Zotac Sonix NVMe SSD Review: Our First E7 Tests

[Guest]

Zotac is selling the first Phison PS5007-E7-based SSD, calling it the Sonix. Can this 480GB NVMe-capable add-in card usurp incumbents like Intel and Samsung in the high-performance storage space?

Zotac Sonix NVMe SSD Review: Our First E7 Tests : Read more

 

[2Be_or_Not2Be]

Is it too much to ask that all of your graphs keep the same colors for each product? One page the Intel 750 is light blue; the next page, it's black. Consistency here would help the reader.

 

[CRamseyer]

The different colors for the first and later parts of the review is a one off. We added the compressible / incompressible tests to the tests early in the review so there was a shift. In the future I'll just use a red dotted line if adding something special.

 

[Kewlx25]

Correction:
"For a bit of context, AHCI operates on one command at a time, but can queue up to 32 of them. NVMe can operate on as many as 256 commands simultaneously, and each of those commands can queue another 256."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVM_Express#Comparison_with_AHCI
NVMe
65535 queues;
65536 commands per queue

 

[CRamseyer]

You are correct, that was my fault. I built a test that does 256 / 256 to see how it works. I'll make the correction.

 

[josejones]

Good article, Chris Ramseyer.

"Real-world software rarely pushes fast storage devices to their limits"

Chris, I am curious about what all holds back NVMe SSD's from getting their full potential? What all needs to come together to reach their full potential? Will Kaby Lake and the new 200-Series Chipset Union Point motherboards help to get better performance out of the new NVMe & Optane SSD's? I've heard we need a far bigger BUS too. I am holding out for an NVMe SSD that will actually reach the claimed 32 Gb/s or close to it - minus overhead.

 

[TbsToy]

So Chris what is your opinion on which of these drives should be used where. Workstation, PC desktop, laptop etc. as the most 'suitable' drive among this group for which machine?
W.P

 

[TbsToy]

So Cris which of these drives to you consider to be the most useful with which type of machine, server, workstation, PC, or laptop?
W.P.

 

[Kewlx25]

Good article, Chris Ramseyer.

"Real-world software rarely pushes fast storage devices to their limits"

Chris, I am curious about what all holds back NVMe SSD's from getting their full potential? What all needs to come together to reach their full potential? Will Kaby Lake and the new 200-Series Chipset Union Point motherboards help to get better performance out of the new NVMe & Optane SSD's? I've heard we need a far bigger BUS too. I am holding out for an NVMe SSD that will actually reach the claimed 32 Gb/s or close to it - minus overhead.

This is my semi-educated guess.

1) The storage chips need to be faster, but they are pretty fast.
2) Controllers need to be faster. Less complicated overhead, better command concurrency, etc
3) There is a latency vs throughput issue. If most programs are making one request at a time and waiting for the response for that request, then you need really low latency to have high bandwidth. On the other hand, if a program makes many concurrent requests, then it just multiplied its theoretical peak bandwidth.

Similar issue with why TCP has a transmit window. Waiting for a response over high latency slows you down. The main difference is TCP pushes data. Reading from the harddrive pulls data.

 

[CRamseyer]

Opine will change things a bit because it lowers the QD1 latency. It will make your computer feel faster thus increasing the user experience.

Beyond that, we need a complete overhaul to effectively utilize NVMe in regular computers. The software needs to reach out for more data at the same time. The Windows file systems (other than ReFS) are all aging. We need a big shift in software across the board. It's just like with video games and other software right now. Nothing pushed the limits of the hardware. VR could be change that but I suspect we are still 5 years away from VR for anyone other than enthusiasts.

TbsToy - NVMe accelerates all tasks by lowering latency. We're starting to see the tech ship in notebooks from MSI and Lenovo. Custom desktops from companies like Maingrear and AVA sell with NVMe as well. I would say use it wherever you find a place. The Samsung NVMe drives sell for a very small premium over the SATA-based 850 Pro. You get workstation and in some cases enterprise-level performance capabilities for the rare instances when the load gets that high.

 

[jt AJ]

Opine will change things a bit because it lowers the QD1 latency. It will make your computer feel faster thus increasing the user experience.

Beyond that, we need a complete overhaul to effectively utilize NVMe in regular computers. The software needs to reach out for more data at the same time. The Windows file systems (other than ReFS) are all aging. We need a big shift in software across the board. It's just like with video games and other software right now. Nothing pushed the limits of the hardware. VR could be change that but I suspect we are still 5 years away from VR for anyone other than enthusiasts.

TbsToy - NVMe accelerates all tasks by lowering latency. We're starting to see the tech ship in notebooks from MSI and Lenovo. Custom desktops from companies like Maingrear and AVA sell with NVMe as well. I would say use it wherever you find a place. The Samsung NVMe drives sell for a very small premium over the SATA-based 850 Pro. You get workstation and in some cases enterprise-level performance capabilities for the rare instances when the load gets that high.

cpu is hitting a dead limit due to software not capable of taking advantage of new instruction hence we see 5% improvement on cpu year after year, and thats also because microsoft window legacy support and why so many old software still work on new windows.

when software programmed to take advantage of cpu's new instructions we'll see a huge jump in cpu performance and would mean more data taken from SSD overall just faster.

 

[jt AJ]

@Chris, when will optane come along, for consumer in a package of NVMe M.2 SSD?

 

[g-unit1111]

Interesting drive, but for the price I would rather go for a Samsung 950 Pro M2. I'd also be curious to see how the two drives compare in terms of read - write performance.

 

[CRamseyer]

I'm not sure when we will see Optane used in consumer or enterprise applications. It's coming but I don't know when or even how we will see it first. I hate to even speculate but I do see a few paths that make it economical, yet still useful, in the client SSD market. It would make an excellent cache for TLC for instance.

G-Unit - I think when Phison has the M.2 version ready the price will drop quite a bit. The current card version, the first to market at that, is expensive but the M.2 should be fairly cheap. I hear Phison has a new firmware coming soon that will increase the low queue depth performance. That should make it much more competitive with existing NVMe products on the market.

 

[photonboy]

This feels like a rush, "first to market" to exploit those people who think a PCIe SSD solution will beat any 2.5" or similar SSD solution.

Beta testing doesn't install long-term confidence to me. I'll wait and take a STABLE product thanks (but then I know better... as said most shoppers on Amazon do not).

 

[epobirs]

Intel has made it clear they're pitching Optane to Enterprise first. Less price sensitive and the applications, such as big transactional databases, are far more obvious.

It's going to take some work on the OS side to make use of it in a way that is transparent to consumers while justifying the price.

 

[epobirs]

Opine will change things a bit because it lowers the QD1 latency. It will make your computer feel faster thus increasing the user experience.

Beyond that, we need a complete overhaul to effectively utilize NVMe in regular computers. The software needs to reach out for more data at the same time. The Windows file systems (other than ReFS) are all aging. We need a big shift in software across the board. It's just like with video games and other software right now. Nothing pushed the limits of the hardware. VR could be change that but I suspect we are still 5 years away from VR for anyone other than enthusiasts.

TbsToy - NVMe accelerates all tasks by lowering latency. We're starting to see the tech ship in notebooks from MSI and Lenovo. Custom desktops from companies like Maingrear and AVA sell with NVMe as well. I would say use it wherever you find a place. The Samsung NVMe drives sell for a very small premium over the SATA-based 850 Pro. You get workstation and in some cases enterprise-level performance capabilities for the rare instances when the load gets that high.

100% is a small premium? I can get a Samsung 512GB 850 for around $150 on short notice. The lowest I've seen the 950 512GB on a promotion is around $290.

 

[jt AJ]

100% is a small premium? I can get a Samsung 512GB 850 for around $150 on short notice. The lowest I've seen the 950 512GB on a promotion is around $290.

well you're comparing TLC to MLC drives aint the same.