Allyn reviewed the ADTA SX900 back in February which might make you question why we are revisiting this drive in this [H]ard|OCP review. The reason lies in the controller as the SSD Al reviewed contained the SF-2281VB1-S0C while the drive [H] received contains a 2281VB2-SPC controller. [H] had many of the same worries as Al, with ancient firmware being the most relevant, with [H] specifically stating that '5.0.2a firmware does not have working TRIM functionality,' which should cause concern for anyone considering this drive. They also notived power usage above 10W which they felt was odd on a drive marketed as having improved power consumption and ended up unable to recommend this drive.
"The ADATA SX900 128GB SSD came to us with a surprise under the hood, the new B02 version of the SandForce SF-2281 controller. This new stepping is designed to provide revolutionary improvements in power efficiency with no loss of speed. We test the SX900 and the SF-2281VB2-SPC controller to see how it stacks up against the competition."
Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
- Monster Digital Daytona 240GB @ Tweaktown
- Kingston HyperX 3K 240 GB @ techPowerUp
- Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256GB @ Tweaktown
- Plextor M5 Pro 256GB SSD with Xtreme 1.02 Firmware @ Tweaktown
- Samsung SM843 Pro Data Center Series 240GB @ Tweaktown
- How to Maximize Storage Space Guide @ OCC
- ioSafe N2: A Disaster-Resistant Synology DS213 @ AnandTech
- Vantec NexStar WiFi Hard Drive Dock Review @ Techgage
- Toshiba STOR.E SLIM 500GB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive Review @ NikKTech
- ADATA DashDrive Air AE400 @ Kitguru
Great but SandForce was
Great but SandForce was already power efficient with Toshiba flash, this is more useful for budget oriented SandForce’s with Intel ONFI flash, like this one.
Though, SandForce really needs a new controller nowadays. SF-2281, although still a pretty fast controller, can barely output 60-70.000 random write IOPS with MLC flash. OTOH, say the Indilix Everest 2 controller on the Vertex 4, it can pull a 120.000… yes, that’s twice what SF puts out.
SF-2281 is getting aged day after day and they need to come up with something better already like about right nau.
Great but SandForce was
Great but SandForce was already power efficient with Toshiba flash, this is more useful for budget oriented SandForce’s with Intel ONFI flash, like this one.