UserBenchmark: Intel 520 Series vs SanDisk Extreme II

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SanDiskSDSSDXP-120G-G25

$130

IntelSSDSC2CW120A3

BUY • $199

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Real World Speed

Performance profile from 21,810 user samples

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2,462 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 101% 112GB free
Worst Bench: 59% 87GB free

Poor: 59% Great: 101%

SPEED RANK: 407^th / 1072

19,348 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 88% 17GB free
Worst Bench: 57% 37GB free (System drive)

Poor: 57% Great: 88%

SPEED RANK: 594^th / 1072


Effective Speed Effective SSD Speed		84.8 %	Faster effective speed. +15%		74 %


Read Avg. Sequential Read Speed	464 MB/s	Faster read speed. +18%	392 MB/s
Write Avg. Sequential Write Speed	292 MB/s	Hugely faster write speed. +87%	156 MB/s
4K Read Avg. 4K Random Read Speed	27.9 MB/s		32.1 MB/s	Faster random read. +15%
4K Write Avg. 4K Random Write Speed	78.7 MB/s		78.9 MB/s	+0%
Mixed Avg. Sequential Mixed IO Speed	219 MB/s	+5%	209 MB/s
4K Mixed Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed	32.5 MB/s		36.4 MB/s	Faster random mixed IO. +12%
SusWrite Avg. Sustained Write Speed	260 MB/s	Hugely faster sustained write speed. +95%	133 MB/s


Read Peak Sequential Read Speed	509 MB/s	Faster peak read speed. +14%	446 MB/s
Write Peak Sequential Write Speed	326 MB/s	Hugely faster peak write speed. +82%	179 MB/s
4K Read Peak 4K Random Read Speed	34.5 MB/s		39.6 MB/s	Faster peak random read. +15%
4K Write Peak 4K Random Write Speed	119 MB/s	+4%	114 MB/s
Mixed Peak Sequential Mixed IO Speed	251 MB/s	Faster peak mixed IO speed. +12%	224 MB/s
4K Mixed Peak 4K Random Mixed IO Speed	40.5 MB/s		45.5 MB/s	Faster peak random mixed IO. +12%
SusWrite Peak Sequential Sustained Write 60s Average	323 MB/s	Hugely faster peak sustained write speed. +92%	168 MB/s

Market Share

Based on 75,666,246 SSDs tested

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Market Share Market Share (trailing 30 days)	0 %		0.02 %	Insanely higher market share. +∞%
Value Value For Money	5.19 %	Much better value. +58%	3.29 %
User Rating UBM User Rating	51 %		53 %	+4%
Price Price (score)	$130	Much cheaper. +35%	$199


Age Newest	131 Months	More recent. +10%	146 Months
DQ Read Peak 4K-64Thread Read Speed	345 MB/s	Much faster peak deep queue read. +44%	239 MB/s
DQ Write Peak 4K-64Thread Write Speed	286 MB/s	Much faster peak deep queue write. +69%	169 MB/s
AS-SSD Total AS-SSD Total Score	1,091 Pts	Much stronger server IO. +38%	792 Pts
DQ Mixed Peak 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed	153 MB/s		191 MB/s	Faster peak deep queue mixed IO. +25%
ADQ Read Avg. 4K-64Thread Read Speed	300 MB/s	Much faster deep queue read. +38%	217 MB/s
ADQ Write Avg. 4K-64Thread Write Speed	239 MB/s	Much faster deep queue write. +59%	150 MB/s
ADQ Mixed Avg. 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed	139 MB/s		164 MB/s	Faster deep queue mixed IO. +18%


Capacity Capacity			120GB			120GB

The 120GB Sandisk Extreme II proved to be a disappointment. I was expecting the same blistering performance as I saw on its larger 240GB sibling but that proved not to be the case. Comparing the 120GB and 240GB Extreme II's reveals that the larger 240GB version has peak speed ratings that are approximately 35% faster that the 120GB Extreme II. The main weakness of the 120GB Extreme II is its sequential write speed which is just 305 MB/s vs 492 MB/s on the 240GB version. Reduced write ability at lower capacities is explained by fewer NAND modules which reduce a controllers ability to parallelize slow write operations across different memory banks. Overall the Sandisk Extreme II sits amongst the bottom 20% of performers in the 120-128GB capacity category. Several of the drives in the group test have comparable performance at both the 120 and 240 GB capacities, those drives are the ones to go for. ^{[Feb '14 SSDrivePro]}

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The Intel 520 Series was Intel's first SSD to feature a Sandforce 2281 controller. This controller has powered countless SSDs over the last three years but is now dated and is known to be limited in the area of incompressible write speed. The 120GB Intel 520 scored peak and average sequential read/write speeds of 514/157 and 421/133. These read speeds are good but the peak write of 157 MB/s lags the group leaders average of 313 MB/s by nearly 100%. This relative inability to write lowers the 520's overall effective speed to 403 MB/s or 15% lower than the 459 MB/s achieved by the group leaders. At two years of age the Intel 520 can no longer compete with newer drives, there is far better value available amongst the group leaders. ^{[Feb '14 SSDrivePro]}

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Solid State Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) April 2024 SSD Rankings

Welcome to our 2.5" and M.2 SSD comparison. We calculate effective speed for both SATA and NVMe drives based on real world performance then adjust by current prices per GB to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top SSDs. ^[SSDrivePro]

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Storage Devices FAQ

What is sustained sequential write speed?

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CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $279	Nvidia RTX 4060 $300	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $182	Nvidia RTX 4070 $409	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $30	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $43	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16

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