MSata SSD Comparison

MyDigitalSSD 256GB BP3 Bullet Proof 3 mSATA III (6G) SSD Solid State Drive - MDMS-BP3-256
Amazon.com: MyDigitalSSD 256GB BP3 Bullet Proof 3 mSATA III (6G) SSD Solid State Drive - MDMS-BP3-256: Computers & Accessories

or Crucial m4 256GB mSATA Internal Solid State Drive CT256M4SSD3
Amazon.com: Crucial m4 256GB mSATA Internal Solid State Drive CT256M4SSD3: Computers & Accessories

Of course could be different vendors.

How would you compare these two in terms of speed? Reliability? Anything else? (Of course MyDigital wins on price, if everything else is equal.)

Or other brands/models?

Thanks in advance.

 

The MyDigitalSSD model is newer and seems to be significantly faster, although I haven't really heard of that brand. The Crucial M4 mSATA is based on the Crucial M4 2.5" drive, so it is slower (especially in write speeds). However, Crucial M4's are known to be more reliable. You won't notice much difference in real world use.

You could also look at the Mushkin Atlas mSATA SSD, which should also be faster than the Crucial M4 mSATA. However, it uses SandForce, so it might be less reliable (although most drives with the SF-2281 controller haven't really had problems).

 

The MyDigitalSSD seems to use a Phison controller.

This review of what looks to be the exact drive in the Amazon link has this to say.
SPECS
24nm Toshiba Toggle-Mode NAND Flash
4k read 26,000 IOPS
4k write 41,000 IOPS
sequential reads 560MB/s
sequential writes 470MB/s

Note that it was with new firmware. Old firmware had 230MB/s writes, or something to that effect.

"Write latency" is higher than any other SSD that the site tested by a huge margin. Not too promising. "Read latency" is top notch.

"The BP3 is a little reminiscent of SandForce drives when dealing with incompressible data. The BP3 clearly prefers compressible data."

I have to admit that when I first saw it using a Phison controller, I was expecting the worst due to how poorly the lower end Phison controllers fared (Crucial V4, Patriot TorqX 2). However, this drive is no worse than the Crucial M4 and may be a bit better. It has better reads, but the Crucial may have more consistent writes. I would probably get the cheaper one (right now the MyDigitalSSD). The low (relatively) IOPS indicates that it may not fare well if hammered, but that probably won't matter in a desktop usage scenario.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Do others agree that the MyDigital might be a better choice than the Crucial? Or still a different brand suggested?

What do you mean (zippyzap) by "it may not fare well if hammered"?

Considering I plan to use this as my system drive, reliability is very important. I don't want to lose data, have system crashes, etc.

Why the talk about compressible data, when discussing SSDs? Are they constantly compressing and decompressing data? Wouldn't that compression and decompression take up time in itself. (For instance, in Windows one could compress a whole HDD, but that would not generally be recommended. It would save some space, but would slow things down. Why then would SSDs constantly compress and decompress?

Thanks again.

 

The Crucial M4 is likely the most reliable as I've said.

As for compression: SandForce drives (like the Mushkin Atlas) use compression algorithms to reduce the data written to the flash memory, therefore increasing the speed and reducing write amplification (This is how they can advertise those 500 MB/s speeds). This won't work for encrypted data and certain types of media files, so SandForce drives are slower when working with incompressible data. Yes, compression takes time, but SandForce drives do it in real-time, so there is no read/write delay. Most other drives like the Crucial M4 use different controllers that don't use compression algorithms to increase speed, i.e. they perform similarly with both compressible and incompressible data.

 

I just looked at a review comparing msata ssd drives on Tom's Hardware at: mSATA: Little Dimensions Can Still Mean Big Performance : Round-Up: 10 mSATA SSDs From Adata, Crucial, Mushkin, And OCZ

It gives ts top rating, out of ten such drives tested, to the Crucial m4 256gb.

However, no MyDigital SSDs were tested in that comparison. (Perhaps they had not come out yet.)

 

Yea..thats true ..I have been using couple of sf-2281 based drives..I haven't faced any problems till now

 

If IOPS is low, if the drive is "hammered" by numerous requests then performance may go down (during those requests).

Here's another review of the BP3.

MyDigitalSSD SMART & BP3 mSATA SSD Review

 

Does anyone know of any read/write speed benchmarks for Super Talent MasterDrive KX3 SSDs? Can't seem to find anything with google.

 

That's not a mSATA drive. Couldn't find the controller but if you can, that would give you a similar comparison with other SSDs using that controller. Check out thessdreview.com for THE most comprehensive list of mSATA drives available. MyDigitalSSD is a fairly reliable brand, along with Crucial (Marvell controllers) and Samsung.

 

Hi all we have the BP4 out now. Would provide a link but I am not able to do so as per my user status of reseller The BP4 adds lower cost, increased battery life, higher speeds, consistent speed over time w/ over provisioning.

One review so far but more to come.

MyDigitalSSD BP4 mSATA SSD Review (240GB) - Best Value Available For an SSD To Date | The SSD Review

 

Any chance of the Sata 3 versions in Australia?

 

You can always order from our reseller in the U.S. but we would love to pick up some resellers in Australia. If you know any please let them know about us. Or hit me with a couple of good ones and I will contact them.