By: Jonathan Kwan
March 27, 2015
What should you do if you are driving a friend home, but do not exactly know where they live? I do not know about you, but personally, I found the easiest way is to ask them for directions. Sure, pulling up Google Maps works, but what works better than asking the person who actually live there? As logical as this may sound, things do not always work out as it does in theory. One time, I was driving my friend home. As I neared the street of where she lives, I asked if I should turn left or turn right. Without much thinking, she told me to turn left. Being as reasonably skeptical as I should be, I asked her if it was this left (Pointing to my actual left) or that left (Pointing to my actual right). She told me it was "that left", pointing to our actual right. Sometimes, taking things at face value can be deceptive, regardless of what we have learned in the past. A few years ago, owning a solid state drive meant you were ballin'. For $600 a piece, products like the OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB represented the best of the best. Nowadays, SSDs in that capacity range can be had for about a hundred bucks, with every manufacturer jumping in with their entry into the segment. Some examples include the Crucial MX100, OCZ ARC 100, Patriot Blaze, and SanDisk Ultra II; all of which are decent performing consumer grade SSDs. Today, we will take a look at yet another product in that price range; namely, the sub-$90 Silicon Power Slim S80 240GB. Using a Phison PS3108-S8 controller, MLC NAND flash (Rather than TLC), and rated at 550MB/s read and 500MB/s write, can we take it at face value, or is there more to the story? Read on to find out!
Our review unit of the Silicon Power Slim S80 240GB came in a relatively compact, white corrugated cardboard box from the company's American offices in Fremont, California. In the past, we have had stuff come all the way from Silicon Power's actual headquarters in Taiwan, but not having to ship overseas can really save some cash -- unless you think Canada is overseas from the United States (Trust me, I have actually talked to a person a few years ago who genuinely thought it was true). Anyway, using USPS and transferred to Canada Post across the border, which was not divided by an ocean, everything arrived in my locked mailbox safely for our review today.
Silicon Power is no stranger to us here at APH Networks. If you look at the Silicon Power Diamond D06 1TB and Silicon Power Armor A30 1TB, you will notice quite a bit of family resemblance in the retail box design. Here, you will get no window, but windows are not necessarily the norm for internal computer hardware. Instead, printed boldly across the middle in front of a red gradient band is a photo of the Slim S80 solid state drive. Adjacent to it is a matrix of icons indicating product features, along with a slogan and brief product description underneath it. Silicon Power's logo is placed at the upper left hand corner, while the rated read and write speed is on the right. At the bottom, the company's slogan, "Memory is Personal", as well as the model and capacity -- S80 240GB -- is affixed. Additional information concerning this SSD can be found on remaining sides of the box.
Before we move on, let us take a look at the features and specifications of the Silicon Power Slim S80 240GB, as obtained from the manufacturer's website:
Features
- 7mm slim design suitable for Ultrabooks and Ultra-slim notebooks
- SATA III 6Gbps backwards compatible with SATA II 3Gbps
- ATTO high transfer rate: Read speed: 550 MB/s max; Write speed: 500 MB/s max
- Smartest Choice for System Upgrade
- Supports TRIM command and Garbage Collection technology
- NCQ and RAID ready
- Implemented with ECC technology to guarantee data transmission reliability
- Built-in with SMART monitoring system
- Low power consumption
- Shockproof & Anti-Vibration
- Noiseless operation, no latency delay and no seek error
- 3 year warranty
*Transfer rates may vary, depending on system platform.
Specifications
- Capacity: 120GB/240GB/480GB/960GB
- Dimensions: 100mm x 69.85mm x 7mm
- Weight: 79g
- Vibration Resistance Test: 20G
- Shock Resistance Test: 1500G Max
- Color: Black
For less than $90 at press time, the Silicon Power Slim S80 240GB comes with a surprisingly generous bundle. Sliding out the PET shell from the box, you will receive the SSD itself, 2.5" to 3.5" adapter bracket, and a 7.5 mm to 9.5 mm rubber spacer. Older 2.5" drives are 9.5 mm thick, so if you have a drive bay that requires the extra height for proper installation, Silicon Power worked hard to have all your bases covered. Two sets of screws as well as an installation guide were included to make sure everything will scoot along nicely, regardless of what your application for your drive is. It is rare nowadays to see both a spacer and an adapter bracket in the same box, especially for something of this price range.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look, Test System
3. Benchmark: AIDA64 Disk Benchmark
4. Benchmark: ATTO Disk Benchmark
5. Benchmark: Crystal Disk Mark 3.0
6. Benchmark: HD Tach 3.0.1.0
7. Benchmark: HD Tune Pro 4.60
8. Benchmark: PassMark PerformanceTest 8.0
9. Benchmark: PCMark Vantage
10. Conclusion
