Testing (continued):

AS SSD Benchmark:

The final benchmark to consider is AS SSD, which is targeted towards testing the read and write performance of solid state drives. Results graphed below are all provided in units of MB/s, and higher is better for each. We have sequential read and write tests, as well as read and write tests that utilize 4K random blocks.

Prior to the review, OCZ Technology mentioned that tests like AS SSD and CrystalDiskMark might not show the performance of the Vertex 2 drive in the best light, but I wanted to see what the results looked like anyway. Given the differences in the approach and architecture of the SandForce SF-1200 series of controller, some read/write tasks are going to be executed differently (which can mean slower). Some discussions on this subject can be found on the OCZ Technology forum.

Taking a look at the sequential read results from AS SSD gives a taste of the type of speed "degaradation" you might expect with a test like this. Just over 160MB/s isn't a bad result, but considering it now places third after dominating the whole way though you know something different happened.



Sequential write testing with AS SSD provides similar results, with the Vertex 2 trailing the Agility by a good amount.



When looking at 4KB random reads we see a similar trend, and while the difference between drives may seem significant, given the scale it is only a few MB/s.



The final graph for AS SSD, and the whole review, takes a look at 4K random writes. Just so it doesn't go out on a bad note, the 50GB vertex 2 surges to one final victory.