Test Methodology
Test bench |
| CPU |
Intel Core i5 2500K (3.3GHz, 6MB L3 cache, quad-core, LGA1155) |
| Motherboard |
Intel DP67BG |
| Memory |
8GB Corsair Vengeance (9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,600MHz) |
| Storage controllers |
Intel P67 PCH (SATA 6Gbps, AHCI) |
| Graphics card |
AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB |
| Power supply |
Corsair AX750 |
| Operating system |
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1, 64-bit |
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 1MB 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 |
Another freeware benchmark, AS SSD is designed primarily for testing solid-state storage. We run the benchmark and record the drive's overall read and write scores. The final numbers take into account sequential speeds, input/output performance and access time. |
| Iometer |
Iometer is an I/O subsystem measurement tool originally developed by Intel. To measure a drive's I/O performance, we set the benchmark to utilise 4KB transfers in a random spread. Read and write distribution is set to 50 per cent, and queue depth at 32. The test is run for two minutes and we record the total I/Os per second. |
| PCMark Vantage |
Emulating real-world use, PCMark Vantage spits out a bunch of data on the relative speed of the drives when undertaking common tasks. We record Windows startup, application load time and gaming performance. |
Notes
The two configurations we're interested in are the 60GB Corsair Accelerator with a 1TB hard disk and the 64GB OCZ Synapse with a 1TB hard disk. Corsair's solution costs £70, provides a full 60GB cache and utilises a SATA 3Gbps interface. OCZ's alternative, meanwhile, is pricier at £75, but provides a smaller 32GB cache via a faster SATA 6Gbps interface.
