Testing methodology
Test Bench |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-3770K (up to 3.9GHz, 8MB cache, quad-core) |
| Motherboard |
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H |
| Memory |
8GB G.Skill TridentX (2x4GB) DDR3 @ 2,400MHz |
| Storage Controllers |
Intel Z77 PCH (SATA 6Gbps, AHCI) |
| Graphics Card |
Intel HD 4000 Graphics |
| Power Supply |
Corsair AX750 |
| Operating System |
Windows 7 Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit) |
Comparison Drive Configurations |
| |
Total Capacity |
Controller |
Firmware |
Interface |
| Plextor PX-128M5M |
128GB |
Marvell 88SS9187-BLD2 |
1.01 |
mSATA |
| ADATA XPG SX300 |
128GB |
SandForce SF-2281 |
5.02 |
mSATA |
| Samsung 840 PRO Series |
256GB |
Samsung MDX |
DXM03B0Q |
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 1MB 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. |
Notes
We're first putting the 128M5M into an mSATA slot on a Gigabyte Z77 motherboard. Testing from scratch against another mSATA drive, ADATA's SandForce-powered XPG SX300, will provide an indication into potential performance. We've also tested a premier Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD, presented in a regular 2.5in form factor, that is connected to the motherboard's SATA 6Gbps ports.
Secondly, not shown in the system setup, we then put the Plextor mSATA drive into a Windows 8-totin' HP Ultrabook, cloned the operating system, and compared performance against the stock 320GB Seagate 5,400RPM (2.5in) hard drive that it ships with. With particular focus on usability rather than all-out performance we've tested boot-up time, shutdown time, and time taken to read and write 26.5GB of data to-and-fro the Samsung 840 Pro SSD housed in an external enclosure and connected via USB 3.0.
