Test Settings
| Test-System Configuration | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-920 (2.66 GHz, 8MB Shared L3 Cache) |
| CPU Cooler | Rosewill FORT120 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte X58A-UD7, BIOS F6 (03-11-2010) |
| RAM | Kingston KHX16000D3ULT1K3/6GX (6GB) DDR3-2000 at DDR3-1600 CAS 7-7-7-20 |
| Graphics | Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1GB 725 MHz GPU, GDDR5-4000 |
| OS Hard Drive | Western Digital Velociraptor WD3000HLFS, 300GB 10,000 RPM, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB cache |
| Test Drive | Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB SATA 6 Gb/s |
| USB 3.0 Host | Integrated NEC D720200F1, PCIe 2.0 (x1) |
| Sound | Integrated HD Audio |
| Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
| Power | Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850W Modular ATX12V v2.2, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold |
| Software | |
| OS | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
| Graphics | AMD Catalyst 10.3 |
| Chipset | Intel INF 9.1.1.1020 |
| Benchmarks | |
| h2benchw 3.13 | Sequential and Sustained Reads and Writes (KB/s) Interface Bandwidth (MB/s) and Access Times (ms) |
We wanted the most direct PCIe 2.0 connection to the chipset possible, and got it using an X58 motherboard from Gigabyte. The X58A-UD7 graced our recent high-end System Builder Marathon PC and a full review of the board is forthcoming.
Proven at speeds beyond 300 MB/s, Crucial’s SATA 6 Gb/s RealSSD C300 is the fastest drive we could get our hands on for today’s review.