Nand Flash chips used in the SSD are divided into higher priced SCL, and lower-priced MLC. The former is suitable for writing data, while the latter shows better performance in reading data; the downside of the MLC is its shorter lifespan and that it requires SSD controller to provide better algorithms to enable MLC SSD Flash chips to write data uniformly, in order to extend its service life.
We mainly tested SLC products SUPER Sspeed SSD 64GB, KingFast KF2502-064S 64GB SSD, KingSpec MG1-S064 64GB SSD and Solidata SC-64 64GB SSD, also observed the performance of two MLC NAND Flash SSDs-----KingFast KF251MCI 64GB SSD and STAREX 64GB SSD aiming to compare the same class SSD controllers.
The following are results of each test item:
Boot Up Time of Windows System
In this test, Solidata SC-64 64GB SSD scores highest at 159.86MB/s due to the adoption of high priced SSD controller. KingFast KF2502-064S 64G SSD and KF251MCI 64GB SSD both use Indilinx SSD controller but present different performances as the former is SLC Flash type and the latter is MLC NAND Flash type.
ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.4.3
In the test of the writing and reading rate of large- and small-size files, the leading writing speeds all come from SLC SSDs.
h2benchw v3.6
Considering the overall test performance, in view of the continuous reading and writing speed, MLC NAND type STAREX 64GB SSD scored highest but other SLC SSDs followed closely behind.
HDTune Pro v3.50
In the HDTune Pro test, we evaluated the items by average reading. KingSpec MG1-S064 64GB SSD took the lead with a speed of 216.4MB/s followed by SUPER Sspeed SSD 64GB, KingFast KF251MCI 64GB SSD.
IOMeter 2006.07.27
The significant part of this test is to measure the highest input/output performance of SSDs under big volume of IO, which reflects the design level of the SSD controllers. In this average IO test, the top four are Solidata SC-64 64GB SSD, KingSpec MG1-S064 64GB SSD, SUPER Sspeed SSD 64GB.
Overall Performance Evaluation
In light of PCMARK comprehensive scores, it can be seen that SLC type products do better than MLC NAND SSDs on the whole.
The advantage of the SLC type is high writing speed, enabling itself for applications with heavy writing tasks, such as video editing, workstations. When choosing products, if taking both good writing speed and lifespan into account, users with high stability requirement should first consider SLC SSD products.
MLC NAND SSDs cost less and has a potential for writing performance improvement when related technologies are enhanced in future. Its use life is also expected to last longer.