60/64 GB SSD Shootout: Crucial, Samsung, And SandForce

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It's easy to forget that lower-capacity SSDs are also usually slower. Today we're testing the most prolific 60/64 GB configurations to gauge where they fall in the big picture. We emerge at the other end with a recommendation based on our testing, too.

Benchmark Results: Storage Bench v1.0 And PCMark 7

As always, we're turning to PCMark 7 and our own Storage Bench v1.0 to help us examine storage performance.

All four low-capacity SSDs fall into the same ranking order in our Storage Bench chart above and PCMark 7 results below.

Samsung’s 64 GB 830 leads the pack by a wide margin in our trace, nearly besting the 128 GB Crucial m4 that previously earned our Recommended Buy award, thanks to its emphasis on sequential transfers.

The 60 GB drive armed with a SandForce controller and synchronous ONFi-compatible NAND follows closely behind the 64 GB m4, and you can clearly see just how much performance switching to asynchronous signaling costs the architecture. That’s basically half of the Samsung drive's performance.

In PCMark 7, the gap between all four low-capacity drives closes, as the 60 GB SandForce-based SSD with asynchronous NAND is only 42% slower than the 64 GB Samsung 830. This narrower range is the result of Futuremark giving more weight to random transfers. Given the 10 bucks separating all four drives, the Samsung offering looks mighty tempting right out of the gate.

Andrew Ku
43 Comments Comment from the forums
  • GhosT94
    what about ocz vertex 3 ?
    Reply
  • acku
    GhosT94what about ocz vertex 3 ?Read page 2.

    Cheers,
    Andrew Ku
    TomsHardware.com
    Reply
  • Wow. Absolutely wonderful article. I did second guess my decision on SSD for my next build for a few. But honestly I'm just using it as a boot drive.
    Reply
  • acku
    kixofmyg0tWow. Absolutely wonderful article. I did second guess my decision on SSD for my next build for a few. But honestly I'm just using it as a boot drive.
    Glad to hear that!

    Cheers,
    Andrew Ku
    TomsHardware.com
    Reply
  • xtreme5
    gr888888!
    Reply
  • rossi004
    Ok, so I have the whole SSD for boot, HDD for storage and less intensive programs, but I have a practicality question:

    Is there a way to have files and programs automatically downloaded, installed, and run from the HDD without doing it manually every time if I have the SSD as the base drive?
    Reply
  • james_1978
    rossi004Ok, so I have the whole SSD for boot, HDD for storage and less intensive programs, but I have a practicality question:Is there a way to have files and programs automatically downloaded, installed, and run from the HDD without doing it manually every time if I have the SSD as the base drive?
    You can move your personal folders to your HDD (my documents, my music, downloads, ...), so downloads will end up there automaticaly, but programs will go to your C drive (SSD) by default.
    Reply
  • james_1978
    james_1978You can move your personal folders to your HDD (my documents, my music, downloads, ...), so downloads will end up there automaticaly, but programs will go to your C drive (SSD) by default.Ok, sorry, but actually you can move your program files by editing the registry:
    Moving only user files is far easier nevertheless, just using "move" in the folder properties...
    Reply
  • james_1978
    james_1978Ok, sorry, but actually you can move your program files by editing the registry:Moving only user files is far easier nevertheless, just using "move" in the folder properties..."Add an url" didn't quite work for me :-)
    http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/6643-63-windows-boot-drive-user-files-program-files-normal
    Reply
  • Soul_keeper
    nice article

    Worth mentioning, plextor PX-M3S are micron based and use toggle nand
    I don't think they make a 64GB version however
    Reply