Benchmarks
All results were obtained at 5GHz on a normal install of Windows 7 64-bit and WinXP. These are our results, yours may vary so
only use these as a guideline for a similarly configured system.
Drive
Average Read
Average Write
IO Meter IOPS
4K Write
Average IO Response
Max IO Response Time
Plextor M3 PRO 256GB SSD
533
436.9
29325.11
258.7
0.2726
7.8768
Plextor M3 256GB SSD
499.1
360.6
27060.1
266.6
0.2955
8.9941
Intel 520 240GB SSD
475.6
310.5
21603.1
258.2
0.3701
41.171
Corsair ForceGT 120GB
469.1
163.1
13993.4
159
0.5715
40.871
drive, but differing in that it’s
not a single DDR2 chip. The
NAND is courtesy of Toshiba
24nm, 2-bit Toggle-Mode
chips while the controller
remains unchanged. It’s only
safe to assume then that the
difference in performance is
between the firmware used
and the faster DDR3 memory
employed on the drive.
Plextor ships their familiar
SSD Toolbox software which
lets you update the drive’s
firmware, check capacity,
operating conditions and
format the drive should
you so choose. It’s a simple
enough tool to use and
worth installing. You can get
almost all these features,
from third party software
but it’s easier to just use the
included utility.
What would have been
great to see with the M3 PRO
package is the inclusion of
an external drive enclosure
much like the one Kingston
includes with their Hyper
X drives. Not only that, but
it would be fair to expect
it to be a USB3.0 capable
enclosure. Given that
this is a premium drive,
these additional extras
would go a long way into
making this drive one of
the more desirable SSDs
on the market. A missed
opportunity as far as we’re
concerned especially given
that the 3.5” bracket we
could argue isn’t nearly as
important to include.
Overall, we are thoroughly
impressed with the
performance of the M3 Pro
drive. Some may not think
the additional $50 is worth
it over the regular drive
given the performance
gains are on average about
10%, however we maintain
that if you want premium
performance then the $50
just may be worth it.
[ The Overclocker ]
Summary
The M3 PRO is even
quicker than the regular
drive we reviewed in our
last issue. The small
form factor will make
it suitable for use in
Ultra books and the
like. The real triumph
of this drive is in the
performance numbers
where it cements itself
thoroughly as the fastest
drive we’ve ever tested
here. This is a must buy.
Would you buy it?
Yes this drive is certainly
worth the purchase
is only secondary to
performance. It’s
thoroughly quick.
The Score
9/10
Issue 20 | 2012 The OverClocker 13