Test Methodology
HEXUS SSD Test Bench |
| Hardware Components |
Product Page |
| Processor |
Intel Core i7-8700K (overclocked to 4.8GHz) |
intel.com |
| Motherboard |
Asus ROG Maximus X Hero |
asus.com |
| Graphics Card |
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Trio |
msi.com |
| Memory |
G.Skill Trident Z 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-3200 |
gskill.com |
| Power Supply |
be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 1,000W |
bequiet.com |
| Primary Storage |
256GB WD Black PCIe SSD |
wdc.com |
| Secondary Storage |
1TB Crucial MX300 SATA SSD |
crucial.com |
| Chassis |
be quiet! Dark Base 700 |
bequiet.com |
| Monitor |
iiyama ProLite X4071UHSU-B1 |
iiyama.com |
| Operating system |
Windows 10 Pro |
microsoft.com |
Comparison Drive Configurations |
| Model |
Capacity |
Form Factor |
Controller |
Firmware |
Protocol / Interface |
Reviewed
Price |
HEXUS Review |
| Corsair Force Series MP510 |
960GB |
M.2 2280 |
Phison-E12 |
ECFM11.0 |
NVMe / PCIe 3.0 x4 |
£220 |
Dec 2018 |
| Crucial MX300 |
1TB |
2.5in |
Marvell 88SS1074 |
M0CR060 |
AHCI / SATA 3.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
| HyperX Fury RGB |
480GB |
2.5in |
Marvell 88SS1074 |
000056R8 |
AHCI / SATA 3.0 |
£115 |
Dec 2018 |
| Kingston A2000 |
1TB |
M.2 2280 |
SM2263 |
S5Z42105 |
NVMe / PCIe 3.0 x4 |
£130 |
Jan 2020 |
| Kingston KC2000 |
1TB |
M.2 2280 |
SM2262 |
S2780101 |
NVMe / PCIe 3.0 x4 |
£145 |
Jan 2020 |
| Kingston KC600 |
1TB |
2.5in |
SM2259 |
S4500103 |
AHCI / SATA 3.0 |
£110 |
Dec 2019 |
| Samsung 950 Pro |
256GB |
M.2 2280 |
Samsung UBX |
2B0QBXX7 |
NVMe / PCIe 3.0 x4 |
N/A |
N/A |
| Seagate FireCuda 510 |
1TB |
M.2 2280 |
Phison-E12 |
STES1020 |
NVMe / PCIe 3.0 x4 |
£230 |
Jun 2019 |
| Seagate FireCuda 520 |
1TB |
M.2 2280 |
Phison-E16 |
STNSC011 |
NVMe / PCIe 4.0 x4* |
£225 |
Dec 2019 |
| Team Group Cardea Liquid |
512GB |
M.2 2280 |
Phison-E12 |
ECFM12.2 |
NVMe / PCIe 3.0 x4 |
TBC |
Aug 2019 |
| WD Black SN750 NVMe |
1TB |
M.2 2280 |
WD |
B35590WD |
NVMe / PCIe 3.0 x4 |
£230 |
Jan 2019 |
| WD Blue SN500 NVMe |
500GB |
M.2 2280 |
WD |
201000WD |
NVMe / PCIe 3.0 x2 |
£67 |
Mar 2019 |
| *PCIe 4.0 x4 testing conducted on Scan 3XS Vengeance RTX Fluid Extreme |
Benchmarks |
| 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. |
| DiskBench |
A small program that accurately measures the time taken to read and write folders on to the same drive. |
PCMark 8 |
PCMark 8's storage test is a collection of workloads that isolate the performance of the PC's storage system. |
| Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood |
An alternative storage benchmark used to gauge game load time. |
