Intel SSD 540s Review - Our First Look At The SM2258

[Guest]

Intel scored SMI's new SM2258 controller under an exclusive contract and paired it with SK hynix 16nm TLC flash for the new SSD 540s. Intel geared the 540s to attack the low-cost segment, but performance is always a key issue, so let's put it to the test.

Intel SSD 540s Review - Our First Look At The SM2258 : Read more

 

[joz]

Was the OCZ Trion 150 and Mushkin Reactor always that good? While they aren't the Evo, they seem to be performing quite well.

 

[boller]

Guys, you've misread "native TLC transfer performance" as being 135MB/s. In fact it's even worse - about 125 MB/s (from eyeballing the graph).
135MB/s is average speed which includes SLC bump in it's calculation.
But it does not change the conclusion, of course: this drive is POS.

 

[anonymousdude]

Pricing on amazon is high, well at least it is if you live near a microcenter. If you order from microcenter the 480gb is priced at $120, which is $10 more than the trion 150 which $110 at microcenter and is $120 on amazon. I'd say that at it's a fair price considering Intel's reputation for reliability and well Intel's branding. For reference the 850 evo is $158 on amazon and $150 at microcenter. Not saying that it's a good drive, but to an average person price and reliability are going to matter more than the fact that it slightly slower than some other drives.

 

[dreamer2908]

Was the OCZ Trion 150 and Mushkin Reactor always that good? While they aren't the Evo, they seem to be performing quite well.

Well, Mushkin Reactor uses the same controller (SM2246EN) and NAND (Micron 16nm MLC) as Crucial BX100 does.
The discontinued BX100 performed quite well, so the Reactor should also do.

 

[Zaxx420]

"it doesn't give us a reason not to buy a Samsung 850 EVO."

Bet you have a keyboard macro just for that phrase...lol

 

[CRamseyer]

Sometimes I feel like I need a macro.

 

[Cyberats]

Wow, Mushkin Reactor is my surprise in this survey, stable on all fronts where even Samsung Evo is wavering and it's a full 512gb of space or is it a typo ?

 

[Zaxx420]

I'm wondering if the Reactor price quote is a typo...$245 at Amazon...ouch!

 

[littleleo]

I would have liked to see the SK Hynix model in the mix the price on those is good and the performance according to my customers is also very good. The specs look better then the Samsung's on the read and worse on the write; I just wish they offered a 1TB version.

 

[mapesdhs]

C.R., I thought toms was going to stop using graphs with non-zero origins? The sequential read and notebook battery life graphs are visually misleading. There's no point using a graph if its visual appearance does not convey data difference.

 

[CRamseyer]

If they make it through it is not intentional. It's an issue with MS Office.

 

[mapesdhs]

If they make it through it is not intentional. It's an issue with MS Office.

I knew it, MS' fault. Is it possible to edit the graphs to normality?


Btw, why do you think Intel has included a 120GB model? I had the impression from recent aticles that the industry was finally going to dump them this year (long past time).

 

[DotNetMaster777]

This is a good price for this quality. Interesting how much it will cost in Europe????

 

[Lsi]

Which firmware version was tested in this review, the stock version from the label or the latest released in early August?

 

[CRamseyer]

I'll have to look when I get home. The drive was opened prior to arrival.