A Review of the Latest (and Fastest) SSD Storage Devices

[Les]

by Les Tokar

It seems we here at NotebookReview.com may have struck a chord with respect to SSD Reviews. Not only can a simple Google search bring up NotebookReview.com's SSD reviews linked to from several other sites, but also, consumer and enterprise interests can be found milling about to see what all the fuss is. Two recent articles posted on this site, SSD Performance Comparison and An Introduction Guide to SSD Storage, will assist those new to the SSD with identifying its benefits and also in understanding terms used in performance testing.

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In this review we will be examining two SSDs, the Mtron Pro 7000 and the MemoRight MR25.1-032S, both are SATA 32GB SSDs. Both companies fully intend on making their mark quickly. In my many discussions with these companies I have found there is more than just a touch of competition between them, which will be great for the industry. Both are awaiting results of the tests in this review and I must pass on a thank you to Both Zeta of Mtron and Elina of MemoRight for getting me the sample SSDs out so quickly.

First let's jump to the results! I have listed SSD disks from left to right in order of performance, the two new drives being the first and second, respectively. Each SSD was used inside a Dell XPS M1330 laptop to garner the results (Specs: 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4Gb RAM and running on Vista Ultimate 64):

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The Mtron Pro

The Mtron Pro 7000 is a brand new release which follows up on that of the Mtron Mobi 3000 released less than two months ago. Even though the Mobi 3000 was the fastest SSD in the industry, Mtron decided not to stand pat and instead put their best foot forward to try for better, and they have! Mtron can boast that they are the first to break the 100MB/s barrier not only in the read category with a 116MB/s speed , but also in the burst speed at 114MB/s. This SSD never ceases to amaze me. When installed on my laptop I got a new record boot time of 26 seconds from the press of the power button to Internet connectivity confirmation and SSD activity complete. Not only is its access speed still the top tested at .1ms but also, this little baby helped boost my system PCMark05 score to an overall 6,224 (from 6,124 with the Mtron Mobi) with an unbelievable PCMark HDD Score of 15,056. I didn’t realize PCMark05 HDD scores it even went that high. Good work Mtron!

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MemoRight SSD

Memoright’s first shot at the SSD market is going to hit with a bang as they are introducing not only a top contender, but also trying to hit the market fast and make their product available to the consumer. In examining the results of my testing (PCMark05, HDTune, HDTach, ATTO and WinExperience), I had to run the ATTO tests a few times just to believe what I was seeing. MemoRight is the first to break the 100MB/s barrier in the write category with a speed of 106MB/s which is unbelievable. Their remaining scores were equally successful in easily placing them above the Mtron Mobi, Samsung and Sandisk. I have included the chart of all SSD testing below for your assistance.

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Conclusion

As much as I would like to say there is a distinct winner between these two, I cannot. Both, in their own right, can claim enormous victories in breaking the 100 Mb/s barriers in both the read/burst (Mtron) and the write speed (MemoRight). Mtron does pull ahead slightly in other categories such as disk access and CPU Utilization but, for the most part, these disks stay neck and neck in terms of performance. The Mtron Pro can be found at www.neostore.com for $777, the Mtron Mobi is now $649 -- a far cry from the $1,500 price tag I was looking at less than a month ago. The MemoRight can be found at Ashlin Computer Corporation, a company that is actively trying to make both the Mtron and MemoWright available at prices the consumer can afford. You may have to call them directly to find out about pricing and availability.

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[shrike]

Great stuff thanks!!!

[poky]

I'm wondering, how did you get over the 80mb/s limit as know as from the Intel chipset?

[StormEffect]

Solid State Drives are one of those new technologies that actively captures public imagination. It isn't common to have a technology come out of relative nowhere and instantly post results exponentially improving computer performance from current standards. Also, the speed at which these drives are improving and decreasing in price is awe inspiring!

SSDs will be available to the common consumer at a reasonable price much sooner than expected, and that makes everyone happy.

Thanks for the review flamenko, I always get excited when I see "SSD" in the title of a NotebookReview.com article.

[Crimsonman]

Ahh, I want an SSD, except i wish it was cheaper and more storage

[Matt is Pro]

A 64 GB SSD would be perfect for me, as my current HDD is 60 GB and I'm still doing fine on it.

$1000+ though is a bit much right now. I love to hear about price drops though!

[Arki]

Originally Posted by Matt is Pro

A 64 GB SSD would be perfect for me, as my current HDD is 60 GB and I'm still doing fine on it.

$1000+ though is a bit much right now. I love to hear about price drops though!

I'm on the same page. 60GB is doing great for me. The only thing holding me back from a purchase is the price. ~$15 a Gig is just out of my league. I'm always on the look out for price drops!

And yea, it's very surprising how the price rate is decreasing; went down about 50% already...

[Cape Consultant]

Stormeffect I feel precisely the same way. Finally, the humble Hard Drive, the unsung hero of computing EVERYWHERE is getting some good new tech and press, and , most importantly, SPEED! Dave

[gilo]

Still more then 20$/Giga comapred to 1$/Giga in a 7200RPM drive .

Even if SDD were x20 better ( which they are not ) I'd still buy a 7K200 over any 32GB SDD at current pricing .

[crash]

Again, another great review, Les. Thanks