Samsung 64GB SSD Benchmark Fluctuations

Hi Forum Members,

I am concerned by the Samsung 64GB SSD benchmarks that I have obtained on my XPS m1330. The benchmark graph shows high variability and there are great fluctuations in read/write speeds. I don't think this is normal for SSDs, and I am hoping that the SSD experts (i.e. Les) will be able to chime in on this.

I am attaching two files to this post - the SSD benchmark, and the benchmark of a 160GB 7200 RPM drive connected by eSATA.

I would appreciate any comments/advice.

Thanks!

Booji

 

Wow that Fujitsu has some crappy access time...my Hitachi 160GB 7200s get like 12ms. I don't know what is wrong with your SSD though, as i'm not an SSD expert.

-J.B.

 

Yeah the 160gb 7200 RPM drive is a little slow. I have a 160gb WD Scorpio running at 5400 RPM that has a better access time than this drive.

 

What you are showing is actually very normal for most systems that are running other applications in the bakground while also running the benchmark(virus programs, system restore, quicktime, bluetooth, sidebar...and so on). Your testing seems to be much the same as my testing on the ssd thread except, you have much more fluctuation because of many things which are most likely a contribution of background applications. You will even notice a visible difference if you do the test when the fan is on high and cooling the system vice when you turn the machine on and test when cool.

With respect to the hard drive you have included, there are two very important things to consider. The first is with respect to how the download proceeds as time passes. You will see in a hard drive that it declines significantly and the read speeds drop drastically. This is not so with the ssd.

The next is the access time; this is the magic of the ssd. You will notice that your ssd takes .3ms to access and retrieve information vice your hd which takes 19ms. This seems like the ssd access time is about 60 times faster than the hd but its actually much greater.

It takes .3ms to pick up all the info in a ssd whereas, because of the mechanical requirement of the hd, it takes 19ms to pick up each piece of information that it can get on that pass. This means it must locate the same spot on the hd, wait for it to line up and pick up the next piece which is another total of 19ms. Can you understand how this then slows the total read speed of the hd?

Hope this helps. Any other questions just ask. Your ssd is an adequate ssd for when it was released and, for most people today who first experience an ssd, it will appear as though lightning just struck. It is slower than most newer ones but that is a given.

Consider the silence, less heat, less fan use, start time speed, windows application start times, and all around difference you are experiencing. Couple that with the fact that that ssd will outlast any number of systems you want to throw it into and, if you drop your system you won't have to worry about a crashed hard drive right?

 

Thanks for the advice Les. It certainly is an amazing improvement compared to mechanical hard drives. I will follow your other advice as well.

Thanks for the help everyone.