Performance Test Platform

The hardware chosen was picked to reflect that of a relatively modern computer system that an enthusiast may own. The configuration of the system is as follows:

• Intel Core i7 2700k
• ASRock Z68 Extreme3 motherboard
• Crucial 2x2GB DDR3-1600 memory kit
• Asus Radeon 4870 512MB video card
• OCZ Vertex 3 240GB solid state drive
• Western Digital Black 640GB SATA hard drive
• Liteon iHAS124B SATA DVD-writer

Solid State Drive Firmware Versions

• Crucial m4: FW009
• Kingston HyperX: 332
• OCZ Synapse: 2.15
• OCZ Vertex 3: 2.15 (including Max IOPS)
• Other World Computing Mercury Electra 6G: 332

Testing Configuration and Software

• AS SSD Benchmark 1.6.4237.30508
• CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 x64
• Futuremark PCMark 7 1.0.4

A base Windows 7 Professional 64-bit install is used for the operating system.  Non-essential services including Fex, Windows Defender, Windows Search, Windows Update were disabled, as they can affect testing results.

All tests were performed 5 times each, and the average of all test runs were used as the results.  Between each test run, each SSD had the ATA Secure Erase command executed on it using Parted Magic to restore performance.

The SSDs were connected to the SATA 6G connectors on the test bed's Z68 based motherboard.  The Intel Rapid Storage Technology RAID driver was used.

Performance Testing Results

AS SSD performs different types of read and write tests using data that isn't easily compressible.  As the Synapse drive uses asynchronous NAND, it falls behind the performance of the other SSDs from OCZ.  Compared to the hard drive by itself, the cached Synapse configuration is significantly faster.  The highlight of the cached Synapse solution are the high 4K read and writes speeds.  This usually translates to a very responsive and snappy feel for the user of the computer.

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