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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sheh - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
Thanks for the clarification.jwilliams4200 - Thursday, November 1, 2012 - link
I think the most accurate figure is the write amplification during the 4KiB QD32 test.In your first table, E1 = 1.51 TiB (Intel seems to have the same bug as Windows, labeling TB when they mean TiB)
And F9 = 1208 GiB (I am assuming it is GiB not GB, since Intel usually seems to use the binary power units)
Then in the last table, E1 = 3.90 TiB and F9 = 37791 GiB.
Then WA = (37791 - 1208) / (3.90 - 1.51) / 1024 = 14.95
So WA is about 15 for the QD32 4KiB random writes.
jwilliams4200 - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
What is the exact wording from Intel for the $184 price?The article says MSRP, but in the past, Intel has often quoted their distributor price for 1000 units. In other words, how much newegg would pay Intel if they ordered 1000 units.
So I am wondering whether $184 is really the MSRP, or whether it is the 1000 unit price (in which case the street price would be higher than $184)
Kristian Vättö - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Intel said the $184 is the RCP/MSRP (Recommended Customer Price/Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price).jwilliams4200 - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Thank you for the clarification. So apparently newegg is selling for significantly more than the RCP (currently $210).Kristian Vättö - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Thanks for the heads up, I updated the article with the NewEgg pricing info. I guess this once again proves that MSRPs are totally meaningless.MadMan007 - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Or it proves that Newegg prices a bit high on newly launched tech. Maybe Newegg shouldn't be used as the sole basis for pricing any more.jwilliams4200 - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
No, it is not just newegg. The cheapest price (from a major retailer) that I see for the 335 now is $195 from buy.com. Most of the others want more than $200 including shipping.meloz - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
SSDs continue to be a minefield for consumers. It is pathetic that this SSD wore out as quickly as it did. Such a fundamental issue should have been caught in Intel's internal testing before the drive was dispatched for reviewing, specially when the drive started with MWI of 92. No one at Intel thought this was odd?Looks like we will have to wait another 18 months for SSDs to become truly reliable. But I thought the same 18 months ago. Ugh. Only the Samsung 840 inspires some sort of confidence.
I shudder to think how these manufacturers will cope with newer NAND in future which will have even lesser write-erase cycle life.
Reading about all these laughable "oops" by SSD manufacturers makes you *really* appreciate the job Segate, WD and Samsung do with their platter drives.
jeffrey - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
After Anandtech's 840 Pro review sample died, I'm not super inspired with confidence about the plain 840.