Patriot SSD 64GB Review

[neufuse Veteran]

Comparision chart added

[neolfgn]

Very good review, thanks for doing it. Based on this, maybe in two years new desktop computers have SSD's as a default (I sure hope so).

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

SSD's do seem to be the way forward. Just need to crack capacities and price and they'll be there..

Nice review and thanks for sharing!

[zape]

SSDs right now are not great for anyone. The price/performence is just not worth it.

Also, the brands are not the same; Seagate/WD rule in the magnet deparment while it seems Patriot rules in the flash deparment.

Its gonna be a few years (Id even say 5) until SSD drives become standard (not to mention the size limitations right now)

[ToneKnee]

SSDs right now are not great for anyone. The price/performence is just not worth it.

Also, the brands are not the same; Seagate/WD rule in the magnet deparment while it seems Patriot rules in the flash deparment.

Its gonna be a few years (Id even say 5) until SSD drives become standard (not to mention the size limitations right now)

Size isn't much of a problem for me to be honest. I have a Data hard drive which keeps all the files I use. My current RAID-0 array is my Operating System only.

[Krpano]

Amazing review, very usefull.

I was about to buy me an OCZ Core Series V2 SATA II 2.5'' SSD only for the OS but the system lock-up issue is a real annoyance.

ill wait a bit till they do something about it.

Thanks. (Y)

[neufuse Veteran]

Found some wierd stuff out, I formatted the SSD's in 4KB allocation units (not even what is recomended!) instead of 512byte and a lot of the lock ups went away... go figure... but ontop of that I did lose about 10% of the read speed, and write speed went down to a little below what the 2 HDD's in RAID0 was

[capr]

? Sequential Reading ? 157.0 MB/ps

? Sequential Writing ? 68.20 MB/ps

? Random 512KB Reading ? 137.90 MB/ps

? Random 512KB Writing ? 35.90 MB/ps

? Random 4KB Reading - 14.71 MB/ps

? Random 4KB Writing ? 1.81 MB/ps

when you say MB/ps is that for pico seconds? cause that's really fast... if it's for per second then then you don't need the " / " sign per means divide in this case....

Sorry I am a nerd and these things catch my eye.

[neufuse Veteran]

when you say MB/ps is that for pico seconds? cause that's really fast... if it's for per second then then you don't need the " / " sign per means divide in this case....

Sorry I am a nerd and these things catch my eye.

That's an average of sustained speeds

[ToneKnee]

Found some wierd stuff out, I formatted the SSD's in 4KB allocation units (not even what is recomended!) instead of 512byte and a lot of the lock ups went away... go figure... but ontop of that I did lose about 10% of the read speed, and write speed went down to a little below what the 2 HDD's in RAID0 was

Do you think the OCZ V2 SSD's would work like the Patriot SSD's if I used a RAID controller with onboard memory?

[curvedblade]

That's an average of sustained speeds

Hey I loved your review, it actually sealed my purchase on two of these, couldn't pass up the price.

I have them running in raid 0 right now and they are very fast, however I'm only getting like 160MB/s read. Is it because I didn't use the same stripe size as you did? Would changing the stripe size allow me to reach up to the same read speeds you were getting? Also I didn't specify any particular format size either. Currently I haven't noticed any studdering, which was the only thing I was worried about before getting them. Have you tried multiple formats and stripe sizes, and found the best one? Sorry for the bombardment of questions, but any input would be greatly appreciated!

[ToneKnee]

From my understanding, the Stripe Size is important, use whatever the manufacturer states.

[ikonizer]

Excellent review, in-depth and informative. I was waiting for a real person to deliver some test results along a review for the new SSD's. Once SSD fixes it's little quirks and expands to 1TB or larger, then I'll make the switch.

Although, having a dedicated SSD solely for virtual memory would be very interesting to test...

[megamanXplosion]

Regarding the stuttering or freezing, you might find these webpages helpful:

• http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/sh...ead.php?t=43460
  
• http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/sh...ead.php?t=43525
  

[Udedenkz]

I got this thing!

~ 120MB/S Read

~ 0.3 Ms seek

But, it does get stuck sometimes. Gaming loading times are much better.

Performance is better but as I take it due to the method Window uses to write files, it's performance actually might suffer, so any application like O&O for example, to maximize the performance?

[megamanXplosion]

Defragmentation software would not help. Regardless of what the fragmentation software tells the SSD to do, the SSD will not listen. For example, if the software tells the drive to make a copy of [File Part Two] directly after [File Part One] and then delete the old copy, the SSD will receive the command but will make a copy of [File Part Two] at a random location to prevent wear-and-tear on the drive, rather than making a copy where it was told to make it. In all likelihood, the file will remain fragmented, but the drive will tell the defragmentation software, "I did what you asked", and the defragmentation software will think it accomplished something when it actually didn't.

[DanManIt]

Great review. Really points out the SSD's strengths

[vto]

I heard Windows 7 RC builded with TRIM (SSD Command). Does anyone know if the Patriot SSD 64GB needs a firmware upgrade to utilitize the TRIM on Windows 7 RC?

I am going to setup a previously used Patriot SSD 64GB in a new HP Mini 2140 on Windows 7 x86 RC platform. Do I need to wipe it clean with a SSD erase tool before the re-install to claim all the memory back? If so, which one should I use? Anyone has any other advice?

Edited June 19, 2009 by vto

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

I heard Windows 7 RC builded with TRIM (SSD Command). Does anyone know if the Patriot SSD 64GB needs a firmware upgrade to utilitize the TRIM on Windows 7 RC?

I am going to setup a previously used Patriot SSD 64GB in a new HP Mini 2140 on Windows 7 x86 RC platform. Do I need to wipe it clean with a SSD erase tool before the re-install to claim all the memory back? If so, which one should I use? Anyone has any other advice?

probably should have started a new thread for this, but no, you dont need any "SSD Erase tool." it works just like a normal hard drive.

windows 7 does support the TRIM command, but i have no idea if this drive does, or ever will, support it. check the drive's website.

[Rudimentary]

When will we see SSDs with hundreds of gigs?

[zhangm Supervisor]

When will we see SSDs with hundreds of gigs?

512GB SSDs have been out for a while, and 1 TB blocks are on the way.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

When will we see SSDs with hundreds of gigs?

plenty of models are out now... the problem is the cost.

[Rudimentary]

How much do they cost?

[ToneKnee]

How much do they cost?

They can easily go into ????'s.