Test: RAID: 2 x Patriot Warp v3 SSD 256 GB

Summary

It will be quite a crippled summary this time, as we neither can or will evaluate something that we haven't been able to test properly. This is - of course - a bit of a nuisance, because we had been looking forward to see if we could improve on our Phantom-records made with just a single of the SSDs. With 8 mainboards, however, all with crippled RAID-controllers making use of the PCI-connection (and thereby the theoretical bottleneck of 266 MB/s) it is completely impossible to evaluate the performance of running RAID on these disks, as we never got to see them in real action. 

Innovation/Technology - 5
256 GB + SSD + Patriot = max points. No need for more words, because if there's just one spot, in which this disk deserves the maximum score, then its for the innovation. SSD is built upon old technology, rethought and reformed - the only thing that gets innovations like this on the street is the guts to dare at all, Patriot has exactly that.
 

Design/Layout - 5
The disk itself seems very tough and sustainable. The assembly-quality is also top-notch, and the casing is built of hardy light-metal. The disk doesn't weigh a lot, and it doesn't take up a lot of space - in fact it's just as portable as an external harddrive.

Performance - 5
It's a pity, but to start evaluating the performance based solely on the theoretical background would be wrong. Then we might aswell simply take a look at the specs-sheet, but obviously we can't just do that. In return we can point out the faults of the mainboard manufacturers, when it comes to respect for the customers who want to run some serious RAID. The fact that two SATA-ports together can only run at 266MB/s is a mere joke to us - especially when you're looking at what the other PCIe lanes are used for, which is stuff like the sound and LAN connections, both of which do not need that much bandwidth. So if you're on the lookout for a kick-ass setup with SSD, then be aware of what connection your mainboards RAID-controller is running on. We know that it isn't the SSD setting the limits, and should you be able to find a real PCIe RAID controller, that will work with these disks, we're convinced that you will get some very fast speeds.

If we're to evaluate these two disks, it should be based on the previous results from testing the disk in a singe drive configuration. We put it like this:

"Depending on the test, we've not only reached the specified limits of 240 MB/s read speed (250 MB/s is the maximum that SATA can handle) and 160 MB/s write speed - we've surpassed them. The disk doesn't seem to care if it is filled to its rims with data, and in some cases it even improved its performance. Almost regardless of which system you're upgrading from, a disk like this will give you one of those very rare "wow" experiences, that the hardware-industry only rarely offers. To put it simply, the difference is so immensely huge that it is a must to try it, and besides that, there's another huge advantage: no noise! no squeeking or crunching at all!"

It is on these grounds, that we've decided to rate these two disks in a RAID configuration a score of 5 - because they HAVEN'T performed worse than a single disk - quite the contrary is true - we just haven't been able to reach the upper limit.

Price - 5
As last time, we're going to rate this SSD 5 points. We do this, because the price of DKK 4999,- (~€670) gives us a price of only DKK 19,53 (~€2,61) per GB, which places this disk as the fourth cheapest disk in Denmark, where only a couple of Bamboo-disks are placed with lower prices. That's why Patriot Warp v3 256 GB has a very attractive price and enthusiasts considering to buy SSD, will most likely find their money well-spent! So a clear 5 points are awarded.

Test: RAID: 2 x Patriot Warp v3 SSD 256 GB

Innovation / Teknologi	5
Design - Layout	5
Ydelse	5
Pris	5
Samlet	100%