Testing Methodology
Test Bench |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-6700K (4.20GHz, 8MB cache, quad-core) |
| Motherboard |
Asus Z170 Pro |
| Memory |
Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-2400 |
| Storage Controllers |
Intel Z170 PCH (SATA 6Gbps, AHCI) |
| Graphics |
Integrated HD 530 Graphics |
| Power Supply |
be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W |
| Boot drive |
256GB Samsung 950 Pro, NVMe PCIe |
| Operating System |
Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Comparison Drive Configurations |
| |
Total Capacity |
Controller |
Firmware |
Interface |
| SK hynix SC300 |
512GB |
LM878100AA |
30060P00 |
SATA 6Gbps |
| Crucial BX300 |
480GB |
SM2258 |
M2CR010 |
SATA 6Gbps |
| Toshiba TR200 |
480GB |
Toshiba TC58 |
SBFA12.0 |
SATA 6Gbps |
Benchmarks |
| ATTO Disk Benchmark |
The freeware ATTO benchmark provides basic sequential speed results for both read and write operations. Using the default queue depth of four, we record read and write speeds during 4MB transfers. |
| CrystalDiskMark |
CrystalDiskMark provides various storage benchmarks, but we're interested in the returned 32-thread 4K performance numbers to see how well the drives fare when tasked with numerous small transfers. |
| AS SSD |
AS SSD measures performance against a trio of popular applications. |
PCMark 8 |
PCMark 8's storage test is a collection of workloads that isolate the performance of the PC's storage system. |
Iometer |
The toughtest test we do, hitting the drive(s) with 4K random writes to evaluate the speed before and after reaching steady state. |
