Tom's Hardware's Summer Guide: 17 SSDs Rounded Up
Features
By
Patrick Schmid and Achim Roos
Published
Which SSD should you buy today? Seventeen flash-based drives battle across a benchmark suite that include throughput, I/O performance, consistency, power consumption, efficiency, and the best overall bang for the buck. The time is right to upgrade.
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Comparison Table
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| Manufacturer | Asax | Asax | Crucial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family | Leopard Hunt II | Server One 120 | RealSSD C300 |
| Model Number | TS25M64 SSD | Row 1 - Cell 2 | CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 |
| Capacity | 128 GB | 200 GB | 64 GB |
| Other Capacities | 16, 32, 64, 256 GB | 50, 100, 400 GB | 128, 256 GB |
| Flash Type | MLC | MLC | MLC |
| Controller | Indilinx | SandForce | Marvell 88SS9174-BJP2 |
| Form Factor | 2.5" | 2.5" | 2.5" |
| Interface | SATA 3Gb/s | SATA 3Gb/s | SATA 6Gb/s |
| Cache (MB) | 64 MB | N/A | 128 MB |
| NCQ | yes | yes | yes |
| Height | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm |
| MTBF | N/A | N/A | 1 200 000 h |
| Operating Temperature | 0-85°C | 0-85°C | 0-70°C |
| Specified Idle Power (low-power) | 0.50 W | N/A | 0.09 W |
| Measured Idle Power (low-power) | 0.48 W | 0.99 W | 0.13 W |
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| Manufacturer | Crucial | Crucial | G.Skill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family | M225 | RealSSD C300 | Phoenix |
| Model number | CT256M225 | MTFDDAC256MAG-1GAES | FM-25S2S-100GBP1 |
| Capacity | 256 GB | 256 GB | 100 GB |
| Other Capacities | 64, 256 GB | 128 GB | 120 GB |
| Flash Type | MLC | MLC | MLC |
| Controller | Indilinx | Marvell 88SS9174-BJP2 | SandForce SF-1200 |
| Form Factor | 2.5" | 2.5" | 2.5" |
| Interface | SATA 3Gb/s | SATA 6Gb/s | SATA 3Gb/s |
| Cache (MB) | 64 MB | 128 MB | N/A |
| NCQ | yes | yes | yes |
| Height | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm |
| MTBF | 1 000 000 h | N/A | 2 000 000 h |
| Operating Temperature | na | 0-70°C | 0-70°C |
| Specified Idle Power (low-power) | 0.48 W | 0.09 W | N/A |
| Measured Idle Power (low-power) | 0.39 W | 0.60 W | 0.74 W |
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| Manufacturer | G.Skill | Intel | Intel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family | Phoenix Pro | X25 | X25-M 34 nm |
| Model Number | FM-25S2S-120GBP2 | X25-V | SSDSA2M160G2G2 |
| Capacity | 120 GB | 40 GB | 160 GB |
| Other Capacities | 60, 240 GB | 80, 160 GB | 80 GB |
| Flash Type | MLC | MLC | MLC |
| Controller | SandForce SF-1200 | PC29AS21BA0 | PC29AS21BA0 |
| Form Factor | 2.5" | 2.5" | 2.5" |
| Interface | SATA 3Gb/s | SATA 3Gb/s | SATA 3Gb/s |
| Cache (MB) | N/A | 32 MB | 32 MB |
| NCQ | Yes | Yes | yes |
| Height | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm |
| MTBF | 2 000 000 h | 1 200 000 h | 1 200 000 h |
| Operating Temperature | 0-70°C | 0-70°C | 0-70°C |
| Specified Idle Power (low-power) | N/A | 0.08 W | 0.06 W |
| Measured Idle Power (low-power) | 0.71 W | 0.19 W | 0.06 W |
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| Manufacturer | Kingston | OCZ | OCZ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family | SSDNow-V | Vertex 2 | Vertex 2 |
| Model Number | SNV-425 | 100GB - OCZSSD2-2VTX100G | 120GB - OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G |
| Capacity | 128 GB | 100 GB | 120 GB |
| Other Capacities | 30, 64 GB | 50, 200, 400 GB | 60, 240, 480 GB |
| Flash Type | MLC | MLC | MLC |
| Controller | JMicron JMF618 | SandForce SF-1200 | SandForce SF-1200 |
| Form Factor | 2.5" | 2.5" | 2.5" |
| Interface | SATA 3 Gb/s | SATA 3 Gb/s | SATA 3 Gb/s |
| Cache | 64 MB | N/A | N/A |
| NCQ | yes | yes | yes |
| Height | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm |
| MTBF | 1 000 000 h | 2 000 000 h | 2 000 000 h |
| Operating Temperature | 0-70°C | 0-70°C | 0-70°C |
| Specified Idle Power (low-power) | 0.70 W | 0.50 W | 0.50 W |
| Measured Idle Power (low-power) | 1.40 W | 0.55 W | 0.52 W |
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| Manufacturer | OCZ | OWC | RunCore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family | Vertex | Mercury Extreme SSD | Kylin II |
| Model Number | OCZSSD2-1VTX120G | OWCSSDMXE100 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| Capacity | 120 GB | 100 GB | 100 GB |
| Other Capacities | 30, 60, 250 GB | 50, 200,400 GB | N/A |
| Flash Type | MLC | MLC | MLC |
| Controller | Indilinx | SandForce SF-1200 | SandForce SF-1200 |
| Form Factor | 2.5" | 2.5" | 2.5" |
| Interface | SATA 3Gb/s | SATA 3Gb/s | SATA 3Gb/s |
| Cache (MB) | 64 MB | N/A | N/A |
| NCQ | yes | yes | yes |
| Height | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm |
| MTBF | 1 500 000 h | 1 000 000 h | 1 000 000 h |
| Operating Temperature | 0-70°C | 0-70°C | N/A |
| Specified Idle Power (low-power) | 0.47 W | 0.55 W | N/A |
| Measured Idle Power (low-power) | 0.47 W | 0.60 W | 0.64 W |
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| Manufacturer | Toshiba | Western Digital | Solidata |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family | HG2 | WD SiliconEdge Blue | K5 |
| Model Number | THNS256GG8BBAA | SSC-D0256SC-2100 | K5 SLC Flash SSD |
| Capacity | 256 GB | 256 GB | 64 GB |
| Other Capacities | 64, 128, 512 GB | 64, 128 GB | 16, 32, 128 GB |
| Flash Type | MLC | MLC | MLC |
| Controller | Toshiba T6UG1XBG | JMicron JMF618 | Indilinx |
| Form Factor | 2.5" | 2.5" | 2.5" |
| Interface | SATA 3 Gb/s | SATA 3 Gb/s | SATA 3 Gb/s |
| Cache (MB) | 128 MB | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| NCQ | yes | yes | yes |
| Height | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm | 9.5 mm |
| MTBF | 1 000 000 h | 1 400 000 h | 2 000 000 h |
| Operating Temperature | 0-70°C | 0-70°C | 0-70°C |
| Specified Idle Power (low-power) | 0.07 W | 0.60 W | 0.50 W |
| Measured Idle Power (low-power) | 0.06 W | 1.00 W | 0.44 W |
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