The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds
  • print
  • alert

Cloud based data management

JMicron has had a torrid time with its SSD controllers, some of it undeserved. Despite reports that the JMF602 suffered from terrible stuttering I have never personally experienced this problem. As it happens, when I reviewed the Kingston SSDNow V 128GB I found that the drive had fairly low performance but it didn’t suffer from stuttering problems.

WD SSD SiliconEdge

Double stacked chips make 32 in total

Since then I have tested an A-Data S596 combo drive which uses a JMicron JMF612 controller to add a USB 2.0 port alongside the Sata 2.0 connector and it also behaved itself during testing, although the performance was uninspiring. I had every expectation that the WD SiliconEdge Blue would work reasonably well, despite its use of a JMicron controller. The quoted read speed is 250MB/s and the write speed is 170MB/s, which is slightly lower than an Indilinx Barefoot SSD but none too shoddy.

Benchmark Tests

2GB Files Transfer Results

WD SSD SiliconEdge

Time in Seconds (s)
Shorter bars are better

HD Tach Results

WD SSD SiliconEdge

Bandwidth in Megabytes per Second (MB/s)
Longer bars are better

CrystalDiskMark Results

WD SSD SiliconEdge

Data throughput in Megabytes per Second (MB/s)
Longer bars are better

I tested the WD using my regular Core i5 set-up with 64-bit Windows 7 and found that the results were similar to those from the A-Data S596, although there were some clear differences between the two drives. The Write IOPS test in Iometer was distinctly perkier on the WD SiliconEdge, where the score came in at 641 compared to a mere 69 for the A-Data.

That sounds like an impressive piece of development work by the WD team so it’s worth reminding you that an Indilinx drive will score more than 1,000 in the same test, the second generation Intel X25-M will go north of 3,000 and the Micron RealSSD C300 has scored 7,622 using a SATA 3.0 interface.

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

Latest Comments

Re: Why bother.....

Maybe they're hoping Seagate will buy them.

0
0

Why bother.....

....to release kit when WD must know that it is not up to snuff? I simply do not understand why a company of WD's standing in the industry releases a product that can only damage their reputation.

0
0

More from The Register

Samsung Galaxy Note 8: Proof the pen is mightier?
Sammy’s iPad Mini killer has a stylus to stab other rivals too
Microsoft lures buy-curious vixens, corduroys with a cheap fondle
Surface slab sales latest: Will no one rid Ballmer of these turbulent tabs?
First look: iOS 7 for iPad
No, Apple hasn't released it yet, but that doesn't stop intrepid devs
 breaking news
Curtain drops on Apple Store ahead of WWDC: What lies behind?
Steve Jobs watching from on high. No pressure, lads
 breaking news
Cold, dead hands of Steve Jobs slip from iPhones: The Cult of Ive is upon us
Billionaire biz baron's death clears way for uber-shiny iOS 7
Airbus imagines suitcases that find themselves
Point your mobe at your smalls to track their every move
Surprise! Intel smartphone trounces ARM in power trials
Tests show equal performance while sipping significantly less juice
Samsung plans LTE Advanced version of Galaxy S4
1Gbps download capability could stiffen drooping S4 sales forecasts
Ex-HTC execs launch UK-based smartphone maker Kazam
Startup threatens to 'disrupt status quo' this year