Silicon Power S57 240GB Solid State Drive Review

Introduction

I recently had a closer look at Silicon Power’s S56 SSD, and today it is time to take a look at its brother, the S57. The two drives are similar in many aspects, but not all. Just as the S56, the Silicon Power S57 is a drive designed for the entry market. The area of usage is clear, to replace that old mechanical drive with something that consumes less power, makes less noise, and is less prone to shock damage.

The S57 comes in two different capacity options, 120GB and 240GB. That means that this drive is designed for systems that don’t write a lot of local data. Chromebooks and other similar cloud-based solutions could be the perfect target audience for this drive. A small capacity means a low price and the S57’s strength is reading.

The Silicon Power S57 is built with TLC NAND that is aided by a portion of SLC cache. The ”SLC Cache technology”, as it is called, adopts the new caching architecture that combines both SLC and TLC flash blocks. The implementation of such technology enables all data to be written in the SLC portion first and then sequentially copied to TLC, therefore leading to higher peak writing performance.

Where the NAND setup is similar to the S56, the controller isn’t. The S57 SSD that we’re looking at today employs a Marvell controller. A different controller with different strengths, but similar features. We find basics such as Trim, SMART, and Garbage Collection along with Error Correction Code and Bad Block Management.

Silicon Power backs the S57 by a three-year warranty, and the drive comes with a mean time before failure (MTBF) rating of 1.5 million hours. Further value can be added through the SP Toolbox. It provides multiple ways for users to obtain disk information, and to change settings easily.

Feature Highlights

• TLC NAND flash and the “SLC Cache Technology.”
• Marvell controller for better endurance and stability
• 15 times faster than a standard 5400 RPM HDD
• 7mm slim design suitable for Ultrabooks and Ultra-slim notebooks
• Support TRIM command and Garbage Collection technology
• NCQ and RAID ready
• Implemented with ECC technology to guarantee reliable data transmission
• Built-in with S.M.A.R.T. monitoring system
• Low power consumption, shock and vibration-proof, no noise and low latency
• Free-download SP ToolBox software provides multiple ways for users to obtain disk information such as view S.M.A.R.T. status, wear out count, block information and diagnostic scan.

Package and Content

The SP57 comes in a simple package, but also one that is more than sufficient. The included drive is shown off through the plastic part while the cardboard presents you with all the vital information.

The rear side has a few more detail on the features and the performance.

Testing & Methodology

Hardware

• Gigabyte Z79X UD5H-BK
• Intel Core i7-4790K
• G.Skill Ares DDR3 1866MHz (2x4GB)
• OCZ Vertex4 256GB
• CoolerMaster Silent Pro Hybrid 850W
• NZXT Kraken X60
• Dimastech Easy V3

Software

• AIDA64 Storage Benchmark
• Anvil’s Storage Utilities
• AS SSD Benchmark
• ATTO Benchmark
• CrystalDiskMark
• IOMeter
• PCMark 8 Storage Benchmark
• Windows 10

In a bid to make our testing as thorough and as accurate as possible, we have devised a testing methodology that will give us the maximum amount of data. While this means that testing each drive will take considerably longer – easily up 36 hours – the overall picture that we can gather is bigger too. It helps both you as the reader and us as the reviewer’s to gain a clearer view of the drive’s overall performance, strengths, and weaknesses. It also provides a more accurate analysis on how each drive performs under different conditions.

There are many ways to test a storage drive, and we have chosen to include close to every test possible. We will start with a common benchmark analysis of the formatted drive with various fillage scenarios. Depending on how a drive is built, it might perform differently depending on how much data it already is storing. To test this, the drive will be tested empty as well as with 25%, 50%, and 75% space usage. For these tests, we will be using Anvil’s Storage Utilities, AS SSD Benchmark, ATTO Benchmark, and CrystalDiskMark. Besides these synthetic fill tests, the drive will also be tested with PCMark 8’s storage benchmark to get real-world performance results.

Following the fillage tests, the partition will be removed, and we test the drive’s raw performance. These tests will determine the hardware’s capabilities while removing any interference from the set file system. AIDA64’s storage benchmark and IOmeter are both great tools for this, and they help us paint an even clearer picture of the drive. The IOmeter tests I run are quite different from the rest as they will give a final result after a longer performance test rather than a maximum or average score. This gives us yet another view of the tested drive over the regular tests.

Durability is a vital factor when it comes to NAND-based drives as the chips only can be rewritten so many times before they’ll stop working properly. Modern SSDs come with wear-level algorithms to increase the lifetime and reduce this factor as much as possible. We also take this into consideration in our reviews even tho it would take years to simulate this under real-world conditions. Luckily, Anvil’s Storage Utilities comes with an endurance test that can perform this action much faster, but it is still a time-consuming process. process. Depending on the hardware, this can easily take several days, and we write thousands and thousands of small files in various sizes and compressibility to drive over and over.

Following this conditioning process, all of the previous benchmarks will be run again in the same scenarios and the same order. This will give us a great view on how a drive will perform after prolonged usage, and that is a very vital factor when you pick out your storage drive.

Modern operating systems all take care of the TRIM command in the background and it isn’t something to worry about for regular users. However, for these reviews, I will add a waiting period between each benchmark to make sure that the TRIM command has been fully executed and finished. After all, we want a clear picture of the drive’s performance with minimal interference from the operating system.

On each page that follows with the benchmark results, I have inserted result screenshots from the benchmarks, created drive analysis chart for the fill-level performance, and added drive comparison charts where possible.

AIDA64

AIDA64 is a streamlined Windows diagnostic and benchmarking software for home users. It provides a wide range of features to assist in overclocking, hardware error diagnosis, stress testing, and sensor monitoring.

It has unique capabilities to assess the performance of the processor, system memory, and disk drives and is compatible with most Microsoft Windows operating systems. It also has a disk benchmark tool, and that is the one I’ll be using.

Fresh Drive

The Linear Read and Write tests measure the sequential performance by reading or writing all sectors without skipping any. It gives, as the name says, a linear view of the drives overall performance from start to end.

The Random Read and Write tests measure the random performance by reading or writing variable-sized data blocks at random locations on the surface of the drive. The Random tests are a combination of both speed and access times as it moves the position before each new operation.

The Access time tests are designed to measure the data access performance by reading or writing small 0.5KB data blocks at random locations on the drive surface.

Conditioned Drive

The Linear Read and Write tests measure the sequential performance by reading or writing all sectors without skipping any. It gives, as the name says, a linear view of the drives overall performance from start to end.

The Random Read and Write tests measure the random performance by reading or writing variable-sized data blocks at random locations on the surface of the drive. The Random tests are a combination of both speed and access times as it moves the position before each new operation.

The Access time tests are designed to measure the data access performance by reading or writing small 0.5KB data blocks at random locations on the drive surface.

Performance Analysis

Anvil’s Storage Utilities

Anvil’s Storage Utilities is a complete benchmark used to test any writeable storage drive. It also has a drive endurance test that consistently reads and writes data to the selected medium to give days, months, and potentially even years of use in a shorter period of time. This is great to see how a drive copes in the longer term.

Fresh Drive

Conditioned Drive

Drive Performance Analysis

Drive Comparison

For the purpose of drive comparison, I will be using the performance figures from both unconditioned and conditioned tests with 0% data-fill.

AS SSD

The AS SSD software determines the performance of Solid State Drives (SSD). The tool contains five synthetic and three practice tests. The synthetic tests determine the sequential and random read and write performance of the SSD. These tests are performed without using the operating system caches. In Sequential tests, the program measures the time it takes to read and write a 1 GB file respectively. To give a clearer picture of the drives tested, I’ve chosen to include all tests. Special the copy test is one that I think is relevant on the consumer level as it gives the user a view into one of the operations he’s going to do many times.

Fresh Drive

Conditioned

Drive Performance Analysis

Drive Comparison

For the purpose of drive comparison, I will be using the performance figures from both unconditioned and conditioned tests with 0% data-fill.

ATTO

The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Measure your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes. Several options are available to customise your performance measurement including queue depth, overlapped I/O and even a comparison mode with the option to run continuously. Use ATTO Disk Benchmark to test any manufacturers RAID controllers, storage controllers, host adapters, hard drives and SSD drives and notice that ATTO products will consistently provide the highest level of performance to your storage.

Fresh Drive

Conditioned

Drive Performance Analysis

Drive Comparison

For the purpose of drive comparison, I will be using the performance figures from both unconditioned and conditioned tests with 0% data-fill.

CrystalDiskMark

CrystalDiskMark is a small HDD benchmark utility for your hard drive that enables you to rapidly measure sequential and random 4KB/512KB read/write speeds.

Fresh Drive

Conditioned

Drive Performance

Drive Comparison

For the purpose of drive comparison, I will be using the performance figures from both unconditioned and conditioned tests with 0% data-fill.

IOmeter & PCMark 8

IOmeter

OMeter is an I/O subsystem measurement and characterization tool for single and clustered systems. It is used as a benchmark and troubleshooting tool and is easily configured to replicate the behaviour of many popular applications. One commonly quoted measurement provided by the tool is IOPS.

IOMeter allows the configuration of disk parameters such as the ‘Maximum Disk Size’, ‘Starting Disk Sector’ and ‘# of Outstanding I/Os’. This allows a user to configure a test file upon which the ‘Access Specifications’ configure the I/O types to the file. Configurable items within the Access Specifications are Transfer Request Size, Percent Random/Sequential distribution, Percent Read/Write Distribution, Aligned I/O’s, Reply Size, and TCP/IP status among others.

Sequential Performance

Random 4K Performance

Drive Comparison

PCMark 8

PCMark 8 Storage benchmark is used test the performance of SSDs, HDDs, and hybrid drives with traces recorded from Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office and a selection of popular games. You can test any recognised
storage device, including local external drives. Unlike synthetic storage tests, the PCMark 8 Storage benchmark highlights real-world performance differences between storage devices.

Fresh Drive

Conditioned Drive

Drive Comparison

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Silicon Power S57 is brand new and as such still difficult to find. Amazon US was one of the few places that I could find it. On there, you can get the 120GB model for just $47.99 and the 240GB model that I tested today for $72.99.

Overview

I quite like Silicon Power’s new drive design, it is a lot fresher than the previous drive series. While it isn’t vital to the performance, it is a nice bonus for everyone with a see-through PC case. The S57 comes in two small capacity options which make it a great drive for cloud-based systems and other setups that don’t require a lot of local writes. You get the speedy read scores for quick boot-ups and fast application loading.

The TLC NAND coupled with SLC technology for cache buffer is a great way to boost the performance of a drive and keep the costs down. The Marvell controller used is another one, but it also has performance impacts when compared to the Phison controller used on S56.

Where the drive is great at reading, it isn’t so great at writing. However, if we think of the usage scenario mentioned above, we don’t need it. There is a second downside to the drive which is the random performance which again is something that isn’t as relevant when you use the drive for what it’s intended. Quick read scores and a low purchase price along with a long warranty and endurance rating are things that are arguments hard to ignore.

Pros

• Good read scores
• Perfect for cloud-books
• Bad Block Management
• Error Correction Code

Cons

• Write scores
• Random performance

“Quick read scores and a low purchase price along with a long warranty and endurance rating are things that are arguments hard to ignore.”

Thank you Silicon Power for providing us with this sample.