Crucial Adrenaline 50GB m4 Cache SSD Review

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Comparison Drives & Test System

Legit Reviews Test System

All tests were performed on a fresh and up-to-date install of Windows 7 Pro x64 with no other applications running while using AHCI mode set through the BIOS. Synthetic Benchmarks were run with the OS loaded on a 40GB Corsair Force SSD. In between every test, the test drive was secure erased using an instance of Parted Magic. As such, all results should be indicative of optimal performance. All components were set to their default speeds and are listed below. As always, we thank ASUS for their generosity and support in providing the motherboard for our test bench.

LR Test Bench

P67 Test Bench

Intel LGA 1155 Test Platform
Component Brand/Model Live Pricing

Processor

Core i5 2500k

Motherboard

ASUS P8P67 Deluxe

Memory

Crucial 2 x 2GB PC3-10600

Video Card

Gigabyte GeForce GT 430

OS Drive

Corsair Force 40GB

Power Supply

Corsair HX1000

Operating System

Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit

Comparison Drives & Other Models We Have Tested

Since there are so many SSDs out there now with different controllers, we started a reference table of which controllers are used by each drive to help you compare results. Different controllers definitely perform differently and each has various strengths and weaknesses. Like CPU’s, even identical drives will have variations in performance and part of that variance may be attributable to the NAND flash used. Since the tests of the drives listed have spanned different test benches and represent three different interfaces, we have listed them for easy reference.

SSD MODEL CONTROLLER(S) TRIM? Interface
Vertex 4 256GB
Indilinx Evertest 2 Yes SATA III
Vertex 4 512GB
Indilinx Evertest 2 Yes SATA III
Micron P400e 200GB
Marvell 88SS9174 Yes SATA III
Kingston V+200 120GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
RunCore Pro V 120GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
Intel 520 Series 240GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
Samsung 830 Series 256GB
S4LJ204X01-Y040 Yes SATA III
Corsair Force GT 180GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
Corsair Force GT 240GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
Samsung 830 Series 256GB
Samsung S4LJ204X01-Y040 Yes SATA III
OCZ Octane 512GB
Indilinx Everest Yes SATA III
Corsair Force 3 120GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
Super Talent TeraDrive CT3 64GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
Kingston HyperX 240GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
Corsair Force GT 120GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
Patriot Pyro 120GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 480GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281)x4 Yes PCI-E
OWC Mercury EXTREME Pro 6G 240GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
OCZ Agility 3 240GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
PQI S535 256GB
SandForce SF-1200 (SF-1222) Yes SATA II
OWC Mercury EXTREME Pro 120GB
SandForce SF-2200 (SF-2281) Yes SATA III
Crucial m4/Micron C400 256GB
Marvell 88SS9174 Yes SATA III
Intel 320 Series 128GB
Intel PC29AS21BA0 (G3 FW) Yes SATA II
Corsair Performance 3 Series 128GB
Marvell 88SS9174 Yes SATA III
Intel 510 Series 250GB
Marvell 88SS9174 Yes SATA III
Plextor M2 Series 128GB
Marvell 88SS9174 Yes SATA III
Kingston V100 Series 128GB
JMicron JMF618 (Toshiba branded) Yes SATA II
OCZ Vertex 3 Pro 200GB (beta) SandForce SF-2500 (SF-2582) Yes SATA III
OCZ Vertex 4
SandForce SF-1200 (SF-1222) Yes SATA II
Samsung 470 Series 256GB
Samsung S3C29MAX01-Y340 Yes SATA II
Zalman N Series 128GB SandForce SF-1200 (SF-1222) Yes SATA II
Kingston V+100 128GB Toshiba T6UG1XBG Yes SATA II
Corsair Force 40GB Sandforce SF-1200 (SF-1222) Yes SATA II
Intel X25-V 40GB Intel PC29AS21BA0 (G2 FW) Yes SATA II
G.Skill Phoenix Pro Sandforce SF-1200 (SF-1222) Yes SATA II
Patriot Inferno 100GB Sandforce SF-1200 (SF-1222) Yes SATA II
OCZ RevoDrive X2 240GB
4X SF-1200 (SF-1222) No* PCI-E
OCZ RevoDrive 120GB
2X SF-1200 (SF-1222) No* PCI-E
ADATA S596 128GB JMicron JMF612 Yes SATA II
Corsair Force Series 120GB Sandforce SF-1200 (SF-1222) Yes SATA II
Patriot Zephyr 128GB JMICRON JMF612 Yes SATA II
Patriot Torqx 128GB Indilinx Barefoot Yes SATA II
Kingston 30GB V Series SNV125-S2 Toshiba T6UG1XBG Yes SATA II
Kingston 128GB V Series SNV425-S2 JMICRON JMF618 Yes SATA II
Corsair Force Series 100GB Sandforce SF-1200 (SF-1222) Yes SATA II
Corsair Nova Series 128GB Indilinx Barefoot Yes SATA II
Intel X25-M 160GB G2
Intel PC29AS21BA0 (G2 FW) Yes SATA II
Micron RealSSD C300 256GB Marvell 88SS9174 Yes SATA III
* TRIM is not supported due to the RAID controller.

For the Crucial Adrenaline m4 50GB drive, the readout on CrystalDiskInfo 4.1.3 shows that both
NCQ and S.M.A.R.T. are enabled, as well as TRIM and the interface is
confirmed at SATA 6Gbps. This is a great free tool to see lots of detailed information about the
drive such as the firmware version for which we are running the latest available at the time of testing – 0309.

CRYSTALDISKINFO

Setting up the cache drive is easy. First you need to download the Dataplex software at the address given in the box with the serial number.

Crucial Adrenaline 50GB Dataplex

Installation couldn’t be easier.

Crucial Adrenaline 50GB Dataplex

First off it asks for your product key which can be found inside of the SSD box as we showed on the first page of the article.

Crucial Adrenaline 50GB Dataplex

Next, choose the target and cache drives.

Crucial Adrenaline 50GB Dataplex

A final chance before execution.

Crucial Adrenaline 50GB Dataplex

…and done! Simple.

On to the benchmarks!

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