AS the competition arises, prices of SSD has plummeted drastically to the point where almost everyone can afford at least a 120GB SSD that would probably cost you an arm and a leg back in the time when it was first introduced. Plextor is among the brand renown for its highly reliable SSD and is one of the most recommended brand when it comes to picking a SSD.
Mighty thanks to Plextor in provision of the M6V 256GB SSD for today's review. This 256GB unit retails for $ 99.99 (roughtly RM 417+) and is also available in 128GB (roughtly RM 275+) and 512GB (roughtly RM 792+) models.
Specifications
Performance* | |
Sequential Read Speed** | Up to 535 MB/s |
Sequential Write Speed** | Up to 335 MB/s |
Random Read Speed*** | Up to 83,000 |
Random Write Speed*** | Up to 80,000 |
Physical | |
Capacity | 256GB |
Controller | SMI 2246en |
NAND Flash | TOSHIBA 15nm Toggle MLC |
DRAM Cache | 256MB DDR3 |
Form Factor | 2.5 inch |
Interface | SATA 6Gb/s, compatible with SATA 3Gb/s and 1.5Gb/s |
Power Connector | 15-pin SATA connector for DC 5V input |
Data Connector | 7-pin SATA connector |
Dimension (L x W x H) | 100 x 69.85 x 6.8 mm / 3.94 x 2.75 x 0.27 inch |
Weight | 70g / 2.47oz (Max.) |
Environment and Reliability | |
Power Consumption | 0.25W (MobileMark) |
DC Requirement | 5V / 1.0A |
Temperature | 0°C ~ 70°C / 32°F ~ 158°F (Operating) |
Shock | 1500G (Max.), at 1 msec half-sine |
Vibration | 7 ~ 800Hz, 2.17Grms (Operation) |
MTBF | > 1,500,000 hours |
Warranty | 3-Year |
Compatibility | |
Operating System Supported | Microsoft Windows OS / Linux OS / APPLE Mac OS |
Agency Approval | UL, CE, BSMI, WHQL, RoHS, VCCI, KCC, FCC, RCM, TUV, C-Tick ,CB |
Command Set Support | TRIM, S.M.A.R.T., NCQ, ATA/ATAPI-8 |
Firmware Upgrade | Supported |
Highline Features | |
Features | PlexTurbo |
Unboxing
Plextor sent us the M6V 256GB model that comes in a classy blue-grey themed box and a badge on the top right that indicates the M6V comes withPlexTurbo support and 3-year limited warranty from Plextor.
At the back of the box you'll find the specifications of the drive, performance, power requirements, operating system and file format support, box content, etc.
Content
What's inside the box is a user's guide and the Plextor M6V, no fancy accessories available.
At first glance, the immediate noticeable difference of the M6V compared to any Plextor SSD we've seen is the to of the SSD enclosure. Sticker is used instead of the usual anodized printing method seen on any previous Plextor SSD.
At the back of the M6V, you'll find the usual details i.e serial number, model name, capacity, etc.
A warranty sticker can be found at the side of the enclosure and tempering the sticker will result in the void of the 3 year limited warranty from Plextor.
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| Source: Plextor M6V |
As we've decided not to take it apart due to some specific reason, here's a diagram showing the controller and NAND flash used.
Software
The Plextool is Plextor's very own SSD Toolbox for viewing necessary information, firmware updates, secure erase/format, diagonostic and SSD caching feature.
The drive status tab has a drop down menu where you can select and view information of the drives installed to your system i.e, total usable capacity, remaining free space, total used space, SSD heath, temperature (no exact value) and TRIM status indicator.
The Plextool info tab is basically a built-in user guide with well labeled diagram that can be understand easily.
As performing a full format is not recommended on an SSD, secure erase is a more preferred method and it should guarantee the secure erasure of all stored data on a storage medium. A secure erased SSD will then be usable at its original ideal performance level (theoretically).
Firmware update is pretty much self explanatory, this allows you to update the firmware of the SSD much easier by retrieving the necessary files directly from Plextor's server and automatically update the firmware of your SSD.
Diagnostic scan is an SSD diagnostic utility to obtain comprehensive information of the SSD and should there be any errors detected, timely action can be taken before any disastrous event can occur.
While Plextor did mentioned PlexTurbo support for M6V, the PlexTurbo for the M6V doesn't appears to be the same as the built-in with the PlexTool for the Plextor M6e Black Edition but rather a dedicated tool of its own named PlexTurbo Viewer. Options available are the adjustments for cache size, cache release time, enable or disable preloaded hot operation files and auto execute PlexTurbo Viewer on boot.
Testing Method
Test Rig Configuration | |
CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i |
CPU | Intel Core i7 4790K |
Motherboard | ASUS Maximus Hero VII |
Memory | G.Skill TridentX @2400MHz |
Primary Hard Drive | - |
Power Supply | be quiet! Straight Power 10 600W |
Chassis | Vector BenchCase |
Synthetic Benchmark
CrystalDiskMark
Developed by a Japanese coder that goes by the nickname Hiyohiyo, CrystalDiskMark is one of the most frequent used SSD Benchmark utility to measure SSD's read and write performance. There's 2 option for the test data used, compressible (0 fill) and incompressible (1 fill).
We've selected 1 fill as our test data and the result isn't bad either. The result shows a sequential read performance peaked at 551.4MB/s and sequential write performance peaked at 355.9MB/s. Both 4K read and write performance seems pretty decent, with 38.04MB/s for 4K read and 123.2MB/s for 4K write.
AS SSD Benchmark
Widely used SSD benchmarking utility that uses incompressible data to simulate the worst possible scenario for a SSD and thus giving a much lower sequential read and write speed result than what has been stated by the manufacturer as result of the heavy workload.
As incompressible data is used, lower sequential read and sequential write result is expected. Sequential read peaked at 529.03MB/s and sequential write performance peaked at 343.43MB/s. 4K read and write performance is bearable, with 35.20MB/s for 4K read and 109.96MB/s for 4K write.
ATTO Disk Benchmark
The most frequently used benchmarking utility by many manufacturers for performance specification. As ATTO Disk Benchmark uses compressible data rather than compressible data, it results in higher benchmark scores. We've ran the benchmark with transfer size ranged from 0.5KB to 8192KB and total length of the test to be 256MB.
The result seems pretty good with sequential read performance peaked at 561.84MB/s and sequential write performance peaked at 358.71MB/s.
Anvil's Storage Utilities
By far the most complete SSD Benchmark utility available. The Anvil's Storage Utilities not only comes with the standard SSD Benchmark function, it also includes other functions such as endurance testing and threaded I/O read, write and mixed tests and option to configure the compressibility of the test data.
While both sequential read and sequential write performance exhibits the near result as what we've seen in AS SSD benchmark, we can see the SSD's response time that is not displayed in majority of the SSD Benchmarking utilities out there.
PlexTurbo Test
Here's a quick run for all synthetic benchmark with PlexTurbo enabled - It does shows some improvement but definitely not the kind big boost in read and write speed like we've observed with the PlexTurbo for Plextor M6e Black Edition.
Real World Performance
We've ran several test using several SSD with at least 40% capacity occupied with various commonly used software to simulate the real world scenario.
There isn't much performance gap seen but from the result above, we can see that the Plextor M6V is doing pretty well with all the test conducted.
Verdict
The Plextor M6V might not be the best SSD available, but it's no doubt a pretty balanced SSD when it comes to the synthetic benchmark results we've obtained, Although the difference across the SSD tested is barely noticeable when it comes to real world performance, but paying $99.99 for the M6V 256GB model seems to be a pretty fair deal as most 256GB model we've seen costs more than that and yields a very close performance to it.
As the SRP for the Malaysian market is yet to be confirmed and we cannot guarantee it will be exactly the RM417 as we have initially estimated for the 256GB model, but it's definitely an additional option that is worth to consider for if you're on a tight budget for a 256GB SSD.
Pros
- Reasonable price for the 256GB model
- Comes with a standard 3 year warranty
- Decent performance
Cons
- No additional accessories included
- Lower PlexTurbo performance
Surprise! We're having a Merdeka Giveaway and the prize will be the Plextor M6V 256GB here! Click on the image below to find out more!
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