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The S511 series is aimed at performance buffs with initial SF-2281-based models offering capacities of 60GB, 120GB, 240GB and 480GB. The S511 has a slim 2.5" design, measuring 100 x 69.85 x 9.5mm and weighing just 76 grams. The drive consumes two watts of power when in use and just 0.5 watts in standby, which is the same as the S599 series.
The 60GB model packs read and write speeds of 550MB/s - 500MB/s, while the larger 120GB version is slightly faster with 550MB/s reads 510MB/s writes. The 240GB model is slightly faster again as the write performance is boosted to 520MB/s. The largest model offers 480GB of storage and is actually the slowest, rated at 540MB/s reads and 460MB/s writes. Naturally, using the SATA 6Gb/s interface is essential to achieving those speeds. Currently Intel's Sandy Bridge platform provides native SATA 6Gb/s support, as does AMD’s AM3+ platform. There are also third party embedded solutions, such as the Marvell 88SE9128, which can provide motherboards with SATA 6Gb/s support, but offer very poor results compared to Intel's implementation. That said, there is a new Marvell 88SE9182 controller that can mimic the performance of Intel's 6 series chipsets, so support for the 6Gb/s SATA is improving.
All four S511 models are loaded with MLC NAND (25nm) flash memory. Our review sample has sixteen 16GB Intel 29F16B08CAME1 NAND ICs for a total capacity of 256GB. The reason this is marketed as a 240GB SSD is because 16GB is reserved for data parity (8GB for RAISE), garbage collection, and block replacement. Once formatted in Windows, the original 240GB is converted to 224GiB, though Windows shows this as 224GB, so it seems like 7% of the original capacity has been lost. With an MSRP of $428, the S511 240GB costs a mere $1.78 per gigabyte, which is amazing value for a high-performance SSD.
Like the original SF-1222 controller, the second-generation SF-2281 uses data compression technology called DuraWrite. This technology is designed to help lower write amplification and extend the drive's life by using fewer program-erase cycles. The upside is that this doesn't require a memory buffer, while the downside is that it uses more storage space on the drive. The same Tensilica DC_570T CPU we mentioned in our Vertex 2 review is being used in the SF-2281. Although the CPU remains the same, the compression engine has improved. The second-generation SandForce controllers have a bigger block of silicon dedicated to DuraWrite technology, while the garbage collection algorithms have also been improved. ADATA has given the S511 the same one-million-hour MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) rating as the S599 series. This figure essentially means nothing to the consumer and we really have no idea how reliable these drives are going to be in the very long run.
However, the S511’s three-year warranty should let customers sleep comfortably at night knowing they're covered for a reasonable timeframe. We'd like to drop a friendly reminder here that this won't protect your data, so be diligent about backups. |
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Calle2003 Posts: 15 Joined: 2010-04-27 |
Posted on: 12/06/2011 10:02 PM
Great review but why didn't you include the Kingston SSDNow V100 256GB in the graphs which you have reviewed here: http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/kingston_ssdnow_v_100_256gb_and_ssdnow_v_100_256gb,6.html |
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Steve Posts: 76 Joined: 2010-02-08 |
Posted on: 12/08/2011 08:55 PM
Thanks for the feedback. The V100+ is there, I didn’t see the need to clutter the graphs with a similar product. The V100 is also a budget drive so it is less important to compare it with a SandForce SF-2281 drive. |