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SSD Stackup
Reported by Mervyn Chng on Thursday, August 20 2009 2:11 am
How do the many solid state drives in the market stack up? We ran some benchmarks, and here are the results...
It may seem like there are a horde of different SSDs out there, but in many instances the differences are skin-deep. Beneath that shiny sticker emblazoned with the manufacturer's name, many SSDs use the same components.
MLC vs SLC
SSDs can be broadly divided into two categories - those using multi-level cell (MLC) flash and those using single-level cell (SLC) flash.
MLC flash stores multiple bits of data (usually two) in each cell, whereas SLC flash stores only one bit of data in each cell. As MLC flash holds more data, it takes half the amount of flash to make up the same capacity, making MLC drives cheaper.
The other reason why MLC drives cost so much less is that they are less durable than MLC drives. After 1,000-10,000 erase-write cycles, a MLC cell loses its ability to hold data. Compare this to more than 100,000 cycles for SLC, and it's easy to see that SLC drives are aimed at enterprise and server usage. Enthusiasts should not worry however, as modern controllers use wear-leveling algorithms to distribute writes evenly across cells and thus maximize overall lifespan.
The last reason is that SLC flash boasts better performance. This is especially true when it comes to writes, and is another reason why SLC drives are priced for server usage, where writes are far more important than in a desktop environment.
Drive/Brand Table
After grouping drives according to MLC and SLC (we're focusing mainly on MLC drives here for the reasons stated above), the next most logical grouping would be by controller and flash used. To help you match the various brands to the components used, we created a little table:
*Cheapest brand among equivalent drives, prices in USD
Note: This list is not intended to be exhaustive, as there are just too many brands out there selling what is really just the same thing with a different sticker and box. To keep things simple, we've only included 64GB and 128GB capacities.
Controllers & Flash
Most drives on the enthusiast market now use controllers from either Intel, Indilinx, JMicron or Samsung.
Samsung's own controller is not so well known among enthusiasts, as most of their SSDs end up with enterprise customers and laptop manufacturers rather than resellers. Intel's own controller powers the X25-M and X25-E. So far, Intel has only allowed Kingston to resell its SSDs.
The other controllers most encountered in the enthusiast arena are those from JMicron and Indilinx. These two companies merely provide the controller IP, unlike Intel and Samsung who offer complete SSD products. Hence, they are reliant on resellers to keep their business going.
Indilinx-based drives were previously expensive compared to JMicron-based drives, but not anymore. Drastic price cuts by Intel on its X25-M have forced the prices of Indlinx-based drives down, and as a consequence JMicron isn't the only one occupying the low end of the price range anymore.
Samsung MLC NAND flash seems to be everyone's favorite, regardless of which controller it is paired with (except Intel).
While we naturally weren't able to gather all of the SSDs listed in the table, we were able to obtain representatives of some of the categories. Hopefully we'll be able to fill in the gaps later on, but for now turn the page to find out more about the drives we gathered...
MLC vs SLC
SSDs can be broadly divided into two categories - those using multi-level cell (MLC) flash and those using single-level cell (SLC) flash.
MLC flash stores multiple bits of data (usually two) in each cell, whereas SLC flash stores only one bit of data in each cell. As MLC flash holds more data, it takes half the amount of flash to make up the same capacity, making MLC drives cheaper.
The other reason why MLC drives cost so much less is that they are less durable than MLC drives. After 1,000-10,000 erase-write cycles, a MLC cell loses its ability to hold data. Compare this to more than 100,000 cycles for SLC, and it's easy to see that SLC drives are aimed at enterprise and server usage. Enthusiasts should not worry however, as modern controllers use wear-leveling algorithms to distribute writes evenly across cells and thus maximize overall lifespan.
The last reason is that SLC flash boasts better performance. This is especially true when it comes to writes, and is another reason why SLC drives are priced for server usage, where writes are far more important than in a desktop environment.
Drive/Brand Table
After grouping drives according to MLC and SLC (we're focusing mainly on MLC drives here for the reasons stated above), the next most logical grouping would be by controller and flash used. To help you match the various brands to the components used, we created a little table:
| Drives/Brands |
Controller |
Flash |
Pricing* |
Price/GB |
|
| Intel X25-M (Gen. 1) Kingston SSDNow M |
Intel PC29AS21AA0 | Intel MLC |
80GB |
$230 |
2.88 |
| 160GB |
$450 |
2.81 |
|||
| Intel X25-E Kingston SSDNow E |
Intel SLC |
32GB |
$360 |
11.25 |
|
| 64GB |
$700 |
10.93 |
|||
| G.Skill Falcon OCZ Vertex Patriot Torqx Supertalent UltraDrive ME |
Indilinx Barefoot |
Samsung MLC |
64GB |
$160 |
2.50 |
| 128GB |
$320 |
2.50 |
|||
| OCZ Vertex EX |
Samsung SLC |
60GB |
$660 |
11.00 |
|
| 120GB |
$1300 |
10.83 |
|||
| OCZ Agility |
Various MLC |
60GB |
$180 |
3.00 |
|
| 120GB |
$290 |
2.26 |
|||
| Solidata X2 |
JMicron JMF602B |
Intel MLC |
64GB |
$400 |
6.25 |
| 128GB |
$665 | 5.20 |
|||
| Chaintech Apogee FlashSSD OCZ Core Patriot Warp v2 Supertalent MasterDrive OX/PX |
Samsung MLC |
64GB |
$170 |
2.66 |
|
| 128GB |
$290 |
2.27 |
|||
| Kingston SSDNow V |
Toshiba MLC |
64GB |
$140 |
2.19 |
|
| 128GB |
$240 |
1.88 |
|||
| G.Skill Titan OCZ Apex Patriot Warp v3 Supertalent MasterDrive RX |
2 x JMicron JMF602B + JMicron JMB363 |
Samsung MLC |
128GB |
$380 |
2.97 |
| Corsair P OCZ Summit |
Samsung S3C29RBB01-YK40 | Samsung MLC |
60GB |
$220 |
3.67 |
| 128GB |
$350 | 2.73 |
|||
Note: This list is not intended to be exhaustive, as there are just too many brands out there selling what is really just the same thing with a different sticker and box. To keep things simple, we've only included 64GB and 128GB capacities.
Controllers & Flash
Most drives on the enthusiast market now use controllers from either Intel, Indilinx, JMicron or Samsung.
Samsung's own controller is not so well known among enthusiasts, as most of their SSDs end up with enterprise customers and laptop manufacturers rather than resellers. Intel's own controller powers the X25-M and X25-E. So far, Intel has only allowed Kingston to resell its SSDs.
The other controllers most encountered in the enthusiast arena are those from JMicron and Indilinx. These two companies merely provide the controller IP, unlike Intel and Samsung who offer complete SSD products. Hence, they are reliant on resellers to keep their business going.
Indilinx-based drives were previously expensive compared to JMicron-based drives, but not anymore. Drastic price cuts by Intel on its X25-M have forced the prices of Indlinx-based drives down, and as a consequence JMicron isn't the only one occupying the low end of the price range anymore.
Samsung MLC NAND flash seems to be everyone's favorite, regardless of which controller it is paired with (except Intel).
While we naturally weren't able to gather all of the SSDs listed in the table, we were able to obtain representatives of some of the categories. Hopefully we'll be able to fill in the gaps later on, but for now turn the page to find out more about the drives we gathered...
