In this roundup we examine the performance of three SSDs from Corsair, Zalman, and Kingston. The results should be interesting as they have different controllers, capacities, and prices.
March 24, 2011 by Lawrence Lee
|
Product
|
Corsair Force F180 180GB SSD |
Zalman S Series 128GB SSD
|
Kingston SSDNow V+100 96GB SSD |
|
Sample Supplier
|
Corsair | Kingston Technology | |
|
Street Price
|
US$385 | US$230 | US$165 (bare version) |
In this roundup, we examine the performance of three SSDs from Corsair, Zalman, and Kingston. The drives are similar in that they all support TRIM, carry three year warranties and list 1,000,000 hours as the MTBF. However they use different controllers, offer different capacities, and sell at different prices. They distinguish themselves in different ways, whether it be real world performance, energy efficiency, and/or noise — yes, one of them is clearly audible, at least on the test bench.
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|
Corsair Force F180 180GB
The Corsair Force series is built around the ever popular SandForce 1200 controller found in the OCZ Vertex 2/3, OCZ Revo, G.Skill Phoenix series and numerous others. The SandForce controller uses sophisticated compression techniques to reduce the amount of data that needs to be read/written, boosting performance in the process. However for data that is already compressed, as much data tends to be (images, music and videos in particular), it may actually be slower than competition. With a capacity of 180GB, it isn’t a cheap drive either, costing close to US$400.
 The Corsair Force F180 180GB SSD. |
Product Details: Corsair Force F180 180GB CSSD-F180GB2 (from the product web page) |
|
|
Features
|
|
| Latest generation SandForce controller and MLC NAND flash for fast performance | |
| TRIM support (O/S support required) | |
| No moving parts for increased durability and reliability and quieter operations over standard hard disk drives | |
| Decreased power usage for increased notebook or netbook battery life | |
| 2.5″ form factor for your portable computer needs | |
| Included 2.5″ to 3.5″ bracket for installation on your desktop computer | |
| Three Year Warranty | |
|
Specifications
|
|
| SSD Unformatted Capacity | 180 GB |
| Sequential Read/Write (using ATTO Disk Benchmark) | 285 MB/s sequential read — 275 MB/s sequential write 50K IOPs (4K aligned) |
| Interface | SATA 3Gb/s |
| Technology | High-reliability MLC NAND flash |
| Form Factor | 2.5 inch |
| DRAM Cache Memory | none |
| Weight | 80g |
| Voltage | 5V ±5% |
| Power Consumption (active) | 2.0W Max |
| Power Consumption (idle/standby/sleep) | 0.5W Max |
| S.M.A.R.T. Support | Yes |
| Shock | 1500 G |
| MTBF | 1,000,000 hours |
Zalman S Series 128GB
Zalman is a newcomer to the SSD market, or rather storage in general, being primarily a case, cooling, and accessory manufacturer. They have two lines of SSDs, the N Series, yet another that features a SandForce controller, and the S Series which uses a JMicron JMF616 controller. The components are enclosed with a typical brush metal housing with one twist: a mini-USB port that makes it both an internal and external drive.
Perhaps more interesting than Zalman’s jump into the storage game is the lack of enthusiasm they’ve managed to not pump into this launch. The product page on their website briskly list the features and specifications of the drive, but there’s no extra documentation or even marketing blurbs to be seen. It seems like Zalman is simply looking to get in on the action without putting out much of an effort.
 The Zalman S Series 128GB SSD. |
|
Product Details: Zalman S Series 128GB
SSD0128S1 (from the product web page) |
|
|
Features
|
|
| Optimized for AHCI Mode | |
| Support Win7 Trim Command | |
| JMicron Technology | |
| Ultra fast start-up and access speed | |
| Reliable | |
| Silent and low power operation | |
| ROHS Compliant | |
| Shock Resistance and Anti-Vibration | |
| Dual Interface with SATA II & Mini-USB 2.0 | |
| 128MB DDR2 Cache Buffer | |
|
Specifications
|
|
| Sequential Read | Up to 260MB/S |
| Write Performance | Up to 210MB/S |
| Controller | JMicron |
| NAND Flash | MLC Intel |
| Current (mA) | Write, Max/Min/Avg.: 688/441/614 Read, Max/Min/Avg.: 360/205/330 Idle Mode: 213 Suspend Mode (uA): <0.1 |
| Watt | Write, Max/Min/Avg.: 3.440/2.210/3.070 Read, Max/Min/Avg.: 1.800/1.030/1.650 Idle Mode: 1.070 Suspend Mode (uA): <0.5 |
| MTBF | 1,000,000.00 hours |
| Voltage | DC 5.0V _ 5% |
| ECC Function | 16 Bit / 512 Byte |
| Endurance | 10,000 Program/Erase Cycles |
| Operating Temperature | 0°C ~ 70°C |
Kingston SSDNow V+100 96GB
Kingston is a major SSD players, with their SSDNow series being particularly long-lived, having gone through several revisions already. The V series is their value line, composed of the V100 using a JMicron JMF618 controller, and the V+100, which is powered by a Toshiba T6UG1XBG controller. One of the main features of this controller is a low-level garbage collection function that works independently of the operating system. According to AnandTech, the garbage collection is unusually aggressive which will wear out the drive’s cells faster, but keeps performance very close to that of a mint drive. The garbage collection function has one other advantage, it makes it a great fit for operating systems that lack TRIM support like Windows XP. It is not a coincidence that the Toshiba controller is also found in SSDs offered by Apple as their current version of OS X also lacks TRIM capability.
 The Kingston SSDNow V+100 96GB. |
The V+100 housing appears to be sturdier than its competitors, heavy with a rough weathered texture. At approximately 130 grams it weighs twice as much as the Zalman and Corsair drives. Obviously the internals don’t account for this weight difference as a PCB with a few NAND Flash chips aren’t particularly hefty.
|
Product Details: Kingston SSDNow V+100 96GB SVP100S2B/96GR (from the
product web page) |
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|
Features
|
|
| Innovative – Uses MLC NAND flash memory components. | |
| Silent – Runs silent and cool with no moving mechanical parts. | |
| Shock Proof – No moving mechanical parts so the SSD handles rougher conditions. | |
| Supports S.M.A.R.T functions | |
| Guaranteed – 3 year legendary Kingston warranty, 24/7 tech support | |
|
Specifications
|
|
| Form Factor | 2.5″ |
| Interface | SATA 1.5 Gb/sec. and 3.0 Gb/sec |
| Capacities* | 64GB, 96GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
| Dimensions | 69.85 x 100 x 9.5 mm |
| Weight | – 128 – 151 grams |
| Storage temperatures | -40 – 85°C |
| Operating temperatures | 0 – 70°C |
| Vibration operating | 2.7G |
| Vibration non-operating | 20G |
| Sequential Read Throughput** | 230MB/s |
| Sequential Write Throughput** | 180MB/s |
| Power specs | 3.6 W (TYP) Active / 0.05 W (TYP) Idle |
| MTBF | 1,000,000 Hrs |
| * Please note: Some of the listed capacity on a Flash storage device is used for formatting and other functions and thus is not available for data storage. As such, the actual available capacity for data storage is less than what is listed on the products. For more information, go to Kingston’s Flash Guide at www.kingston.com/Flash_Memory_Guide. ** Speed may vary due to host hardware, software and usage |
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EXTRAS
Few manufacturers offer their SSDs bare with nothing but the drive, and none of are samples are an exception (though there is a slightly cheaper version of the SSDNow V+100 with nothing but the drive in a plastic clamshell).
 Corsair offers the simplest of the three packages, including just a metal 3.5″ to 2.5″ drive adapter. |
 The Zalman S Series drive ships with a USB cable to use its mini-USB port built directly on the chassis. The cable has two heads suggesting that the drive may use more power than a typical SSD. |
 The Zalman also had a blue activity LED under the label. |
 Our Kingston sample was part of a retail upgrade kit with 3.5″ to 2.5″ metal brackets, SATA data and power cables, a disc with cloning software, and an external hard drive enclosure with USB cable. |
 The enclosure is composed of thin, cheap plastic and has a simple release latch for opening/closing. It’s a bare bones housing that doesn’t even require screws to put together. |
 The enclosure has a pleasant blue activity light. |
TESTING
Our samples were tested according to our standard
hard drive testing methodology. As of mid-2008, we have been conducting most acoustics tests in our own 10~11 dBA anechoic chamber, which results in more accurate, lower SPL readings than before, especially with <20 [email protected] SPL. Our methodology focuses specifically on
noise, and great effort is taken to ensure it is comprehensively measured
and described. Performance is covered only lightly, for reasons discussed in detail in the methodology article.
Two forms of hard drive noise are measured:
- Airborne acoustics
- Vibration-induced noise.
These two types of noise impact the subjective
perception of hard drive noise differently depending on how and where the drive
is mounted.
Both forms of noise are evaluated objectively and
subjectively. Airborne acoustics are measured in our anechoic chamber using a lab reference
microphone and computer audio measurement system. Measurements are taken at a distance of one meter from the top
of the drive using an A-weighted filter. Vibration noise is rated on a scale
of 1-10 by comparing against our standard reference drives.
Summary of primary HDD testing tools:
- IOMeter – I/O
subsystem measurement and characterization tool for single and clustered systems.
It is used as a benchmark and troubleshooting tool. - HD Tune Pro
– Benchmarking tool for storage devices and used to check/set Automatic Acoustic Management. - SPCR’s Audio Audio
Recording/Analysis system using SpectraPlus
and other utilities - SPCR Anechoic Chamber
- Custom-built HDD power
measurement and Vibration test tools
Performance Test System:
- AMD
Athlon II X4 630 processor – 2.8 GHz - Gigabyte
GA-MA785GM-US2H motherboard – 785G chipset - DDR2 Memory – 2 x 2GB DDR2-800
- Microsoft
Windows 7 Ultimate operating system – 64-bit
Performance Test Tools:
- Call
of Duty: World At War – PC game - Far
Cry 2 – PC game - ESET NOD32
– anti-virus scanner - ExactFile –
file integrity verification tool - TrueCrypt
– file/disk encryption tool - 3DMark06 –
3D benchmarking tool - Cyberlink PowerDVD
– Video player
Benchmark Details
- Boot: Time elapsed from pressing the power button to the desktop with all system tray icons loaded (minus the average time to get the “loading Windows” screen, 16 seconds)
- COD5: Load time for “Downfall” level.
- Far Cry 2: Load time for initial screen plus one level.
- ExactFile: Creating a MD5 check file of our entire test suite folder.
- TrueCrypt: Creating a 8GB encrypted file container.
- 3DMark06: Install time, longest interval between prompts.
- PowerDVD: Install time, longest interval between prompts.
- Small File Copy: Copy time for 1,278 files ranging from 10KB to 4MB
in size (HTMLs, JPEGs and MP3s). - Large File Copy: Copy time for 4 files, 2 x 700MB and 2 x 1400MB
in size (AVIs).
A final caveat: As with most reviews, our comments
are relevant to the samples we tested. Your sample may not be identical. There
are always some sample variances, and manufacturers also make changes without
telling everyone.
Ambient conditions at time of testing were 10~11 dBA and 21°C.
Real World Performance
A Windows 7 image loaded with our test suite was cloned to a 50GB partition
at the beginning of each drive and our entire
test suite was run start to finish 3 times. A reboot and defragmentation
was performed in between runs for mechanical hard drives.
Average times were collected for comparison.
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Load times were very similar for the three drives, with the Zalman eking out a small victory offer the F180 and V+100.
 |
The V+100 and S Series drives were very impressive in our application performance tests, coming in second and third respectively to the OCZ RevoDrive, which has a pair of SandForce controllers in RAID on a PCI-E 4x bus. The F180 was less impressive, though it did manage a minor victory over the Vertex 2.
 |
In our file copy tests, the Zalman S Series led due to superior large file performance, followed by the F180. The V+100 was faster than both with small files, but slowed down considerably when copying larger files.
We were particularly impressed by the F180 as our large file test is comprised of heavily compressed XVID AVI files which do not really benefit from the SandForce controller’s compression algorithms. As an experiment, we replaced the XVID AVIs with completely uncompressed versions with the same file sizes and found that the speed increased by about 40% on the F180. It’s something to keep in mind if you work with a lot of uncompressed files.
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In timed installs of PowerDVD and 3DMark06, the F180 and S Series drives pulled ahead once again, while the V+100 performed rather poorly, slower than the VelociRaptor, a 10,000RPM mechanical hard drive.
Real World Performance (Continued)
To assess the overall performance of the drives, we assigned a score of 25 to the drive that excelled most in each benchmark series (loading, application, file copying, and installation) and the rest proportionally, giving each benchmark set an equal weighting. If a drive is the fastest in all four categories, it receives a perfect 100 score.
 |
The Zalman S Series 128GB had the best overall performance of the three. It was also impressively consistent, rising near the top in all of our tests. The Kingston V+100 was on the slow side in many of our tests, but the margins were small enough that its superb speed in TrueCrypt and ExactFile helped lift it to just a single point behind the Zalman. The Corsair F180 trailed behind the OCZ Vertex 2 in most of our tests, despite being based on the same SandForce controller.
HD Tune Results
While not entirely indicative of real world performance, HD Tune does give us a glimpse into a drive’s inner workings. Its read transfer rate benchmark measures speed across the entire drive, giving us an idea of how fast it is over its entire span.
 |
HD Tune read speeds were middle of the road for all three drives, about 190 MB/s maximum and 170~175MB/s on average.
 |
All three drives had very low access times, with the S Series having the highest at 0.15 ms.
Power Consumption
 |
The Corsair F180 180GB was very energy efficient, using less than 1W even when seeking, and only a tad more than the 60GB OCZ Vertex 2. The V+100’s power consumption was excellent when idle, using a superb 0.2W, but was average when seeking, consuming 1.9W. The S Series drive used almost a full watt more when seeking, enough to eclipse mechanical 2.5″ hard drives which rarely use more than 2.5W.
Noise
As solid state drives have no spinning platters or moving parts of any kind, they are effectively silent storage devices. It is possible that there could be a tiny bit of electronic noise (typically a high pitched squeal) being emitted, either intermittently depending on task, or continuously, but we have not encountered this phenomenon… until now.
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The high frequency whine of the Zalman S Series is circled in green.
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Our Corsair F180 and Kingston SSDNow V+100 samples were silent as were all the SSDs tested before them, but the Zalman S Series had a clearly audible whining sound whenever it was active. There is a remote possibility that this is related to the drive’s built-in activity LED, but regardless of the cause, whenever the LED lit up, a high frequency spike (12~13 KHz) reared its ugly head.
[Editor’s Note: Sharp-eyed readers will notice that the verti
al scale of the frequency spectrum screen above seems a bit off. It is actually off by 20 dB; the entire scale should be scaled up by 20 dB so that the high frequency spike is at 5 dBA, not -15 dBA. Call it a minor operator error. The key question is whether this 5 dBA noise would be audible inside your PC. The answer, as usual, depends on what else is making noise inside your PC, how well your case is damped, and how much other noise is in your environment. For me, simple distance is enough: I cannot hear it unless my ear is within about a foot. Inside a PC, it’s likely to be audible only to people with extremely sensitive hearing and very low ambient noise. A further question is whether this noise is typical of the model or specific to our sample.]
Drive Comparison Tables
As always we present to you our most recent vibration, noise, and power consumption tables for previously tested hard drives. Tested SSDs were not included as they generated no vibration or measurable noise. Use a perfect vibration score of ’10’ and our anechoic chamber’s noise floor of 10~11 [email protected] for acoustics if you want to compare any of the drives below to an SSD.
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NOTEBOOK HARD DRIVES
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Drive
Mfg date firmware version |
Vibration
1-10 (10 = no vibration) |
Activity State
|
Airborne Acoustics ([email protected]) |
Measured Power |
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Hitachi Travelstar 5K320-250 250GB
May 2009 firmware FBE0C40C |
8
|
Idle
|
13
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1.08 W (0.85 W heads unloaded)
|
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Seek
|
13~14
|
2.15 W
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Seagate Momentus
XT 500GB ST95005620AS June 2010 firmware SD22 |
7
|
Idle
|
13~14
|
1.34 W (1.16 W heads unloaded)
|
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Seek
|
14~15
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2.08 W
|
||
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Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.B 500GB
February 2009 firmware PB4OC60G |
8
|
Idle
|
14
|
0.7 W (0.6 W heads unloaded)
|
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Seek
|
15
|
2.2 W
|
||
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Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500GB ST9500420AS
March 2009 firmware 0002SDM1 |
7
|
Idle
|
14
|
1.1 W (0.9 W heads unloaded)
|
|
Seek
|
15
|
2.35 W
|
||
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Seagate Momentus 750GB ST9750420AS
October 2010 firmware 0001SDM1 |
8
|
Idle
|
15
|
1.06 W (0.85 W heads unloaded)
|
|
Seek
|
15~16
|
2.60 W
|
||
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WD Scorpio Blue 500GB WD5000BEVT
September 2008 firmware 01.01A01 |
7
|
Idle
|
15
|
0.95 W (0.8 W heads unloaded)
|
|
Seek
|
16
|
2.5 W
|
||
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Seagate Momentus 5400.6 500GB ST9500325ASG
February 2009 firmware 0001SDM1 |
8
|
Idle
|
16
|
0.8 W (0.65 W heads unloaded)
|
|
Seek
|
18
|
2.2 W
|
||
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WD Scorpio Blue 640GB WD6400BEVT
September 2009 firmware 01.01A01 |
7
|
Idle
|
15~16
|
0.87 W (0.74 W heads unloaded)
|
|
Seek
|
16
|
1.95 W
|
||
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5,400 ~ 5,900 RPM DESKTOP HARD DRIVES
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Drive
Mfg date firmware version |
Vibration
1-10 (10 = no vibration) |
Activity State
|
Airborne Acoustics ([email protected]) |
Measured Power |
|
Samsung EcoGreen F2
500GB HD502HI February 2009 firmware 1AG01114 |
8
|
Idle
|
12
|
3.2 W
|
|
Seek (AAM)
|
15
|
5.3 W
|
||
|
Seek
|
16
|
6.1 W
|
||
|
Seagate Pipeline HD .2
1TB ST31000424CS April 2009 firmware SC13 |
7
|
Idle
|
12
|
4.3 W
|
|
Seek
|
16
|
7.3 W
|
||
|
WD Caviar Green
2TB WD20EARS August 2010 firmware 01.00A01 |
9
|
Idle
|
12~13
|
2.8 W (2.4 W heads unloaded)
|
|
Seek
|
6.5 W
|
|||
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WD Caviar Green
1.5TB WD15EARS March 2010 firmware 80.00A80 |
7
|
Idle
|
13
|
4.4 W (2.7 W heads unloaded)
|
|
Seek
|
5.8 W
|
|||
|
WD Caviar Green
1.5TB WD15EADS November 2009 firmware 01.00A01 |
9
|
Idle
|
13
|
4.5 W (2.8 W heads unloaded)
|
|
Seek (AAM)
|
14
|
5.8 W
|
||
|
Seek
|
||||
|
Seagate Pipeline HD .2
500GB ST3500414CS March 2009 firmware SC13 |
8
|
Idle
|
13
|
2.7 W
|
|
Seek
|
14
|
6.7 W
|
||
|
WD Caviar Green
2TB WD20EADS February 2009 firmware 01.00A01 |
7
|
Idle
|
13
|
6.4 W (4.0W heads unloaded)
|
|
Seek (AAM)
|
6.5 W
|
|||
|
Seek
|
13~14
|
6.5 W
|
||
|
Samsung EcoGreen F4
2TB HD204UI August 2010 firmware 1AQ10001 |
7
|
Idle
|
13
|
4.0 W
|
|
Seek
|
15
|
5.6 W
|
||
|
WD Caviar Green
2TB WD20EVDS November 2009 firmware 0.100A01 |
8~9
|
Idle
|
13~14
|
3.9 W
|
|
Seek
|
6.5 W
|
|||
|
Seagate Pipeline HD
500GB ST3500321CS July 2008 firmware SC14 |
6
|
Idle
|
14
|
4.1 W
|
|
Seek
|
15
|
6.9 W
|
||
|
Seagate Barracuda LP
2TB ST32000542AS June 2009 firmware CC32 |
6
|
Idle
|
14
|
4.7W
|
|
Seek
|
17
|
7.9W
|
||
|
WD Caviar Green
3TB WD30EZRS September 2010 firmware 01.00A01 |
8
|
Idle
|
14~15
|
4.1 W (3.7W heads unloaded)
|
|
Seek
|
7.5W
|
|||
|
Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB ST2000DL003
November 2010 firmware CC31 |
8
|
Idle
|
14~15
|
4.6 W
|
|
Seek
|
17~18
|
7.3 W
|
||
|
Samsung EcoGreen F3
2TB HD203WI May 2010 firmware 1AN10003 |
7
|
Idle
|
15~16
|
4.7 W
|
|
Seek (AAM)
|
17~18
|
6.1W
|
||
|
Seek
|
18~19
|
6.9 W
|
||
|
7,200 RPM DESKTOP HARD DRIVES
|
||||
|
Drive
Mfg date firmware version |
Vibration
1-10 (10 = no vibration) |
Activity State
|
Airborne Acoustics ([email protected]) |
Measured Power |
|
Hitachi Deskstar
7K1000.C 1TB HDS721010CLA332 February 2010 firmware JP4OA39C |
5
|
Idle
|
13
|
4.6 W
|
|
Seek (AAM)
|
15~16
|
6.4 W
|
||
|
Seek
|
17
|
9.6 W
|
||
|
WD Caviar Blue
1TB WD10EALS August 2010 firmware 05.01D05 |
7
|
Idle
|
14
|
5.2 W
|
|
Seek (AAM)
|
16~17
|
6.6 W
|
||
|
Seek
|
20
|
8.2 W
|
||
|
Seagate Pipeline HD
Pro 1TB ST31000533CS September 2008 firmware SC15 |
4
|
Idle
|
15
|
7.1 W
|
|
Seek
|
16
|
10.1 W
|
||
|
Seagate Barracuda
7200.12 500GB ST3500418AS September 2009 firmware CC37 |
8
|
Idle
|
18
|
4.7 W
|
|
Seek
|
19~20
|
7.9W
|
||
|
WD Caviar Black
2TB WD2001FASS August 2010 firmware 01.00101 |
6
|
Idle
|
16
|
6.3 W
|
|
Seek
|
21~23
|
10.5 W
|
||
|
Seagate Barracuda XT
2TB ST32000641AS May 2010 firmware CC13 |
7~8
|
Idle
|
17
|
7.0 W
|
|
Seek
|
18~19
|
7.9 W
|
||
|
Seagate Barracuda
7200.11 1.5TB ST31500341AS October 2008 firmware SD17 |
4
|
Idle
|
17
|
8.8 W
|
|
Seek
|
19
|
10.7 W
|
||
|
WD Caviar Black
1TB WD1001FALS July 2008 firmware 05.00K05 |
4
|
Idle
|
21
|
8.5 W
|
|
Seek (AAM)
|
10.9 W
|
|||
|
Seek
|
25
|
11.0 W
|
||
|
10,000 RPM DESKTOP DRIVES
|
||||
|
Drive
Mfg date firmware version |
Vibration
1-10 (10 = no vibration) |
Activity State
|
Airborne Acoustics ([email protected]) |
Measured Power |
|
WD VelociRaptor 600GB WD6000HLHX
August 2010 firmware 04.05G04 (bare drive) |
7
|
Idle
|
14~15
|
4.2 W
|
|
Seek
|
20~22
|
5.5 W
|
||
|
WD VelociRaptor 300GB WD3000GLFS
May 2008 firmware 03.03V01 (bare drive) |
7
|
Idle
|
15
|
3.9 W
|
|
Seek (AAM)
|
20
|
5.7 W
|
||
|
Seek
|
22
|
6.2 W
|
||
FINAL THOUGHTS
Corsair Force F180 180GB (US$385, $2.14/GB)
From a performance standpoint the Corsair Force F180 was lacking, at least when it came to our test suite. It was at a disadvantage in this regard as we use a large amount of compressed data (JPEGs, MP3s, XVID-encoded AVIs) which negates one of the main advantages of its SandForce controller. This was definitely a factor as replacing the files in our large file copy test with completely uncompressed AVIs, resulted in a 40% speed boost. While our test suite may be biased against SandForce based drives, the argument can be made that it is a more accurate representation of real world conditions given how much data is compressed in modern times. Uncompressed images, music, and videos in particular are very rare these days. The drive’s energy efficiency was good, very close to that of the OCZ Vertex 2 60GB. SandForce drives appear to be a suitable alternative for laptop users considering upgrading to power hungry 7200RPM hard drives for greater performance.
Unfortunately the Force F180 is severely overpriced compared to the OCZ Vertex 2 180GB (US$300) which uses the same SandForce controller. In addition, the considerably faster SandForce/RAID/PCI-E combination of the OCZ RevoDrive 180GB is only slightly more expensive at US$400.
Zalman S Series 128GB (US$230, $1.80/GB)
We were skeptical at first about whether Zalman, a rookie to the storage game could bring to market a competitive product, but the S Series 128GB was a surprisingly fast and consistent drive that performed well in all of our tests. The S Series also has a mini-USB connector right on the chassis giving it a high convenience factor. If the SSD is going to be used as a notebook hard drive replacement, it can be connected through USB for partitioning, cloning, and/or moving data. Unfortunately it isn’t really a great laptop replacement drive as its power consumption, particularly during seek was surprisingly high, similar to 7200 RPM HDDs. It also has the dubious distinction of being the first SSD we’ve encountered that actually generates noise, a high frequency squeal akin to coil whine whenever actively working. In a notebook, with the user so close to the drive, we imagine it could become quite annoying. It’s much better suited as a desktop drive where energy efficiency isn’t essential, and the noise can be drowned out by other components and/or muffled by the case and by distance.
At US$230, the 128GB variant is priced about the same as the Force 120GB, but approximately US$20 more than the Vertex 2 120GB. The extra 8GB doesn’t quite make up for the price difference, but the better all-around speed is worth it, provided the noise isn’t an issue for you… or in your sample. Admittedly, it is at a very low level, likely to be inaudible inside a PC. It is also possible that this noise is specific to our particular sample; until we examine a handful of other samples of the same model, there is no way for us to know for sure. [Editor’s Note: Alas, we run up against the wall of sample variance, again.]
Kingston SSDNow V+100 96GB ($165 for the bare version, $1.72/GB)
The Kingston SSDNow V+100 96GB was second to the S Series 128GB in overall real world performance. Well, actually it lagged a bit in many of our tests, but was boosted by an exceptional showing in our TrueCrypt and ExactFile application tests, finishing only slightly behind the OCZ RevoDrive. It is perhaps the most versatile of the three as it delivers decent performance, its power consumption is very low when idle at an incredible 0.20W, and it has an O/S independent garbage collection scheme that is greatly beneficial to operating systems that lack TRIM support like Mac OS X and Windows XP. The down side is the aggressiveness of the garbage collection will eventually wear out the cells faster than a typical SSD.
The bare version of the drive is affordable at US$165, while the retail upgrade kit version which includes an external enclosure, cables, and mounting hardware costs a bit more. It is priced pretty well, on par with the smaller 80GB variants of the Vertex 2 and Intel X25-M, though if you tend toward the cautious side, you may consider the extra 16GB to be simply a buffer for when the drive’s cells begin to wear out. [Editor’s Note: Keep in mind the 1,000,000 hours claimed MTBF.]
Many thanks to Corsair , Zalman, and Kingston for the Force F180 180GB, S Series 128GB, and SSDNow V+100 96GB SSD samples.
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SPCR Articles of Related Interest:
OCZ RevoDrive 120GB PCI Express SSD
Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB & Momentus 750GB
Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB vs. WD Caviar Blue 1TB
Consumer SSD Battle: WD, Kingston, OCZ, Intel
WD Caviar Black 2TB & VelociRaptor 600GB
Seagate Momentus XT: The Best of Both Worlds?
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