UserBenchmark: Intel 520 Series vs Samsung 830

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SamsungMZ-7PC256B/WW

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IntelSSDSC2CW120A3

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Real World Speed

Performance profile from 45,111 user samples

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25,763 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 86% 46GB free
Worst Bench: 53% 238GB free

Poor: 53% Great: 86%

SPEED RANK: 631^st / 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		71.8 %			74 %	+3%


Read Avg. Sequential Read Speed	443 MB/s	Faster read speed. +13%	392 MB/s
Write Avg. Sequential Write Speed	286 MB/s	Hugely faster write speed. +83%	156 MB/s
4K Read Avg. 4K Random Read Speed	20.8 MB/s		32.1 MB/s	Much faster random read. +54%
4K Write Avg. 4K Random Write Speed	59.5 MB/s		78.9 MB/s	Much faster random write. +33%
Mixed Avg. Sequential Mixed IO Speed	253 MB/s	Faster mixed IO speed. +21%	209 MB/s
4K Mixed Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed	25 MB/s		36.4 MB/s	Much faster random mixed IO. +46%
SusWrite Avg. Sustained Write Speed	280 MB/s	Hugely faster sustained write speed. +111%	133 MB/s


Read Peak Sequential Read Speed	498 MB/s	Faster peak read speed. +12%	446 MB/s
Write Peak Sequential Write Speed	388 MB/s	Hugely faster peak write speed. +117%	179 MB/s
4K Read Peak 4K Random Read Speed	24 MB/s		39.6 MB/s	Much faster peak random read. +65%
4K Write Peak 4K Random Write Speed	75.5 MB/s		114 MB/s	Much faster peak random write. +51%
Mixed Peak Sequential Mixed IO Speed	304 MB/s	Much faster peak mixed IO speed. +36%	224 MB/s
4K Mixed Peak 4K Random Mixed IO Speed	29.3 MB/s		45.5 MB/s	Much faster peak random mixed IO. +55%
SusWrite Peak Sequential Sustained Write 60s Average	389 MB/s	Hugely faster peak sustained write speed. +132%	168 MB/s

Market Share

Based on 75,755,424 SSDs tested

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Market Share Market Share (trailing 30 days)	0.01 %		0.02 %	Hugely higher market share. +100%
Value Value For Money	4.6 %	Much better value. +40%	3.29 %
User Rating UBM User Rating	52 %		53 %	+2%
Price Price (score)	$261		$199	Cheaper. +24%


Age Newest	150 Months		146 Months	+3%
DQ Read Peak 4K-64Thread Read Speed	296 MB/s	Faster peak deep queue read. +24%	239 MB/s
DQ Write Peak 4K-64Thread Write Speed	107 MB/s		169 MB/s	Much faster peak deep queue write. +58%
AS-SSD Total AS-SSD Total Score	782 Pts		792 Pts	+1%
DQ Mixed Peak 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed	157 MB/s		191 MB/s	Faster peak deep queue mixed IO. +22%
ADQ Read Avg. 4K-64Thread Read Speed	265 MB/s	Faster deep queue read. +22%	217 MB/s
ADQ Write Avg. 4K-64Thread Write Speed	90.4 MB/s		150 MB/s	Much faster deep queue write. +66%
ADQ Mixed Avg. 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed	133 MB/s		164 MB/s	Faster deep queue mixed IO. +23%


Capacity Capacity			256GB			120GB

Almost two years old, the Samsung 830 is one of the oldest SSD's in the group test. The 830 has a reasonably consistent performance profile scoring slightly above average (446 MB/s) for real world use and slightly below average for server use. In all probability the 830 is nearing its end of life and as a result is retailing for approx £50 more than it was just a few months ago. Owners of this drive should feel no pressure to upgrade as the real world performance gains will not be significant but people looking to make a new purchase should steer clear as at its current price of £180 there are far better deals to be had elsewhere. ^{[Apr '13 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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CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $269	Nvidia RTX 4060 $295	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $177	Nvidia RTX 4070 $539	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) $37	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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