MyDigitalSSD BP4 2.5" & mSATA (240GB) Review
by Kristian Vättö on April 3, 2013 11:13 AM ESTPower Consumption
Given the increasing usage of SSDs in laptops, power consumption is playing an even bigger role than before. A power efficient SSD can potentially add an hour or more of extra battery life, whereas an inefficient SSD can consume more power than a traditional hard drive. MyDigitalSSD touted low power consumption being one of the main advantages of the BP4 and it definitely lives up to the claim. Idle power draw is similar to what we saw with Samsung's SSD 840/840 Pro while load power consumption is average. Especially for light workloads, idle power consumption is what you should look at because the drive will be idling most of the time.
The mSATA BP4 has higher power consumption but that's most likely due to the mSATA to SATA adapter. mSATA drives use 3.3V whereas the standard SATA provides a 5V rail, so the voltage has to be lowered with a voltage regulator, which uses some power as well. Anand did some measurements between 3.3V and 5V power consumption a while ago, but unfortunately our adapters are not the same so I'm not sure how much power my adapter is drawing. However, the 2.5" BP4 should serve as a good reference point since the mSATA version is essentially the same.
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watersb - Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - link
Excellent. I shall purchase the 512GB!Death666Angel - Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - link
Well, the availability in Europe seems crappy (only one UK shop 35% higher priced than the Samsung 840). I don't understand why the mSATA version is so under performing either. All-in-all, not something I would buy.MyDigitalSSD - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
mSATA uses 4 channels (can only fit 4 chips on board) on an 8 channel controller while the 2.5" uses all 8 channels. You will never notice a difference in daily use.Oxford Guy - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
"The Samsung SSD 840 has really been the only budget drive without any serious drawbacks."HardOCP's review of the 120 GB TLC drive found that its read speed plummeted because of testing, indicating that the low lifespan of the TLC NAND can be a problem. That is in addition to not very impressive write speed.
MyDigitalSSD - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
Good point. We only use the best Toshiba MLC toggle (synch) flash. Our BP4 performance over time will not deteriorate at all. This drive is a great alternative to Samsung for sure.pcrusan - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
Where is the 240GB BP4 at $160? I find it at $180 and $200.MyDigitalSSD - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
Low stock is causing the temporary pricing fluctuations. There is a serious flash shortage right now.MyDigitalSSD - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
They are in stock at MyDigitalDiscount.com at 159.99!AKFlyerFan - Friday, April 5, 2013 - link
I just ordered one of the last two reported in stock there, so we'll see how good they are when it comes in and I get it up and running..pcrusan - Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - link
Now $179.99.