The Intel SSD 600p (512GB) Review

Mixed Random Read/Write Performance

The mixed random I/O benchmark starts with a pure read test and gradually increases the proportion of writes, finishing with pure writes. The queue depth is 3 for the entire test and each subtest lasts for 3 minutes, for a total test duration of 18 minutes. As with the pure random write test, this test is restricted to a 16GB span of the drive, which is empty save for the 16GB test file.

The 600p was slower than the Crucial MX300 on random writes but faster at random reads. On the mixed random I/O test, they average out to a tie.

Despite performing the same overall, the 600p used more than twice the power of the MX300. The SM2260 controller simply imposes far too much power overhead than is appropriate when paired with slow TLC NAND.

Intel SSD 600p 512GBIntel SSD 600p 512GB (PCIe 2x2)ADATA Premier SP550 480GBCrucial MX300 525GBIntel SSD 540s 480GBIntel SSD 750 1.2TBIntel SSD 750 400GBOCZ RD400 512GB (M.2)OCZ RD400A 512GBOCZ VX500 512GBPNY CS1311 480GBPNY CS2211 480GBSamsung 850 EVO 500GBSamsung 850 Pro 512GBSamsung 950 Pro 512GBSamsung 960 EVO 1TBSamsung 960 Pro 2TB

The 600p performs better as more writes are added in to the mix, but it doesn't spike in performance for the final all-writes phase of the test. This means its performance is much more balanced than many other drives that simply run up the score at the end.

Mixed Sequential Read/Write Performance

The mixed sequential access test covers the entire span of the drive and uses a queue depth of one. It starts with a pure read test and gradually increases the proportion of writes, finishing with pure writes. Each subtest lasts for 3 minutes, for a total test duration of 18 minutes. The drive is filled before the test starts.

The faster-than-SATA read speeds of the 600p aren't enough to compensate for the poor write speeds, so it ends up scoring only slightly ahead of the budget SATA SSDs.

There is a clear separation in power consumption between the SATA and PCIe SSDs. For once, the 600p is the lowest power PCIe SSD, but it is still the least efficient due to its low performance.

Intel SSD 600p 512GBIntel SSD 600p 512GB (PCIe 2x2)ADATA Premier SP550 480GBCrucial MX300 525GBIntel SSD 540s 480GBIntel SSD 750 1.2TBIntel SSD 750 400GBOCZ RD400 512GB (M.2)OCZ RD400A 512GBOCZ VX500 512GBPNY CS1311 480GBPNY CS2211 480GBSamsung 850 EVO 500GBSamsung 850 Pro 512GBSamsung 950 Pro 512GBSamsung 960 EVO 1TBSamsung 960 Pro 2TB

As expected, adding writes to the mix drags down performance, though there aren't enough writes in the 80/20 phase to have much of an impact yet. It is a hallmark of low-end SSDs to see performance stay low through the end of the test, while high-performance SSDs typically have a U-shaped performance curve here.