Intel SSD 335 Series (240GB) - A 20nm Refresh

Test Setup

Test Setup

The drives tested on our new storage testbed, has the following system specifications:

• Intel Core i5-2400 (3.1GHz)
• MSI Z68A-GD80 (Intel Z68 chipset)
• 2 x 4GB DDR3-1600 memory
• MSI GeForce 8600 GTS
• Windows 7

The list of SSDs tested are as follows:

• Intel SSD 335 Series (240GB)
• Intel SSD 520 Sereis (240GB)
• Plextor M2S (256GB) (Firmware 1.09)
• OCZ Vertex 4 (256GB) (Firmware 1.5 Beta)
• Transcend SATA III SSD720 (256GB) (Firmware: 5.0.2)
• Kingmax SATA III SSD SMP35 Client (240GB) (Firmware: L0306)
• Crucial M4 SSD (240GB)
• Kingston HyperX SSD (240GB)

Since we’ve thus far only tested higher-end enthusiast-grade SSDs, it’ll be interesting to see how a “mainstream” SSD like the Intel SSD 335 Series compares against the current crop of SSD speed demons. We will also be paying special to how the SSD 335 Series compares against Intel’s own SSD 520 Series. The SSD 520 Series, which is intended for enthusiasts, is largely similar to the SSD 335 Series but packs highly quality chips with higher P/E (program-erase) cycles and a more refined firmware.

The list of benchmarks used are as follows:

• AS-SSD benchmark 1.6.4
• HD Tune Pro 4.6
• CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1
• PCMark 7
• PCMark Vantage
• Iometer (version 2006.07.27)