Seek for MLC SSD Extreme Performance-CORSAIR CMFSSD-64GBG2D PC/NB dual platform test

[windwithme]

SSD ramp up very fast in the past 2 years.
It started from built in NoteBook which was small capacity and average speed (around 30~50 MB/s).
Till now, most brands have 2.5”/1.8” individual SSD products for customers to use in PC or NB.
This year, the SSD market competition is very hard, especially performance.

The competition of capacity has stopped recently. 64GB SSD is around 200USD.
As performance, MLC SSD is around 100 MB/s.
So far, some SSD can reading over 200 MB/s and writing 150 MB/s, which as new generation MLC high performance SSD.
Higher performance 64GB is over 200USD and lower performance one is lower 200USD.

SSD has 2 technical spec. which are high stability SLC and fair price MLC.
In the beginning, we could see most SSD were SLC, but now SLC products become less.
The main reason is SLC price is over double of MLC in the same capacity, and the MLC performance is catching up SLC.
Besides, the MLC stability issue also can be solved by new technology.

CORSAIR is one of the Memory leading brand. For SSD products, they have launched some models recently.
CORSAIR SSD has 2 product lines: 1 is Performance and the other is Extreme.
CMFSSD-64GBG2D I got this time is 64GB in Performance series.
CORSAIR provides 2 years warranty.

SSD Looks
2.5”, ID is P64, 2 years warranty, official spec is 220/120 MB/s
For higher capacity, CORSAIR P128/P256 official spec is 220/180 MB/s

The case is metal material with brushed aluminum. Looks great.
It’s only 80g which is lighter than standard 2.5” HDD (about 100g.

SATA interface can be used with PC or NB.

CORSAIR CMFSSD-64GBG2D internal structure.

It’s 64GB version, SAMSUNG 4 channel design and performance is little bit lower than 128GB.
Because of 128GB is 8 channel design, so reading/writing can reach 220/180 MB/s

SAMSUNG K4X1G323PD-8GC6
128MB DRAM is for cache buffer

Left upper side IC is SSD controller chip.
Basically, whole CORSAIR P64 is SAMSUNG structure.

DT PC platform uses GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P
SB is Intel latest ICH10R and I believe the performance can reach very high standard.

Configuration
CPU: Intel Core i7 950
MB: GIGABYTE EX58-UD4P
DRAM: CORSAIR Dominator 2GBX3 DDR3 1866C9D
VGA: MSI N9600GT Diamond
HD: CORSAIR CMFSSD-64GBG2D
POWER: CORSAIR HX1000W Modular Power Supply
Cooler: Thermaltake V1 AX

 

[windwithme]

System setting status

HD Tune Pro 3.50
Ave. Reading 182.8 MB/s

EVEREST Linear Reading is 217.3 MB/s, and the highest is 250 MB/s.
ATTO DISK Benchmark over 128k test can reach reading at 240 MB/s and writing at 154 MB/s.
CrystalDiskMark benchmark is reading at 233.9 Mb/s and writing at 152.9 MB/s.
FDEBENCH benchmark is reading at 230 Mb/s and writing at 148.8 MB/s

8 channel designed CORSAIR P128/P256 official spec is 220/180 MB/s.
P64 is 4 channel designed, but the reading is over 220 MB/s.
Writing part, P64 is only around 150 MB/s. It’s little bit lower compare to P128/P256 180~200 MB/s

RAID 0 in DT PC

HD Tune Pro 3.50
Ave. Reading 401.9 MB/s

EVEREST Linear Reading Ave. is 417.2 MB/s and top reach 426.3 MB/s.
ATTO DISK Benchmark over 128k test can reach reading at 433 MB/s and writing at 311 MB/s.
CrystalDiskMark benchmark is reading at 437.4 Mb/s and writing at 292.4 MB/s
FDEBENCH benchmark is reading at 396 Mb/s and writing at 312 MB/s

CORSAIR P64 has very good performance with RAID 0 in PC.
Reading performance all can reach 400~430 MB/s and writing performance at 280~300 MB/s.
If you have higher price RAID Card, the performance can be much higher.


NoteBook Test
Use highest C/P value Lenovo X200s, SB is ICH9M

First, OS Windows7 system status

HD Tune Pro 3.50
Ave. Reading 179.1 MB/s

EVEREST Linear Reading average is 208.4 MB/s and highest 241.1 MB/s.
ATTO DISK Benchmark over 128k test can reach highest reading at 238 MB/s and writing at 162 MB/s
CrystalDiskMark benchmark is reading at 227.7 Mb/s and writing at 149.7 MB/s
FDEBENCH benchmark is reading at 218 Mb/s and writing at 145 MB/s

When bundle with ICH9M in NoteBook, the performance is not big different with PC.
I think 2.5” SSD makes NoteBook transfer performance a huge step.

CORSAIR Performance SSD structure is MLC, so after using for awhile, the writing performance will drop.
However, through firmware support, as the performance drop, you just need to shut down the system for 1 hour and reboot, then the performance will be back to normal.

New version MLC has improved a lot in writing performance. It lowers the gap with SLC.
For the writing life cycle, some manufacturers also provide some technical solution to solve this issue.
As CORSAIR P64, the official MTBF is 1,000,000 hours which is even longer than HDD.

P64 power consumption in Full speed is 2W and standby is 0.5W. Power saving is another SSD advantage.

During testing, I can feel the SSD development in performance and technology is very fast. It also means SSD is more and more matured.

So far, price is the most unacceptable issue for end users. If you use SSD to replace 3.5” in PC is not cost effective.

However, for 2.5” HDD, if you have enough budget and capacity is not your main concern, SSD is the best storage for you.
It can increase NoteBook performance, easy to carry and also anti-shock.

I hope SSD can be mainstream asap. At that time, user can save more money with enjoying high speed SSD.

 

[floppybootstomp]

An interesting report, windwithme, thanks for posting.

Some points of interest to me:

Write speed increased considerably when a RAID 0 configuration was used.

Lower quality (MLC) disks write performance decreased with usage.

Still not economically viable for desktop usage.

I had intended come October/Win 7 to upgrade my 148Gb RAID 0 main disk comprised of 2 Raptors to a pair of 150Gb Velicoraptors in a RAID 0 but now I'm not so sure.

I'm now leaning more towards using my current disks when I change to Win 7 and waiting until a pair of 128Gb SSD's become economically viable for a desktop.

Think I might just dig out my Atto benchmark software and see how my current setup performs compared to the figures shown in your review.