Performance in WinBench 99

We will use WinBench 99 for low-level tests. This benchmark goes first and we “organize” the flash memory cells before it (by a stream of read requests), so it is indicative of the maximum speed you can have with your SSD.

• Data-transfer graph for Apacer AP64GS25SSD1, 64GB
• Data-transfer graph for Corsair P128, 128GB
• Data-transfer graph for Corsair X128, 128GB
• Data-transfer graph for Intel X25-M G2, 160GB
• Data-transfer graph for PQI S525, 128GB
• Data-transfer graph for Transcend V TS64GSSS25S-S, 64GB

The SSDs based on the JMicron controller are absolutely identical when it comes to sequential reading. Unfortunately, their read speed is only about two thirds that of the other SSDs. They are roughly equal to modern 7200rpm HDDs, but not faster. Yes, we expect SSDs to outperform HDDs now. While early SSDs used to be far inferior to HDDs at linear operations, many modern multi-channel controllers for SSDs are almost as fast as to utilize the full bandwidth of the SATA-300 interface. HDDs are still a long way to delivering such performance.

The Corsair X128 is good. It successfully outperforms the second-generation X25-M and is indeed very close to the interface bandwidth. Perhaps it would be a little bit faster if it supported SATA-600.