial m4 64 GB SATA 6Gb/s Firmware: 0009 |
Row 13 - Cell 0 | OCZ Vertex 3 240 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 2.15 |
Row 14 - Cell 0 | OCZ Vertex 3 120 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 2.22 |
Row 15 - Cell 0 | OCZ Vertex 3 60 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 2.15 |
Row 16 - Cell 0 | OCZ Agility 3 240 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 2.22 |
Row 17 - Cell 0 | OCZ Agility 3 120 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 2.22 |
Row 18 - Cell 0 | OCZ Agility 3 60 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 2.22 |
Row 19 - Cell 0 | Intel SSD 510 250 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 1.22 |
Row 20 - Cell 0 | Intel SSD 520 240 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 400i |
Row 21 - Cell 0 | Intel SSD 520 60 GB SATA 6Gb/s, Firmware: 400i |
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 | |
---|---|
Tom's Hardware Storage Bench v1.0 | Trace-Based |
Iometer 1.1.0 | # Workers = 1, 4 KB Random: LBA=8 GB, varying QDs, 128 KB Sequential |
PCMark 7 | Storage Suite |
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Join the experts who read Tom's Hardware for the inside track on enthusiast PC tech news — and have for over 25 years. We'll send breaking news and in-depth reviews of CPUs, GPUs, AI, maker hardware and more straight to your inbox.
Current page: Test Setup And Benchmarks
Prev Page Inside The SSD 330: A Binned 520? Next Page Benchmark Results: 4 KB Random Performance-
Au_equus I bought this samsung 830 256gb ssd for $390 five-six months agoReply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147164
now its $275 or $1.074/GB. Better price/stability/performance than those listed above. -
phamhlam au_equusI bought this samsung 830 256gb ssd for $390 five-six months agohttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod 6820147164now its $275 or $1.074/GB. Better price/stability/performance than those listed above.Reply
Crucial m4 128GB from Newegg and Amazon @ 124.99. That is less than $1/GB. -
One question, which didn't explained: what Intel SSD is better for SATA 3Gb/sec 320 or 330 series?Reply
-
blazorthon Intel should have used non-SandForce controllers. The Vertex 4 (with the new firmware) shows what Sandforce alternatives are capable of, I hope that Intel's next flagship series does something similarly spectacular without Sandforce. I think that Intel could have used the 330s as a stepping stone to get a controller (such as a Marvell controller) up to Vertex 4-like performance (or better) in more universal workloads than Sandforce for their next flagship series.Reply
On that note, why weren't the Vertex 4s included in this review with the other drives? -
blazorthon EoveinOne question, which didn't explained: what Intel SSD is better for SATA 3Gb/sec 320 or 330 series?Reply
I don't think that it makes much difference at SATA 3Gb/s, but the 330s are faster drives, so they might be marginally better. -
blazorthon chimera201When will the price of SSD come down to HDD level? That would be news.Reply
Probably at least not until a cheaper memory than Flash is used in SSDs, so maybe ten to twenty years, if we're lucky. -
EDVINASM Am not a mad scientist or anything so I have missed something but to me Intel SSD is as good as any others on the market. I wouldn't see any difference in real world scenario between 330 and 520 or Samsung 830 or even M4. Who cares? I don't anyway. Just get the drive that you trust and that has reasonable warranty (3 years +) and good support. Done.Reply -
blazorthon edvinasmAm not a mad scientist or anything so I have missed something but to me Intel SSD is as good as any others on the market. I wouldn't see any difference in real world scenario between 330 and 520 or Samsung 830 or even M4. Who cares? I don't anyway. Just get the drive that you trust and that has reasonable warranty (3 years +) and good support. Done.Reply
Whether or not a part that is faster for your workloads than others and is faster enough to make a difference depends on what you are doing. If I was doing a lot of storage heavy stuff, like constantly downloading and decompressing large archives, then an SSD that can deal with in-compressible data very well would provide very noticeable gains over any SandForce drive or any lower end non-Sandforce drives. -
EDVINASM blazorthonWhether or not a part that is faster for your workloads than others and is faster enough to make a difference depends on what you are doing. If I was doing a lot of storage heavy stuff, like constantly downloading and decompressing large archives, then an SSD that can deal with in-compressible data very well would provide very noticeable gains over any SandForce drive or any lower end non-Sandforce drives.Reply
Fair point. Mind you, if you do that much and it's that important hardly any of standard (consumer grade) SSDs would interest you. Unless you are talking of downloading software and games from questionable sites, then yes - cheap and fast is cheerful.