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.
Comparison Table
Swipe to scroll horizontally
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
Swipe to scroll horizontally
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
Swipe to scroll horizontally
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
Swipe to scroll horizontally
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
Swipe to scroll horizontally
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
Swipe to scroll horizontally
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
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.