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    Vaio Z 2xSSD RAID, which drives are used???

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by VeEuzUKY, Aug 16, 2009.

  1. VeEuzUKY

    VeEuzUKY Notebook Consultant

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    Supposedly the Vaio Z in its fastest configuration, configured with 2 SSDs in RAID 0, is using Samsung Solid State Drives model PB22-J. The problem is the older 1st generation PB22-J units and the newer 2nd generation drives have exactly that same reference PB22-J and the performance bewteen them is dramatically different.

    Some of these drives are listed as Samsung PB22-J and also as Samsung stock MMDOE56G5MXP-0VB.

    While the 1st gen PB22-J (still on sale) has 90mb read and 70mb write, the 2nd gen PB22-J (also currently on sale) has 220mb read and 200mb write!

    To make things just slightly more confusing. looking at a couple Vaio Z configured with 2 x SSDs, the BIOS and RAID Utility display the Samsung drives as being model MMCRE28G.

    So, OK, they can be called PB22-J, MMDOE56G5MXP-0VB or MMCRE28G, and on top of this, 1st or 2nd gen with performance figures over twice faster/slower than its newer/older sibling. Samsung's official site lists these drives here:
    http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/products/flash/ssd/2008/product/pc.html

    The universal confusion about these drives and their names can for example be found here expressed by other people:
    http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18003220

    Now, my first question, are these drives in the Vaio Z, the 1.8" uSATA or the Slim uSATA? Anyone knows?

    Second, I've quickly benchmarked a couple of these units with 2 x 128MB SSDs models in them using Everest Disk Benchmark Utility and HD Tach 3.0.4.0 and the results were thoroughly disappointing, averaging around 180MB/s reads and 150MB/z writes. This makes me suspect Sony is putting in these Zs the older 1st gen Samsung PB22-J units (that of course are cheaper) that have for today's standards lower performance in a RAID 0 dual set-up than most current mainstream single SSDs, including of course Samsung's 2nd gen PB22-J units.

    Can anyone confirm this and properly identify which SSDs is Sony actually using? The point here is that if these SSDs are indeed the older 1st gen models, then the whole 2 x SSD RAID setup is basically a bunch of overpriced bs, and much slower than a much cheaper newer single SSD.
     
    VeEuzUKY, Aug 16, 2009
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  2. TDO

    TDO Notebook Consultant

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    TDO, Aug 16, 2009
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