ADATA XPG SX900 128GB SSD Full Review - Low Cost SandForce
Internals, Testing Methodology and System Setup
Internals:
Before the warranty voidance maneuver:
The guts:
A closer look at the rear shows some of the power logic and 8 of the flash parts:
In front we have another 8 flash packages and the SandForce 2281 controller:
Now for a closer look:
It appears ADATA went with another vendor (or themselves) who are packaging IMFT 25nm Synchronous flash dies, presumably at a lower cost. This change took place some time after initial production, as initial models contained IMFT-labeled flash.
Testing Methodology
Our tests are a mix of synthetic and real-world benchmarks. PCMark, IOMeter, HDTach, HDTune, Yapt and our custom File Copy test round out the selection to cover just about all bases. If you have any questions about our tests just drop into the Storage Forum and we'll help you out!
Test System Setup
Tests for this review were conducted with our tried and true Z68 SandyBridge testbed as well as a shiney new ASUS P8Z77-V Pro/Thunderbolt. We are still qualifying the new board, but have found results to be +/- 2% of the prior Z68 board - well within the best data scatter of a typical benchmark.
PC Perspective would like to thank ASUS, Corsair, and Kingston for supplying some of the components of our test rig.
| Hard Drive Test System Setup | |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-2500K |
| Motherboard | Asus P8Z68-V Pro |
| Memory | Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR3-2133 CL9 |
| Hard Drive | G.Skill 32GB SLC SSD |
| Sound Card | N/A |
| Video Card | Intel® HD Graphics 3000 |
| Video Drivers | Intel |
| Power Supply | Corsair CMPSU-650TX |
| DirectX Version | DX9.0c |
| Operating System | Windows 7 X64 |
- PCMark05
- Yapt
- IOMeter
- HDTach
- HDTune
- PCPer File Copy Test
PC Perspective Upcoming Events
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Firmware 5.0.2a still has issues and they were resolved in 5.0.3. The newest SandForce firmware is 5.0.5 and it's very good. Too bad ADATA can't get their firmware act together.
I have tested my SSD with newest SandForce firmware 5.0.5
Having troube on that one as well. B-S-O-D :(
You guys can download IOMeter 2010 from
http://sourceforge.net/projects/iometer/files/iometer-devel/1.1.0-rc1/
Play around with it and tested 4K random write via IOMeter 2010
See if you have same test result
32G SSD => BSOD, 0xF4
64G SSD => BSOD, 0xF4
bty, can someone tell me where we can download 5.0 B?
One of my friend said 5.0 B will be available shortly.
Is this truth?
I think I'm going to get this SSD for my next build, looks promising and good for the price! I'm a casual PC gamer!
ADATA just releases updated firmware for SX900 SSD drive. It is now at Firmware 5.0.7a
http://www.adata-group.com/index.php?action=ss_main&page=ss_content_driv...
Adata Firmware 5.0.7a release notes do not metion anything about TRIM being fixed... WTF?
"ADATA first with SandForce 5.0.7a firmware, TRIM enabled for ADATA SSDs"
This is the headline I've been seeing, I assume that TRIM issue have been addressed and that this update has fixes found in previous firmware except the one that was pulled from breaking TRIM.
Purchased 2 drives in January 3013. Went online to get info on how to properly setup the OS (enable TRIM etc). Also used the wipe free space feature of ccleaner. CrystalMark always gave me good results except for write speed which is around 250 instead of 500 like the read speed.
Bottom line, I had the expected performance even without this firmware. I'll install it tonight but cant see myself getting much of a boost (write speed).
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