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Plextor's extremely professional M5 SSD

Subject: Storage | March 1, 2013 - 04:43 PM |
Tagged: plextor, Marvell. Monet 9187, 19nm, toggle NAND, M5 Pro Extreme

Plextor used to be famous for their CD burners and the number of sheep that they were rated, but the days of blindwrite and moving carefully about the PC while burning a disk are long gone.  Instead they are focused on SSDs and other storage media, including the M5 Pro Extreme which [H]ard|OCP just reviewed.  It features a powerful Marvell controller not used by many competitors and 19nm Toggle flash from Toshiba.  While this drive will not compete against some when used by gamers, that is not what Plextor intended for this drive.  Instead focus on the steady write performance as this is a professional drive which thrives under heavy workloads.  Check out the review if you need some fast media for video or high end graphics work.

H_M5 Pro Extreme.jpg

"The Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256GB SSD is designed and optimized for users with demanding workloads. The Marvell Monet 9187 controller in tandem with the 19nm Toshiba Toggle Mode NAND provides outstanding specifications. We test the M5 Pro Xtreme with other flagship SSDs."

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

Storage

Source: [H]ard|OCP

Plextor's Marvell powered 256GB M5 Pro SSD

Subject: Storage | November 26, 2012 - 05:59 PM |
Tagged: plextor, m5 pro, ssd, marvell 88SS9187, toggle NAND

Hopefully at some point NewEgg will refresh their stock of Plextor's 256GB and 512GB M5 Pro SSDs, as both offer the same rated speed and a price just under $1/GB.  The Marvell controller they are using is one we have seen before, the Indilinx Everest 2 controller found in the OCZ Vertex 4.  The Guru of 3D pitted the 256GB model against numerous MLC SSDs and it trended towards the top of the results, not the fastest but consistent in being among the best performers in all tests.  Another benefit to the drive is the 5 year warranty, something which is becoming all too rare in storage devices.

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"In this article we test, benchmark and review the Plextor M5 Pro series SSD. Plextor has developed this product alongside a marvel controller tied to 256GB of NAND flash memory it is amongst the fastest drives we have ever tested. We sure have lots to talk about alright. The 256GB models have sutained read/write levels of 540 MB/sec and 450 MB/sec respectively.

And with 4K random write performance estimated at 86,000 IOPS (input/output operations per second) it's dressed to impress alright. Have a peek, after which we'll dive into the technology behind it and obviously we'll present you a nice phat performance overview."

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

Storage

Source: Guru of 3D

Sandisk's Extreme 240GB, not the fastest but certainly the lowest in power consumption

Subject: Storage | November 6, 2012 - 12:15 AM |
Tagged: sandisk, 240gb, toggle NAND, SF-2181, sandforce, Extreme 240GB

SanDisk has been taking advantage of their long experience in the flash memory market to develop a line of SSDs which, apart from the controller, are all made in house.  That way they only have to license a controller, in this case SandForce's 2181, avoiding the costs of developing and improving their own controller.  The cost might be a bit high at $215 when you compare it to some of the deals currently available on the previous generation of SSDs.  [H]ard|OCP saw better performance than they expected from the older SF-2181 but still not to the level of the current generation of controllers.  What helped make this particular drive more attractive was the Toolkit which makes updating your firmware quite easy and remarkably low power consumption.

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"The SanDisk Extreme 240GB is SanDisk's SandForce-powered SSD. Featuring Toggle Mode NAND and the SF-2181 with the latest firmware we give the SanDisk Extreme a spin. How does it stand up to its enthusiast competitors in terms of steady state and out of the box performance?"

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

Storage

Source: [H]ard|OCP

Plextor's M5 Pro features new flash and a new controller

Subject: Storage | October 26, 2012 - 02:52 PM |
Tagged: plextor, m5 pro, ssd, toggle NAND, Marvell, Monet 88SS9187-BLD2

The Plextor M5 Pro introduces both Toshiba's new 19nm toggle NAND and Marvell's new 8-channel dual core Monet controller.  [H]ard|OCP tried out the 256GB model, availble for $250, and were impressed not only by the performance but also the error correction abilities and the system utilities which were included.  They were disappointed that the familiar Plextool software is not supported by this drive but they feel it is only a matter of time before Plextor remedies that issue.  Check out the results of the benchmarks in their full review.

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"Plextor brings the M5 Pro with the new Marvell Monet controller powering its banks of high performance Toshiba Toggle NAND. This is the debut of the first SSD with 19nm Toshiba Toggle NAND, the debutof the new Marvell Monet 88SS9187-BLD2 controller. We take a look and see what these new components bring to the table."

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

Storage

Source: [H]ard|OCP

Corsair Force Series GS SSDs with Toggle NAND Boost Performance of SandForce Lineup

Subject: Storage | July 5, 2012 - 03:35 PM |
Tagged: ssd, corsair, Force Series GS, toggle NAND

The new Corsair Force GS series come in four sizes, 180GB, 240GB, 360GB, 480GB.  All are SATA 6Gbps drives and powered by the Sandforce 2200 controller but there are differences in speed because of the different sizes of drive, though perhaps not in the breakdown you would expect.  The smaller 180GB and 240GB models sport specifications of:

  • Max Sequential R/W (ATTO): 555 MB/s sequential read
  • 525 MB/s sequential write
  • Max Random 4k Write (IOMeter 08): 90k IOPS (4k aligned)

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The two larger drives have slightly slower listed random write speeds, with the 360GB having slightly improved sequential writes:

  • Max Sequential R/W (ATTO): 555 MB/s sequential read
  • 530 MB/s sequential write
  • Max Random 4k Write (IOMeter 08): 50k IOPS (4k aligned)

largerGS.png

Finally the largest 480GB model is slower at everything:

  • Max Sequential R/W (ATTO): 540 MB/s sequential read
  • 455 MB/s sequential write
  • Max Random 4k Write (IOMeter 08): 50k IOPS (4k aligned)

You can head over to Corsair and see the drives yourself.  If you are looking to purchase the drives their MRSPs are $189.99 for 180GB, $239.99 for 240GB, $349.99 for 340GB and $489.99 for 480GB capacities, meeting the ~$1/GB we all like to see.

Source: Corsair

Corsair's new SSD lineup Toggles between Marvell and SandForce models

Subject: Storage | June 14, 2012 - 06:28 PM |
Tagged: corsair, toggle NAND, IMFT NAND, performance series, Marvell 9174

Corsair's 256GB Performance Pro SSD is the member of the Performance series which utilizes Toshiba Toggle NAND and the Marvell 9174 controller.  At $340 it is a little more expensive than some other comparable drives, however that may be well deserved for after their testing [H]ard|OCP put this drive in the same category as the Intel 520 in general performance.  In fact during some tests they found it to be faster than the lauded Intel SSD, which is no mean feat.  That performance, along with a solid three year warranty helped Corsair pick up a Silver Award from [H].

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"Today we review the 256GB Corsair Performance Pro SSD. Corsair provides enthusiasts with both sides of the SSD controller coin by offering both Marvell and SandForce controlled SSDs in its product lines. Today we will take a look at the Marvell powered 256GB SSD and the Toshiba Toggle NAND that Corsair has chosen for it."

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

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Source: [H]ard|OCP

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