HD Tune Pro Benchmarks

EDITORS NOTE 05/15/2009: Benchmark Reviews has re-tested the Super Talent UltraDrive ME with the latest v1370 firmware, which includes TRIM support, and the resulting performance was generally identical to the previous firmware. Please remember that TRIM is a Windows 7 supported feature, and does not improve performance on Windows XP or Vista Operating Systems.

In the past, Benchmark Reviews has avoided HD Tune benchmarks because the software was so similar to others already being used in our articles. However, EFD Software has released several versions of the program, which add functionality and features with each revision. The latest edition of HD Tune Pro allows random access read and write testing, a feature not available to other software tools. HD Tune is a low-level test that will not operate on a drive which contains a partition, so Benchmark Reviews uses DISKPART to prepare hardware for these tests.

Random Access tests are divided into 512b, 4KB, 64KB, 1MB and random size test files sizes. The Random Access test measures the performance of random read or write operations. The amount of data which will be read varies from 512 bytes to 1 MB. Performance is reported in operations per second (IOPS), average access time, and average speed. Because it is our intent to compare one product against another, Benchmark Reviews has focused on random transfer size IOPS performance.

Benchmark Reviews has tested the Super Talent UltraDrive ME 128GB MLC SSD FTM28GX25H against a collection of top-performance Solid State Drives for our random IOPS benchmarks. By nature, Single-Layer Cell (SLC) SSDs perform far better at delivering high operational transactions per second when compared to Multi-Layer Cell (MLC) products.

The Super Talent UltraDrive ME, while being virtually identical to the OCZ Vertex SSD, share very similar architecture but very different IOPS performance. While Indilinx offers firmware updates on a frequent basis, OCZ appears to be ahead of Super Talent in terms of development. One example is with TRIM technology, which resets sectors on the SSD as they are erased, thus restoring write-to performance to its pristine peak.

The Vertex EX enjoys the benefit of SLC construction, which delivers traditionally better IOPS performance. The OCZ Vertex has the advantage of TRIM enhancements to the firmware, while Super Talent's UltraDrive ME shows some signs of reduced write-to IOPS performance.

All three of the above-mentioned SSDs appear to be well ahead of the OCZ Apex and G.Skill Titan SSDs, which utilize the dual JMicron controller in an internal RAID-0 array. The JMicron controller reveals its inherent weakness, producing miserably low single-digit IOPS performance. Even the much older SLC products, OCZ's OCZSSD2 and the Mtron MOBI 3000 or 3500, all perform better during write-to tests.

Drive Hardware

• G.Skill Titan 128GB SATA SSD FM-25S2S-128GBT1
• Mtron MOBI 3000 16GB 2.5" SATA SSD MSD-SATA3025
• Mtron MOBI 3500 64GB 3.5" SATA SSD MSD-SATA3535-064
• OCZ SATA-II 64GB SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1S64G
• OCZ Apex 120GB SATA SSD OCZSSD2-1APX120G
• OCZ Vertex 120GB SATA SSD OCZSSD2-1VTX120G
• OCZ Vertex EX 120GB SATA SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1VTX120G
• Super Talent UltraDrive ME 128GB MLC SSD FTM28GX25H

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