The 120GB Evo, like its 250GB sibling, features a second level Turbowrite cache (TWC). This 3GB block of high speed SLC memory allows the Evo to write data at 370 MB/s, nearly double its normal rate. When the TWC is full write speeds drop by around 50% but since consumers generally write less than 3GB in a typical write operation, the performance drop will rarely be noticed. On the other hand, in a server environment this sort of performance degradation would be unacceptable. Comparing the 120GB and 250GB Evos shows that they have similar performance profiles. The performance equivalence between the different capacities, coupled with the fact that their prices are almost linear, implies that both capacities represent roughly the same value for money. Within its TWC, the 120GB Evo is capable of chart topping burst IO rates and it sits squarely amongst the best performing 120GB drives. [Aug '14SSDrivePro]
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 '14SSDrivePro]
Welcome to our 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]
Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.