How We Test

As you likely know, while manufacturers claim impressive peak I/O performance out of the box, these results can diminish over time. Unlike a conventional hard drive, any write operation made to an SSD is a two-step process: a data block must be erased and then written to. Obviously if the drive is new and unused there will be nothing to erase and therefore the first step can be bypassed, but this only happens once unless the drive is trimmed.

Considering this, we run the HD Tach full benchmark several times to fill the drive before testing. This simulates heavy usage and clearly indicates how performance will be affected after normal long-term use.

Most drives support the TRIM function, which is meant to counteract these negative effects.

Test System Specs

Software

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