Intel SSD 335 (240GB) Review
by Kristian Vättö on October 29, 2012 11:30 AM ESTPerformance Over Time & TRIM
SandForce has always exhibited strange behavior when it came to TRIM. Even Intel's custom firmware in the SSD 520 wasn't able to fix SandForce's TRIM problem. The issue happens when the SSD is completely filled with incompressible data (both user LBAs and spare area). Any performance degradation after that point won't be restored with a TRIM pass and instead will require a secure erase to return to new. I didn't expect the 335 to fix this but I still tortured the SSD 335 for 60 minutes, ran AS-SSD, TRIMed and reran AS-SSD:
Intel SSD 335 - Resiliency - AS SSD Sequential Write Speed - 6Gbps | |||
Clean | After Torture (60min) | After TRIM | |
Intel SSD 335 240GB | 317.7MB/s | 174.2MB/s | 176.9MB/s |
And the issues persists. This is really a big problem with SandForce drives if you're going to store lots of incompressible data (such as MP3s, H.264 videos and other highly compressed formats) because sequential speeds may suffer even more in the long run. As an OS drive the SSD 335 will do just fine since it won't be full of incompressible data, but I would recommend buying something non-SandForce if the main use will be storage of incompressible data.
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Dug - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
If Samsung continues to produce the 830 as a value drive compared to the 840, I think Intel will have trouble selling these. I don't see any advantage.Kristian Vättö - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Samsung is phasing out the SSD 830 by the end of November, so it won't be available much longer.mfenn - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Nooooooooo....I want my cheap fast drives damnit!
DanNeely - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
They're only cheap now to get rid of them; once they're out of the channel people can't point to the old model discount for why the new one is too expensive.If you want a bigger SSD, now's the time to buy the 830 you've been lusting over.
BrianDustin - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
Love my job, since I've been bringing in $5600… I sit at home, music playing while I work in front of my new iMac that I got now that I'm making it online(Click on menu Home)http://goo.gl/ntYAX
JohnUSA - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
You can shove your iMac in your rear where the sun does not shine.jwilliams4200 - Thursday, November 1, 2012 - link
It is too bad the comments software does not have a "report spam" button.JonnyDough - Friday, November 23, 2012 - link
AGREED. :( MODERATOR HELP!hrga - Thursday, November 1, 2012 - link
@BrianDustin SPAMMERWolfpup - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Samsung's drivers are flaky if hit hard, and of course less reliable. These Intel drives with Sandforce controllers aren't as good as Intel controllers, but still...Micron/Crucial and Intel are the best choices.