Performance in PCMark 2005

PCMark05 is an updated version of the previous benchmark. Instead of File Copying, there is now a File Write trace. A new trace called Virus Scan is added. Its name is self-explanatory.

Again, we performed each test ten times and averaged the results.

These three tests produce the same picture as the same traces of the previous version of PCMark: the X25-M enjoys a huge lead over the others. The Samsung SSD is second best while the HDDs take last places. Frankly speaking, the difference in performance is awful. The new guy in town, the newly-released X25-M, leaves no chance to the oldies.

Well, HDDs do not give up without a fight. The Fujitsu wins first place in the Virus Scan trace, probably due to the larger cache and efficient algorithms of using it. We wonder if the SSD will be slower when benchmarked on a faster controller.

There is one load type at which HDDs are still faster than SSDs, though. We mean writing, of course. But we haven’t yet tested SSDs based on SLC memory that delivers higher write speeds. So far, this test is the last bastion of HDDs.

The Fujitsu has a higher overall score in this benchmark than Samsung’s SSD but the Intel X25-M is still almost two times as fast as the 15,000rpm HDD.