Best mSata ssd this year

Hello friends =)

What is the best msata ssd on the market right now ?

I want one with at least 480 GB or 1 TB capacity. Price is not a problem.

I am a beginner software developer and a heavy user of softwares like matlab, code blocks, mplab, emacs, orcad pspice, LaTex, virtualbox, microsoft hyper-v, adobe photoshop etc. As you see, I need one with consistent performance.

I have owned a couple of samsung 840 pro's and performance consistency is not Samsungs strongest point, how is the 840 Evo msata ?

Anandtech review says that TRIM does not work, but Samsung say that TRIM support is there. Can it be a firmware issue, how can TRIM not work?

Is it possible that Sandisk may release an mSata version of their extreme II in the near future? The extreme II is one of the best 2.5'' ssd out there today.

Reliability (stability) and performance consistency are the main factors that are important for me, even low power consumption is a big plus. But maybe all that is to much to ask for?

Whats your opinions?

Regards

 

I agree with a lot of your points, but a large capacity (1TB) SSD (mSata or not) and fast and sustained performance is not available right now.

I would trust a third party like Anandtech over a manufacturer as to whether TRIM works. And further, I would only trust that a firmware upgrade will restore TRIM functionality when it was proven that it actually works (again; confirmation by a third party highly recommended). I have been burned waiting for an update for the 750GB Seagate Hybrid (still waiting...).


Your best bet would be an M4 or possibly an Intel mSATA as an O/S and Program drive and for your real workloads; a SanDisk Extreme II 480GB model as you suggested already (point all the data and scratch disks to it).


Even a 1TB 2.5" EVO is not recommended if your workloads span more than a few minute bursts. The EVO is the 'snappiest' SSD I have ever used, but when it is presented with real work (my workloads...) it falls on its face and cries for its mommy.


Good luck.

 

Why are they not available right now? Is it because of the size of the msata format or something else?

Thanks for your answer

 

They're not available simply because nobody makes an SSD as you (and I) would like in the mSATA form factor for the computers we have today.

With M.2 being right on the verge of exploding (crosses fingers and toes, ) the manufacturers are hopefully working on those models instead.

Just like 16GB Sodimms are being largely ignored for DDR3 platforms (yeah with a couple of exceptions) because DDR4 is looming fast on the horizon.

 

The biggest issue with SSDs is that high capacity and high performance are a bit of an oxymoron above 512Gb.
This is because at high capacities, you have to start using high density NAND which have much higher latencies. Otherwise, you'll either blow the BOM or space limits.

If you want to get the most reliable SSD possible, consider the Intel 530. Sure its Sandforce but you can be damn sure the NAND or controller won't fail. See how Intel verifies their SSDs: Behind the scenes with Intel's SSD division - The Tech Report - Page 1

Though, with M.2 around the corner, I'd probably wait.

 

Since you are also looking for sustained R/W performance maybe this information is ofinterest to you which is from http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-business-class-notebooks/750494-hp-zbook-15-owners-lounge-2.html

To see the performance pleas use the link since I could not find a way to make it visible here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/att...1398406677-hp-zbook-15-owners-lounge-iops.jpg

 

I've had no problems with my 1TB EVO mSATA but it hasn't been over-worked. It's only about half full and has had about 2.5TB of writes in over 3 months.

If there's an easy way to test the sustained R/W performance without clocking up a big hit on total writes then I am willing to do the test.

Otherwise, I would work on the principle that a 40% full 1TB drive is more likely to sustain performance than an 80% full 500GB drive.

John

 

Maybe this is too much to ask for, but....

Just do 5-10 new windows 7/8 installations in a row, and then see if the performance of your samsung msata has been affected somehow.

Regards

 

That is a lot to ask. I'm not planning to reinstall Windows until I need to.

So the best I can offer is a re-run of CrystalDiskMark which you can compare with the one here to see how performance has changed after nearly 4 months.



The 4KQD32 result has reduced significantly but is still quite respectable. However, I should note that I ran this test in the background with various other programs open rather than after a clean boot.

John