Renice K3VLAR-E (EWS720) ZIF SSD User Review

[nando4]

Note the subtle name difference for two completely different Renice ZIF SSD products: K3VLAR-E (EWS720 native PATA) and the K3VLAR (Indilinx+Marvell sata-to-pata).

Introduction

The Renice K3VLAR-E ZIF SSD uses a native PATA EastWho EWS720 SSD controller providing hardware garbage collection (GC), low power consumption, high levels of compatibility and fast 15MB/s 4kb random reads all at a budget price. A feature set which makes it one of the best storage upgrades for ZIF PATA ultraportable notebooks. It is available now for purchase from MyDigitalDiscount-US, MemoryC-US, Future Storage-UK, -CN or from Renice-CN. Below is my user review of this product.

K3VLAR-E kit unboxing	60GB K3VLAR-E ZIF internals, top and bottom EWS720 plus Intel 34nm MLC NAND Flash	60GB K3VLAR-E ZIF SSD installed in a HP 2510P	120GB K3VLAR-E ZIF SSD installed in a HP 2510P

Renice K3VLAR-E 1.8” ZIF PATA SSD Specifications summary

Interface: 1.8” ZIF ATA7 Standard Retail Price: 30GB-US$110 60GB-US$140 120GB-US$280 240GB-US$600 Random 4kb reads: 16MB/s (measured 15MB/s @UDMA5)

Sequential read/write: 120/90 MB/s for 120/240GB size 120/60 MB/s for 30/60GB size (measured 91/52 Mb/s @UDMA5 for 60GB model) Average access time: 0.1ms Power consumption idle/active: 0.5/1.3W

Installation

Installation was easy. Flicking the stiffener into an upright position as shown here allowed very easy insertion of the ZIF cable. I placed the ZIF HDD into the supplied USB enclosure and used Linux dd to clone the disk. Windows users could use Acronis TrueImage 15-day trial demo instead.

Once installed, the K3VLAR-E worked flawless together with the PATA slave optical drive work as shown or with my newmodeus sata-to-pata caddy with 2.5" sata HDD jumpered as slave, as shown. Many other ultraportables are factory delivered with the simpler single ZIF HDD or SSD setup, configured as the master PATA device.

Performance Comparison: Renice K3VLAR-E ZIF SSD versus Toshiba ZIF HDD

Drive	Standby/Idle/Active Power (W)	Benchmark
		CrystalDisk|PerformanceTest|atto
Toshiba MK8009GAH 80GB 1.8" ZIF HDD 4200rpm	0.12/0.3/1.0
Renice K3VLAR-E (EWS720) 60GB 1.8" ZIF PATA SSD	-/0.5/1.3
Renice K3VLAR-E (EWS720) 120GB 1.8" ZIF PATA SSD	-/0.5/1.3
Renice K3VLAR (Indilinx) 128GB 1.8" ZIF PATA SSD	-/0.5/2.0

Test platform: XP.SP3 HP 2510P U7600-1.2 2GB ICH8M UDMA5. WEI from Win7/64.

The Renice K3VLAR-E ZIF SSD is a very noticable improvement in performance over the HP supplied 1.8" ZIF HDD. Boot times decreased to a third, Firefox doesn't have momentary seek delays when scrolling windows or reading/writing cache, applications just popup instantly and there are no longer any HDD seek noises. Experiencing this sort of quiet speed makes it difficult to go back to using a slow, noisy ZIF HDD.

I've included the Indilinx+Marvell sata-to-pata bridged K3VLAR for comparison. The synthetic benchmarks suggest the K3VLAR is faster but in real life use I can't tell the difference them. Boot times look identical. My web surfing and admin work has them both perform equally well, far better than the ZIF HDD they replaced. Even when cloning my partitions from my 2.5" HDD both gave the same ~35MB/s average write performance. Only place I could envisage the K3VLAR really outclassing the K3VLAR-E would be in very heavy drive multitasking or if you could deliver fast streamed network data to your system requiring very fast writes. Both hypotheticals in my case.

Power Consumption and Running Temperature

This is where the K3VLAR-E's native PATA controller shines. I see my idle power consumption as low as 5.6W. When using the ZIF HDD I'd only ever seen it go as low as 5.9W. This means battery life improvements. The SSD chassis always remains cool to luke warm to the touch even after heavy reading and writing.

In contrast, the K3VLAR has higher power consumption which reduced my battery life compared to the ZIF HDD it replaced. It runs warm-hot which I could feel on the 2510P underside as a hotspot when used on my lap. This was something I noticed on another Indilinx bridged SSD, the Runcore ProIV, so quite likely affects all Indilinx ZIF SSDs.

Garbage Collection

There is no Win7 TRIM support so the user is dependant on the hardware garbage collection to maintain 'as new' write performance levels. The AS-Cleaner component of a Tony Trim can be scheduled or manually started to quicken the process. In my case, I'll just run AS-Cleaner during a extended coffee break if I see reduced write performance.

Pros

• lowest power consumption in class ensures low operating temperature and great battery life
• native PATA controller ensures a high level of compatibility (no UDMA2 or sleep/resume issues)
• respectable 4kb random and sequential I/O performance
• hardware garbage collection maintains write performance on XP installations

Cons

• require pricier 120GB product to see the fastest write performance levels
• no Win7 TRIM support so users rely on GC to maintain write performance
• new product with no product history

Conclusion

The Renice K3VLAR-E ZIF SSD offers a well balanced performance and power consumption profile at a surprisingly affordable price. I highly recommended it to anyone who has a ZIF-equipped ultraportable. It is easily my favorite ZIF SSD for value and features from all the ones tested so far in my HP 2510P.

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Related links

• 1.8" ZIF SSDs available - competing products currently available.
• 128GB Photofast G-Monster V4 ZIF SSD review - uses the same EWS720 controller. Identical circuitboard.
• Renice K3vlar K3E (native PATA) SSD review in Macbook Air RevA
• Renice support forum - direct interface to Renice engineers.

[zimbros12]

Excellent job on one more review...

[Maiev]

Sorry to bug you again nando4. So I bought the Renice SSD. Definitely improvement in a variety of areas, but still doesn't seem to resemble the real power of Renice SSD. Previous SSD was able to do 70mb/read, this one um.... not even half atm >.>



I did some reading, saw your thread on write speed capping, doesn't seem to apply to me. (I gave it a try anyway). I also did some tweet, just can't get the read higher.

Any ideas/suggestion?

[nando4]

Originally Posted by Maiev

I did some reading, saw your thread on write speed capping, doesn't seem to apply to me. (I gave it a try anyway). I also did some tweet, just can't get the read higher.

Any ideas/suggestion?

Congratulations on the purchase. You are seeing speed capping due to UDMA2 transfer mode and 33Mhz IDE timings. Full diagnosis of the problem and fix has been kindly provided in the VAIO TZ Guide for SSD install or upgrade post.

As you are running the Renice K3VLAR (Indilinx) product, please post any further queries/comments in the http://forum.notebookreview.com/hard...ml#post6799294 thread.

[JosefMiller]

Reviewed below is the 60GB product whose write speed is 66% that of the 120GB or 240GB product. Note the subtle name difference for two completely different Renice ZIF SSD products: K3VLAR-E (EWS720 native PATA) and the K3VLAR (Indilinx+Marvell sata-to-pata).

[Maiev]

Sorry :x for wrong section :x

[sugarkang]

I wish I had gotten this drive instead. You were definitely right about power consumption. I'd easily give up write speed for more battery.

[ywchai]

Hello,

A question: has this item been tested with an actual Macbook Air Rev A as it is listed as compatible? I just want to be sure that there are no sleep issues associated with the drive. I purchased the KEVLAR PATA ZIF SSD just a month before this cooler and lower voltage drive was announced and wished I could have ordered this one instead ... But at least I know the previous SSD is tested with no sleep issues with macbook air.

So I am planning to purchase this new one with a native PATA controller, but I need to be sure it has no sleep nor any compatibility issues 1st.

Thanks!

Yeewei

[ywchai]

Well I guess I will be the one to answer my own question. Yes the drive does work nicely in my macbook air. Just installed it yesterday and it does appear to run cooler than the previous drive which I had.

No problems so far, but will report if there are any.

Cheers!

[PsYKOJaCK]

Bought a 60 gb K3E and installed it in a Macbook Air Rev A. So far, I've been extremely satisfied - great performance, no sleep issue.