Read from SSD disk. Go to SSD: a guide for the choice of solid-state disk and the test of the best models. Hidden area SSD.

Good day!

Most often test read / write speed on SSD is required after purchasing a new drive (sometimes for diagnosis slow work computer, individual programs). Built-in tools in Windows to perform this work - Of course, no 😉 ...

Actually, in this article I will give a few utilities, with which you can quickly (within 3-5 min.!) Estimate the speed of SSD.

By the way, many storage sellers also lead test results from these programs. (Therefore, the information is relevant for those users who choose a new drive, and wants to see the difference, comparing the indicators with their current disc).

Addition!

How to check the SSD state of the drive (utilities for the diagnosis of health "SSD) -

Important!

To start testing: Disconnect all programs loading disk (games, editors, torrents, etc.). Also pay attention to how much free space on your drive (it is recommended that this number is at least 20-25% (affects the test results)).

How to check the speed of reading / writing SSD drive

Option 1: CrystalDiskMark

Very simple and free program for the dough speed test (HDD, SSD, and other drives). To start the test you need:

1. download and remove the utility from the archive (you may need it);
2. after starting the program, specify the number of read / write cycles (default, costs 5), file size for test (default 1 GB), and choose the drive letter. In most cases, you can immediately indicate the letter of the disk, and the rest does not change anything;
3. press the "All" button and wait for the completion of the operation (see Screenshot below).

Decipher some moments:

1. SEQ - Serial read / write speed (i.e., if you wake, for example, copy a large file to this disk - then the copy speed is approximately 470 MB / s, see screen higher). Many manufacturers are mainly on packaging (and advertising) specify this particular parameter;
2. 4kib - Random read / write blocks of sizes in 4 kb (There are several such tests with different depths and flow in the program). I recommend paying attention, first of all, on the 4KIB Q1T1 string.

REMARK!

In general, many users (mostly) look at the sequential read / write speed (SEQ). However, if you believe the statistics, then more than half of the operations (>70%) With a disk falls on small files.

And the performance of many programs (the same Windows) is much stronger dependent on the reading / write speed SSD random blocks in 4 KB (About which, usually, no one reports in advertising. About real tests can be found on specialized sites, for example, one of these tablets is currently relevant, is given below).

Option 2: AS SSD BENCHMARK

Free utility for testing the speed of SSD drives. Also the program allows you to get detailed information About the drive itself (manufacturer, model, etc.)current drivers, busy / free space.

According to the results of the results, there is little different from the previous utility: also a small nameplate with read / write speed is also displayed under various conditions (unless glasses appear here (Score), and the test results can be sent in the screenshot or XML file).

Option 3: SSD-Z

A comparative-little-known utility offering enough rich functionality. With the help of it you can:

1. conduct a test speed of the SSD disk (see "Benchmark");
2. check out the SMART (drive self-diagnostics);
3. view temperature;
4. learn operation time, capacitance, supported interfaces;
5. determine the serial number, model, manufacturer;
6. learn about the supported technologies (the same Trim), etc.

By the way, I can not not note that at least this utility and specializes in SSD, but it works with most HDD discs, offering similar functionality.

I will add that SSD-Z does not need to be installed (i.e., the program can be recorded on any of the flash drives and always have a hand).

Option 4: HD Tune

Multifunctional program for working with hard drives (HDD), solid-state drives (SSD), USB flash drives, etc. Using HD TUNE, you can:

1. conduct speed and performance test (see "Tests" and "File Tests" sections);
2. view SMART readings;
3. scan the disk for errors;
4. learn the current accumulator temperature;
5. get information about serial number disk, its size, clipboard, firmware, etc.;
6. adjust the noise level (relevant for);
7. delete files from the disk so that no one can restore them.

As for the speed test: the program shows not only a specific indicator (magnitude), but also builds a schedule (ideally it should remind directly without big waves). Example on the screenshot above.

Where to see the real tests of the disks

These data may be useful to you when buying a new SSD (to select the fastest drive based on your capabilities). After all, it is always better to trust those numbers that are obtained in practice than the promises of manufacturers on the packaging 😉 ...

By the way, if you select a disk for a laptop, some of the basics and moments that should be paid attention to - you can learn from one of my past article (reference below).

How to choose a disk for a laptop, which is better: SSD Drive or HDD (hard drive) -

Very convenient site for comparing the performance of CPU, video cards, hard disks, SSD, etc. The site contains real SSD discs (almost 1000 pcs.). The results are presented in the plate that can be sorted by any of the speakers. (volume, write / read speed, price, user rating, etc.).

Thus, it is easy to select yourself exactly what you need.

By the way, here you can download specials on the site. Utility and check the performance of the main components: CPU, memory, video card, etc.

Table with SSD discs on https://ssd.userbenchmark.com/ (clickable)

A similar site (though, there are much more tables here). In addition to SSD, statistics on processors, video cards, RAM, HDD, etc., collected.

On this so far ...

Good job!

Many users are cutting that their PCs will respond and launched applications as quickly as, for example, modern smartphones and tablets. And the path to the execution of this desire lies, as a rule, not through a more powerful CPU and not even through the RAM of larger volume. The best result brings a replacement of a non-radical HDD (or old SSD.) on really fast solid State Drive.

Meril of all things in this regard is modules with a M.2 interface operating according to the NVME specification. Tire PCI EXPRESS. And the data transmission protocol is specially intended for the solid-state drives connected on it, all restrictions are broken, due to which conventional SATA support hardware drives cannot develop the speed above 550 MB / s and which represent a bottleneck with parallel queries on multi-core systems.

Sata Solid Changes 2.5 inches
Conventional solid-state drives in 2.5 inches disk form factor in most cases are the only option for laptops and old PCs.

But such SSDs are usually noticeably more expensive than SATA-connected solid-state drives and require the presence of a modern motherboard. Next, we will tell, for which computers one or another type of disks is suitable and how much the difference in speeds in practice is. Then we give the results of tests of solid-state drives running on the NVME protocol, and in conclusion we advise how the easiest way to transfer the system from the old HDD or SSD to a new one.

Choosing the best technology: NVME or SATA

The choice of the type of drive depends on the system that you intend to re-equip. Most laptops (first of all old) are equipped with only one SATA connector and a hard disk compartment. In this case, the disc can be replaced with only 2.5-inch SATA SSD (see). The same applies to most PCs up to Generation Intel Broadwell, even if some expensive motherboards are provided with a slot M.2 (in it, along with PCIE lines, SATA can also be used with characteristic limitations for it). If there is no modern slot M.2 on the board, you can connect the module module M.2 to the PCIE slot through the adapter.

M.2-PCIE adapter
Simple inexpensive adapters (from 300 rubles) allow you to use M.2 drives in PCI slots on a PC. To be downloaded from them, NVME support must be provided in the UEFI BIOS

If you are going to use a NVME solid state drive as system DiscThe UEFI must be downloaded to download from NVME - to make sure this follows on the website of the motherboard manufacturer (NVME BOOT option). Otherwise you can use SSD as extra disk under windows controlBut it will be justified only in some cases.
The M.2 slot began to be widely used in platforms, starting with Skylake generation ( socket LGA. 1151) - information can be found in the technical specifications of the board. But be careful: M.2 is primarily the designation of the form factor (22 × 80 mm).

There are two types of them. Module M.2 with the so-called "B" key supports the usual AHCI technology, which is used to connect drives over the SATA interface. Such discs are called the same way as their 2.5-inch analogues of SATA (for example: Crucial MX300 M.2, Samsung SSD 850 EVO M.2) and no speed differ from them. Their advantage is that with these storage devices, there are no compatibility issues or drivers, and even installing Windows 7 occurs without problems.

If on motherboard PC or laptop is provided by a M.2 slot, optimal will be the solution to install high-speed SSD in it with support for NVME specification

The module with the key "M" and support for the NVME protocol may use up to four PCIe 3.0 lines. Most modern motherboards and many laptops are equipped with slots with a plug in the position "M", that is, in principle, compatible with NVME disks. But in any case, before purchasing a NVME support drive, you should study the manufacturer's documentation and certainly take into account the following: Initially, install Windows 7 to the NVME disk. If Windows 7 is already installed on a row-sleeping computer, you can transfer the system to a NVME solid state drive.

At the first time of the existence of solid-state drives due to their limited opportunities And the high cost was popularly used parallel to one small SSD under the OS and one HDD under the files. Now this option, as before, has the right to exist, but due to lower prices for solid-state drives, it loses its attractiveness. The most favorable price for one gigabyte is currently - in SATA solid-state drives with a capacity of about 1 TB: these models can be bought from 17,000 rubles. For desktops and laptops with a slot M.2 and a 2.5-inch compartment, a combination of a solid-state drive under the OS and the program and HDD of a large container under the files are also justified.

NVME against SATA: Main differences
The SATA interface was designed for sequential access to HDD. NVME Protocol provides parallel access to SSD

On the other hand, the price difference for a new terabyte hard disk (about 2,500 rubles) and a 256-gigabyte solid-state drive (about 5,500 rubles) on one side and terabayt SSD (from 17,000 rubles) - on the other so far is quite large, so the option with Two discs are still relevant. However, some users are more convenient when OS, programs and files are on the same drive.

Before the owners of modern systems who want to go to SSD NVME, it is worth a choice. On the one hand, there are high-performance and expensive SSD drives (for example, Samsung 960 rules), which fully use the NVME potential. On the other hand, Intel offers a series of NVME drives called 600p, which are interesting to the optimal cost of a gigabyte of memory, correlated with the price of gigabytes with the SATA interface, and their speed depending on the use scenario varies from "significantly higher than SATA" "Lower than SATA".

NVME against SATA: Practical aspects
Benefits at the NVME (Samsung) disk speed are reflected and when program is launched. When copying to SSD, the NVME standard is noticeably superior to the modern (CRUCIAL) and the old (Intel) SATA discs

Practical comparison of SSD different types

Data transfer rate and IOPS values \u200b\u200bNVME drives are impressive. But what are the benefits of these drives in reality? First of all, the practicality of the form factor attracts in a purely external comparison with 2.5-inch SATA drives: Module M.2 is neatly located right in the motherboard slot, while SATA requires use in the power cable PC body, which is main The way and interferes. In order to visually show advantages in speed, we compared three solid-state drives: early generation from the Intel Postville family, modern Crucial MX300, and ultra-speed with NVME SAMSUNG 960 EVO 500 GB support.

Ten times more speed than HDD
Solid state drives on NVME (here: Toshiba OCZ RD400 256GB) read and write down very quickly - this demonstrates a special test

The advantage in speed was to manifest themselves during the loading of the PC, but in the process of practical testing we came across obstacles. As a platform M.2 / NVME, we had only the latest AMD Ryzen system, whose motherboard from the moment of inclusion before bringing the desktop to readiness spent as many as 25 seconds for UEFI initialization. And this is despite all the optimized parameters optimized: Windows 10 was installed in UEFI mode (that is, the installation media, and the solid-state drive was initialized as supporting GPT standard), UEFI technology was configured to support Windows 10 and fast loading, etc. .

The following UEFI updates must reduce pauses. Samsung NVME-Drive Pure Time windows downloads It is 8.6 seconds. Modern SSD with SATA (CRUCIAL) is required by 33% more time, and the Intel Postville drive due to the low data transfer rate is generally twice as much. In other words, in case of daily use, the difference is quite noticeable.

High NVME Copy Speed

Especially bright were the differences during copying to the drives of the folder with the programs. With parallel reading and record, the NVME drive has demonstrated its incomparable multitasking capabilities, reaching a speed, three and four times higher than the indicators of modern and old SATA drives, respectively. But the surprising was the small advantage of NVME when installing LibreOffice.

BIOS / UEFI loading delay
The operating system must be installed in UEFI mode, and the UEFI itself must be properly configured to load the system quickly

After calling the installation mSI package With the "/ Passive" parameter immediately begins the installation process without queries, and both modern speed drives have noticeably separated from the old Intel - 23 seconds from Crucial and 22.2 seconds at Samsung against 38.7 seconds at Intel. When scanning with a defender Windows copies Folders "Programs" at all found that the forces of the drives are equal - even the low speed of the old SATA drive protector uses to a small extent.

High-performance eight-cadet CPU Ryzen as a bottleneck can be excluded. But in the process of further testing, it was revealed that if the SATA drive is fully engaged in scanning, the system performs other requests (for example, launching programs) with a significant delay. The system with a storage device on NVME continues to respond immediately. Because of this tangible smoothness and promotability, we recommend purchasing a drive that works according to the NVME specification - of course, subject to compatibility with the system.

That is why in the next part of the article we will describe in detail about the results of testing NVME drives conducted in the CHIP test center. But even if you want to save or your system is not compatible with M.2 drives with NVME support, a modern solid-state drive with SATA interface will not prevent you, especially since they are relatively inexpensive.

At high speeds: NVME drives for endurance drives

If the disk requires first of all the high data transfer rate, then it must be a solid-state drive that works via the NVME protocol. If at first it was presented at all on the market a large number of Similar models (and notable), now the choice has become much more diverse. Even small suppliers offer their own models. Our testing will show which model is optimally suitable for performing certain tasks. We decided to limit the models for the slot M.2. They are preferable to exotic expensive PCIE cards, since they can be installed on motherboards and in laptops both in the M.2 slot and through the adapter in the PCIE slot.

NVME drives: different controllers
The performance of NVME solid-state drives largely depends on the controller used. The greatest potential offers Samsung Polaris with five cores on Arm architecture. Silicon Motion Chip Intel 600P (in Figure) is economical and accessible, but it is one of the most slow controllers.

Technical Questions: Controller and Flash Memory

The tasks of the control element of the solid-state drive - the controller are to exchange data with the PC processor over the PCIE interface, as well as in writing to the memory cell and read data. Its performance plays a special role when working with large amounts of data and parallel read and write access. Our test covers a wide range of modern drives with five different types of controllers.

Software update
property
In addition to powerful hardware, it is also important good drivers and firmware updates, with which large manufacturers cope better than all other

Samsung develops and produces not only memory chips, but also the own controllers with a Pyatudual processor on the ARM microarchitecture - the most powerful of the test, which almost every benchmark constantly issues high results. Corsair and Patriot drives with PhiSon controller for reading and transmitting data, as well as the number of operations performed per second, the Samsung competition can be - but, nevertheless, they turned out to be recording rates much lower. However, this difference when working on a home desktop or playing PC will be noticeable in extremely rare cases. The Toshiba OCZ RD400 with the Toshiba controller, which detects the resemblance to the Marvell, also falls into this number of devices with performance and mark "very good" with the TOSHIBA controller, which detects the similarity with the Marvell chip.

Our table below Toshiba traced a visible and tangible gap in a general assessment, which comes first of all from performance: drives with Marvell and Silicon Motion controllers (ranging from Plextor and up to WD) behind the good ten points from the previous position. But it should be noted that at least the price for one gigabyte they have significantly lower. Nevertheless, Plextor is too low for its price for gigabytes.

therefore favorable sentence It becomes Intel 600P, the cost of gigabyte which is at the SATA drive level - the truth, characteristic of the NVME drives performance, this disc will produce quite a while. The case is as follows: Intel uses multi-level TRIPLE LEVEL CELL flash memory technology, in the cell of which three bits are stored. Since this technology is more complicated than the usually used two-bit memory Multi Level Cell, the recording process is slower. To correct the situation, Intel 600p uses a specific part of the cells under the SLC-cache (Single Level Cell is a single-level single-level cell), which is filled very quickly.

Solid-state drives
for PCIE slots
NVME drives in the form of PCIE cards,
for example, ZOTAC SONIX (in the picture)
or Intel 750, also characterized
high speeds, but cost more than modules M.2

All incoming data first turn out to be here, and then gradually stored in standard TLC memory. While this trick is trick, Intel speed reaches the level of NVME drives. But as soon as the amount of data increases, the cache ceases to cope. In this case, the cache has to release (and this is a very laborious process), and only then he will be able to adopt new data. And since it overloads the controller, the cache, which in itself is a justified solution, turns into a narrow place, and the speed of work is reduced to the level below the SATA drive.

Flash memory: MLC, TLC and other

Solid-state drives use flash memory of various recording density, which depends on the level of development of the technology.

\u003e SLC (Single Level Cell) - The fastest and reliable flash memory. Each cell stores one bit. Currently, the SLC is used or in very expensive discs, or as a rapid cache.

\u003e MLC (MULTI LEVEL CELL) - Memory with several levels of charge, storing two bits on the cell.

\u003e TLC (Triple Level Cell) With a large number of charge levels, it saves three bits on the cell, which is more slower and is more sensitive than MLC.

\u003e 3D-MLC or 3D-TLC means that cells are located not only in the same plane, but also layers. The three-dimensional structure provides more high density And the reliability of the recording and a shorter data transfer line, and therefore, and its higher speed.

The problem of heating and a narrow memory place

The latter problem does not apply to drives that use MLC technology on an ongoing basis. But they are threatened with trouble due to heating. The long recording process brings the controller to the maximum possible temperature, and on a small module with pure passive cooling heat can not be allocated efficiently, and therefore the controller fails to cool. But in everyday use, this will hardly happen to happen: Corsair MP500 480 GB shows such a sharp drop after about 50 seconds of continuous recording at the maximum possible speed - and thanks to the high data transfer rate, this period of time corresponds to a 64 GB recording.

Data transfer rate: Disability when recording
When reading Corsair, it is barely removed forward, and the available Intel almost does not lag. When recording the picture is completely different

Samsung itself develops and produces memory and controllers, so its products bypass most rivals. In its modules, the three-dimensional flash memory technology is used, which allows the cells not only in the plane, but also with layers, so that the length of the data transfer lines is reduced and its speed increases. The MLC version (two bits per cell) is designed for expensive 960 Pro models that are designed to withstand even high loads on workstations or servers. The 960 EVO models work on a cheaper version of the three-dimensional TLC memory (three cells per cell), their speed is significantly lower, and therefore, like Intel, Samsung resorts to the SLC cache.

The 500-gigabyte EVO is very well noticeable when the SLC-cache is overflowing: after 11 seconds, or about 20 GB, records (incompressible data) Speed \u200b\u200bdrops from 1800 to 630 MB / s. This speed remains fixed, which suggests that the data is then saved directly into three-dimensional TLC memory. On 960 EVO with a capacity of 1 TB, a SLC-cache is provided with a larger volume and twice as many memory modules to which the drive is able to record simultaneously.

Discs S. tLC memory Noticeably slower
A portion of the TLC disk memory is discharged for a quick SLC-cache. When it is overflowed, the speed is noticeably declining

In fact, the drive holds the speed at the level of 1800 MB / s about two times longer (23 seconds), and then it decreases to the level, by about two times higher than the minimum speed model with a capacity of 500 GB. But in this case, you need to copy dozens of gigabytes of data from the source, the speed of which corresponds to or exceeds the speed of the NVME solid-state drive to achieve a bottleneck of memory - and this is hardly used to ever happen.

Heat stagnation in form factor M.2
In the process of intensive recording under a long load, the available drives M.2 are heated and reset the speed, but Samsung pro. It does not apply to

Future of solid-state drives

As the released and announced products are displayed, new types of memory open new disk use capabilities.

\u003e Intel Optane - Name of technology for M.2 disks running on the new 3D XPoint memory with instant response. Optane modules, however, are not intended for use as drives, but as a fast cache for frequently used files stored on HDD or SSD.

\u003e Samsung z-nand - The next stage of the development of flash memory. Z-Nand memory storage capacity 800 GB promises speed up to 3.2 GB / s and 750,000 I / O operations per second. True, when it comes out, it is unclear.

Service and warranty terms

If you buy an expensive drive with the back for the future, make sure that the warranty period of your device has been great. In general, solid-state drives and their flash memory are not more difficult, so some manufacturers - for example, ADATA, INTEL, PLEXTOR and Western Digital. - Give them as many as five years warranty.

Maximum performance with the correct driver
Windows 10 has a NVME driver, but optimal performance can be achieved only with manufacturer drivers

TOSHIBA OCZ During the term, even for free offers to immediately change the device: you get a new disc before sending faulty. The Samsung Pro model also has a five-year warranty - true, with the condition that it ceases to act when the drive exceeds the established threshold of the total number of recorded bytes (Total Bytes Written). For 960 Pro 512 GB, the threshold value is as many as 400 TB.

That is, to finish the warranty ahead of time, you need to write at least 220 GB for five years every day. Anyway, the high speed of solid-state drives operating on NVME ensures their prospects for the next few years.

Top 10 SATA solid-state drives up to 10 thousand rubles.

1.

Total rating: 95.6

Value for money: 74

2.

Total rating: 91.2

Value for money: 67

3.

Total rating: 89.8

Value for money: 48

4.

Total rating: 91.3

Value for money: 22

5.

Total rating: 89.6

Price / Quality ratio: 28

6.

Total rating: 85.5

Value for money: 19

7.

Total rating: 87.9

Value for money: 69

8.

Total rating: 83.7

Price / Quality ratio: 28

9.

Total rating: 83.3

Value for money: 15

10.

Data transfer rate (40%)

: 85.5

Access time / IOPS (25%)

: 46.2

Performance in applications (25%)

: 89.3

Power consumption (10%)

: 100

Total rating: 78.1

Value for money: 53

Top 15 solid-state drives M.2 / NVME

1.

: 96.1

: 94.5

Total rating: 95.8

Value for money: 63

2.

Data transfer rate (80%)

: 95

Data transfer rate (20%)

: 92.9

Total rating: 94.6

Value for money: 79

3.

Data transfer rate (80%)

: 91.4

Data transfer rate (20%)

: 89.3

Total rating: 91

Value for money: 77

4.

Data transfer rate (80%)

: 94.1

Data transfer rate (20%)

: 80.9

Total rating: 91.5

Price / Quality ratio: 60

Of course, this is the main difference between them, but not the only one.

Types of computer memory

The memory in the computer is a place in which the data is stored. Memory is divided by ephemeral (eg, rAM or RAM), which saves the data only until the computer works, and permanent (non-volatile), which stores data even after turning off the power.

It can also be divided by the device, or rather - by type. You can highlight magnetic carriers (for example, HDD, SSHD hard drives), optical, semiconductor and flash memory.

Differences between HDD and SSD discs

Carrier design

The main difference that the first comes to mind is an internal device.

HDD hard drives are magnetic information carriers. For their reading, a special, movable head is used, which moves along round magnetic plates used to store data, and thus searches for files.

SSD media are classified as flash memory, built only from Nand Flash cells. This allows you to make it much faster to read and write files on SSD - all due to the fact that reading occurs without the participation of moving elements. The moving parts must arrive at the location of the file and cannot at the same time at the same time (which slows down reading or record multiple files).

Volume during operation and resistance to damage

Moving elements are also responsible for the appearance of noise during the disk operation. Solid state drives devoid of these moving parts work silently. In addition, they are also more resistant to damage (again it is associated with the absence of mechanical parts that can be shifted, for example, in the event of a fall).

The AHCI protocol was created for HDD hard drives, while no one was waiting for the appearance of faster carriers. The emerging later SSD drives had a huge potential in terms of data flow, however, he was strongly limited to an outdated protocol.

For new rapid hard drives, a new NVME protocol was created. Its features shows the following Table:

HDD HDD Seagate. 1 TB.
Reading speed: 169 MB / s Record speed: 186 MB / s
Uninterrupted and high-performance HDD hard drive with a rotation speed of 7200 rpm. Due to this, the start and loading of programs occurs much faster. The disc is also equipped with MTC (Multi-Tier Caching) technology, which optimizes the data stream and speeds up recording and reading.
SSD ADATA 128 GB
AHCI Protocol Reading speed: 560 MB / s Record speed: 300 MB / s
128 GB hard disk. Equipped with Nand Flash cells and SMI controller. DRAM cache and an intelligent SLC caching system further increase its performance.
GOODRAM 240 GB Solid State Drive
Read speed: 550 MB / s Record speed: 320 MB / s
One of the most durable and reliable solid storage devices. Equipped with features such as SmartRefresh, SmartFlush and GuaranteedFlash that protect data in case of voltage jumps.
Salted SAMSUNG 250 GB 960 EVO
NVME protocol Read speed: 3200 MB / s Record speed: 1500 MB / s
The NVME interface provides excellent reading and writing speed. Read speed is obtained even higher thanks to Turbo Write technology. Dynamic thermal protection protects against overheating.

When a PC gamer is asked what options for tuning are the most important, in addition to the obligatory purchase of a powerful graphics card and processor, we give it the following advice: Replace your classic hard disk on the SSD drive. Just buy not SATA-SSD, but a flash drive that transmits data via PCI-Express and uses the NVME protocol for this.

Such models reach five times higher data transfer rates, and the top limit of this technology practically does not know. Currently, the market is increasingly filled with similar turbo-drives (although it is still expensive), so the question arises before Gamer, ready to invest a few more money In a significant increase in speed or give preference to a classic, relatively slow SSD.

New era turbo-ssd

For the replacement of the HDD, it was necessary for nothing particularly - just buy the drive you need. Over time, everything has become somewhat more complicated, since the SATA interface was originally designed to work with the AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Protokol) protocol and the corresponding driver for slow classic drives with rotating magnetic discs.
Unpleasant Side Effect: The SATA-600 interface allows the maximum data transfer rate of 600 MB / s.

If you look into our, then you can see that many models reach the average data transfer rate (when reading) above 550 MB / s, and 540 MB / s is often writing on their "speedometer". Thus, it becomes obvious that the potential for the growth of indicators today has no one today.

Speaking otherwise, the SATA interface can be the so-called " bottle neck»For flash drives that are becoming faster and faster. It is good that new SSDs bypass this speed limit if instead of red SATA cables use to connect PCIE connectors - that is used by the type of connection that has traditionally was used for graphic cards. Through one PCIE 3.0 line, you can theoretically transmit to 1 GB / s.

Such tiny NVME-SSDs as the new Samsung PM971 are also suitable for ultrabooks or tablets - they have only two centimeters.

In this test, four such lines were used to connect SSD drives. Thus, it gives a maximum of 4 GB / C - at least theoretically. In practice, such an indicator is not achieved: the highest data transfer rate has demonstrated the latest Samsung 960 Pro with a result of 2702 MB / s when reading.

This is much faster than any of the SATA-SSD, and the interface does not yet exhaust its potential: Currently, the limitations for data transfer rate are superimposed by the type of flash memory and controllers of data carriers.

It may be interesting:

Two different types of connectors

Unlike SATA disks, when buying a turbo-SSD, you should pay attention to the correct choice of its form factor. Fast data drives can be released both in the form of expansion cards inserted into the PCIE connector and in the form of memory schedules that are installed in the so-called M.2-slots.

Thus, before purchasing the models you like, we recommend to look at the motherboard and check whether the interface of the corresponding type is presented.

Many SSD manufacturers are developing softwarewhich analyzes the NVME-SSD state. Intel It is called Solid-State DRIVE TOOLBOX

This advice is especially relevant for older motherboards, since the SATA bus can only be displayed on their slot M.2. The one who collects for itself a new computer can not be particularly bored with this question: Motherboards for new processors have M.2 connectors with a PCIE connection and support a new Non-Voltile Memory Express (NVME) data exchange protocol - it provokes the second turbo- jump.

Unlike models for M.2, SSD in the form of a card under the PCIE connector can be interesting for the modernization of older systems. However, it is necessary to pay attention to the motherboard to be another free PCIE-slot besides busy graphic card.

And one more small item may be very important: from six SSD-drives taken on this test four have an extension card form factor, but only three of them support the PCIe 3.0 standard. Kingston Hyperx. The Predator is limited only by PCIE 2.0, which is capable of passing through a line only 500 MB / s.

And although your data transfer rates when reading and writing from 1400 and 1010 MB / s, respectively, here will be significantly better than that of SATA competitors, with the rates of the fastest SSD, they will not be able to compare. In this case, the carriers supporting PCIe 3.0 will operate in the PCIE 2.0 slot, but they will be significantly reduced.

Superheated SSD drives become more slow

Angelbird Wings PX1 PCI card adapter with its cooling radiator prevents overheating samsung 950 PRO.

Currently, from SSD drives with the PCIE interface, we can quite expect data rates over 2.5 GB / s. OCZ SSD drives made with M.2 interface are familiar to the PCIE adapter. According to the results of our measurement results, we see more than rational to leave the device in it. We made measurements of the characteristics of these devices for M.2 and without an adapter, registering slightly worse values: so, when reading, the speed was achieved only 2382 MB / s, which is about 130 MB / s less than with the adapter.

Very short reaction time

High data transfer rate is good to speed up the download, but the reasons for Windows and the SSD drive games in the computer work noticeably faster, are hidden primarily in the slightness of latency. It is studying it during testing when I / O measurements (INPUT / OUTPUT), that is, counting the number of read or write operations produced per second when processing sequentially located memory blocks. This parameter, the so-called IOPS (INPUT / OUTPUT OPERATIONS PER SECOND), is the missing "ingredient" for a quick PC, which is often heavily loaded.

In this test discipline, the advantage has an OCZ RD400 with 43 974 IOPS when recording. When reading, on the contrary, the result of 18 428 IOPS is not half of the previous one. Here is our leader of the rating, Samsung 960, you can observe the same heterogeneity of the characteristics: when recording it reaches a mark in 42 175 IOPS, and when reading - only 29 233.

Enviable similarity of the results demonstrates ZOTAC with its approximately 35,000 IOPS (both when read and when recording). However, this parameter when comparing products is quite often combined with others. At the same time, a psychologically important mark of 100,000 IOPS should be "breaking" the turbo-SSD.

Kingston Hyperx Predator manifested itself worse: about 23,000 IOPS when reading and 17 800 in records mean the last place, and with a large margin. The main reason for this is the outdated technology, since this SSD drive transmits the data is still using the AHCI protocol. The new NVME access protocol, on the contrary, is optimized for working with SSD.

The advantages of NVME manifest themselves primarily when paralleling processes: the data transmission protocol allows you to work with I / O query queues (I / O Queues) up to 65,536 commands. The AHCI protocol has a limit in just one queue in the size of 32 commands - and this is a high load can cause data accumulation.

10 best SSD NVME drives for value / quality ratio

Even new ultra-speed prices are gradually decreasing, and, the most inexpensive SSD with NVME support can be found at the price of SATA drives, and this cannot but rejoice. We picked up for you 10 best SSD. Flash drives with NVME support for price / quality ratio.

Greetings!
From the performance of the disk (HDD, SSD) the speed of operation and performance of the entire personal computer as a whole! However, to my surprise, quite a large number of users do not give proper meaning to this aspect. And this is despite the fact that the speed of the operating system is directly depends on the data carrier, the program starts, copying files and data from the disk and back, etc. In other words, a fairly large number of standard PC operations are tied to a memory subsystem.

Now in computers and laptops are installed either traditional HDD (Hard Disk Drive - Hard Disk), or the last time trend - SSD (Solid-State Drive is a solid-state drive). Often, SSD discs are significantly ahead in the speed of reading \\ records classic HDD discs. For example, Windows 10 is running for 6..7 seconds, in comparison with 50 seconds of loading from the usual HDD - as you can see, the difference is very significant!

This material will be devoted to methods of checking speed and performance. hDD installed or SSD disk.

CrystalDiskmark program review

Pretty popular utility for measurement and testing hDD speeds or SSD disk. It works great in windows Environment (XP, Vista, 7, 8.1, 10) is free and supports Russian interface language. Official site of the program: http://crystalmark.info/

For HDD or SSD testing in CrystalDiskmark, you need to do the following:

1) Create a selection of recording cycles \\ reading. By default, this number is equal 5 What is the best option.

2) After that, you need to select the size of the file being written during the test. 1 GIB. (1 Gigibyte) will be optimal.

3) Finally, you need to select a partition that will be used to test the disk. If you have several physical disks, select the section that is on the disk you are interested in. In the example, the installed hard drive one and accordingly the section is selected C: \\.

4) To start the test, click on the green button All.. By the way, in the overwhelming majority of cases, interest represents the result that is in the string SEQQ32T1 - Linear reading speed \\ write. You can run testing only linear speed Reading \\ recording by pressing the appropriate button.

Test results will be displayed in columns:

Read. - Parameter showing the speed of reading data from a tested disk.

Write. - A similar parameter, but showing the speed of the test to the tested hard disk.

On the Kingston UV300 SSD SSD exemplary disk, the speed of linear reading was 546 MB / S - which is a very worthy result. In general, for the best SSD representatives, this parameter varies in the area of \u200b\u200b500 .. 580 MB / S, taking into account the connection to the SATA3 connector on the motherboard.

If the speed of your SSD disk is significantly less than the manufacturer declared, it makes sense to check if it is connected to SATA3..

How to Determine the version and mode of the SATA port

The developer Crystaldiskmark prudently created another diagnostic utility - Crystaldiskinfo. Its task includes the display of s.m.a.r.t information about the state of the disk, its temperature mode and other parameters.

In general, a fairly convenient and visual utility, which should be in service with users who are important to control the state of the disk (its health), in order to avoid data loss due to its possible breakdown.

After starting the utility, look at the information that is displayed in the line " Transmission mode»:

SATA / 600. - indicates that the disk functions in SATA3 mode with a maximum capacity of 600 MB / c.

SATA / 300. - This parameter means that the disk works in SATA2 with a maximum capacity of 300 MB / c.

Still may fire SATA / 150. (150MB / C) is the first version of the SATA standard and it is considered to be very obsolete and does not meet the modern requirements for the bandwidth of connected media.

Then how to classic HDD is quite enough SATA2. (300MB / s), then SSD must be connected to the port SATA3., otherwise he will not be able to reveal all his high-speed potential.

AS SSD BENCHMARK PROGRAM REVIEW

I present to your attention another remarkable utility, the task of which includes the testing of the speed installed in the computer or laptop HDD. or SSD disk. Using it, you can just just learn the speed characteristics of the connected disk.

The free utility does not need to be installed and works in the Windows environment. Official site: http://www.alex-is.de/

Management is carried out similar program Crystaldiskmark manner. Linear reading speed here appears in the graph SEQ..

HD Tune Program Review

Completes this review HD Tune utility. The possibilities of this program testing the read speed \\ records are not limited. Among other things, it still allows you to control the health of a hard disk, his technical specifications And even scan the surface of the disk for errors.

If you focus on speed testing capabilities, then you can note the following:

• the ability to separately set testing or reading
• convenient visual recording speed schedule / reading in the testing process
• ability to see peak speed and access time

The program works in the Windows environment and presents convenient tools for monitoring and testing connected media.

Official site of the program: http://www.hdtune.com/

Short outcome

The speed of the connected media directly affects the overall performance of the computer or laptop. You should not neglect the control of the speed characteristics, because the general comfort depends on working with a computer.

Now you know how to check the speed of the connected media, as well as possible nuances of its connection, from which the bandwidth of the connected HDD or SSD will ultimately depend on.