Essential T500 SSD Evaluate – StorageReview.com

The Essential T500 SSD claims to be a flexible storage answer aimed toward players, content material creators, and professionals. It incorporates Micron’s 232-layer 3D TLC NAND know-how, is powered by the Phison PS5025-E25 Controller, and affords numerous capacities from 500GB to 2TB.

The Essential T500 SSD claims to be a flexible storage answer aimed toward players, content material creators, and professionals. It incorporates Micron’s 232-layer 3D TLC NAND know-how, is powered by the Phison PS5025-E25 Controller, and affords numerous capacities from 500GB to 2TB.

The T500 additionally supplies choices with or with out an built-in low-profile heatsink, making an attempt to suit into any system setup like laptops, desktops, and even PlayStation 5 consoles.

Essential T500 Featrures

On paper, Micron’s new Gen4 SSD signifies sequential learn speeds as much as 7,400MB/s and write speeds as much as 7,000MB/s, standard for SSDs constructed on a PCIe Gen4 NVMe platform. Moreover, the SSD has random learn and write speeds that attain as much as 1.18M IOPS and 1.44M IOPS, respectively. It’s vital to notice that these efficiency figures range relying on the storage capability. As an illustration, the 500GB mannequin has sequential learn and write speeds of seven,200MB/s and 5,700MB/s, whereas the 2TB model achieves the marketed most of seven,400MB/s for reads and seven,000MB/s for writes.

The T500 comes with a spread of superior options aimed toward enhancing sturdiness and knowledge integrity. These embody static and dynamic SLC caching, a Redundant Array of Unbiased NAND (RAIN), multi-layer knowledge integrity algorithms, and adaptive thermal safety, amongst others. These options not are designed to not solely optimize efficiency but in addition provide safeguards towards knowledge loss and overheating.

The Essential T500 can also be accessible in a number of SKUs each with and with out an built-in low-profile heatsink. The heatsink-equipped model is specifically designed for PlayStation 5 compatibility, whereas the non-heatsink model is tailor-made for laptops. Each variations can be utilized in desktops and workstations, providing a flexible vary of use instances with out the necessity for a 3rd celebration heatsink.

Backed by a 5-year guarantee, the Essential T500 Gen4 SSD is out there in capacities of 500GB ($89.99), 1TB ($119.99 or $129.99 with heatsink), and 2TB ($169.99 or $179.99 with heatsink). We shall be trying on the 2TB capability (Non-heatsink mannequin) for this evaluation. Essential T500 at Amazon (affiliate hyperlink).

Essential T500 Specs

Essential T500 Efficiency

For database and artificial testing, we leverage the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR635 server, geared up with an AMD 7742 CPU and 512GB of 3200Mhz DDR4 reminiscence. NVMe is examined natively by way of an edge-card slot with an M.2 to PCIe adapter card. A major focus is placed on drive latency throughout the whole load vary of the drive, not simply on the smallest QD1 (Queue-Depth 1) ranges. We do that as a result of many frequent client benchmarks don’t adequately seize end-user workload profiles. For our added BlackMagic Disk Velocity Check carried out in Home windows, we use our self-built StorageReview desktop.

We’re reviewing the 2TB model of the Essential T500 and shall be evaluating it to the next different consumer-grade SSDs:

VDBench Workload Evaluation

When benchmarking storage units, software testing is finest, and artificial testing is second. Whereas not an ideal illustration of precise workloads, artificial checks assist baseline storage units with a repeatability issue that makes it simple to check competing options. These workloads provide a spread of various testing profiles starting from “4 corners” checks and customary database switch dimension checks to hint captures from completely different VDI environments.

These checks leverage the frequent vdBench workload generator, with a scripting engine to automate and seize outcomes over a big compute testing cluster. This enables us to repeat the identical workloads throughout a variety of storage units, together with flash arrays and particular person storage units. Our testing course of for these benchmarks fills the whole drive floor with knowledge, then partitions a drive part equal to 1% of the drive capability to simulate how the drive may reply to software workloads. This differs from full entropy checks that use 100% of the drive and take them into a gentle state. In consequence, these figures will replicate higher-sustained write speeds.

Profiles:

• 4K Random Learn: 100% Learn, 128 threads, 0-120% iorate
• 4K Random Write: 100% Write, 64 threads, 0-120% iorate
• 64K Sequential Learn: 100% Learn, 16 threads, 0-120% iorate
• 64K Sequential Write: 100% Write, 8 threads, 0-120% iorate

Beginning with 4k random learn, the Essential T500 confirmed pretty good efficiency out of the gate, with a peak of 827K IOPS at a latency of 152.9µs.

It was one of many poorest performing drives we’ve seen up to now for 4K writes. Right here, the T500 ended the take a look at at simply 140K IOPS (at 297.9us) with big spikes in between that reached as much as 1,640us in latency.

When sequential reads, the Essential T500 had a peak throughput of 4.54GB/s learn with a latency of 438.4µs for final place among the many competitors.

In sequential writes, the T500 carried out even worse, peaking at 607MB/s with a latency of simply 1,268µs effectively again of the following finest drive, the Solidigm P44 Professional, which nearly doubled the pace of the Essential SSD.

Subsequent, we checked out our VDI benchmarks, designed to tax the drives additional. These checks embody Boot, Preliminary Login, and Monday Login. The T500 expectedly had combined outcomes with these workloads. That mentioned, the T500 really carried out decently in our boot take a look at, ending the take a look at at 127K IOPS (at 195.4µs) earlier than taking a slight blip in efficiency.

For VDI Preliminary Login, the T500 had a peak of 37K IOPS (at 801µs) earlier than taking important spikes in efficiency on the finish (like a lot of the different drives examined).

Lastly, the VDI Monday Login benchmark, the T500 was capable of hit nearly 35K IOPS (243.1ms) earlier than taking severe spikes and ending the take a look at at 22K IOPS at 735.1ms

CrystalDiskMark Velocity Check

We carried out a lighter-weight take a look at on the T500 to reveal its Gen4 speeds in our Home windows 11 client take a look at platform. Utilizing CrystalDiskMark, the drive recorded sequential switch speeds of seven.12GB/s learn and 6.97GB/s for write.

Blackmagic Disk Velocity Check

We measured efficiency inside a Home windows 11 atmosphere on our client take a look at platform through the favored Blackmagic take a look at. Right here, it posted 5.67GB/s learn and 5.95GB/s write, which saved tempo with the spectacular Samsung 990 Professional (5.76GB/s write and 5.92GB/s write). That mentioned, checks like Blackmagic and CDM definitely don’t paint a full image.

BootBench

BOOT-BENCH-1 is a workload profile adopted by OCP to profile SSDs designed for server boot responsibility. Whereas that is intuitively a job for enterprise SSDs, consumer SSDs are sometimes chosen for his or her efficiency, capability, and price mixture. The boot drive challenge is germane not simply to hyperscalers but in addition to server and storage system suppliers, as they face related challenges.

This boot workload executes a comparatively intense take a look at plan that fills the whole drive with writes earlier than testing a read-heavy workload sequence. For every take a look at, it performs a 32K random learn async operation alongside a 15MiB/s synchronous 128k random write and a 5MiB/s synchronous 128k random write/trim background workload. The script begins with the random-read exercise at a 4-job stage and scales as much as 256-jobs at its peak. The ultimate result’s the read-operations carried out throughout its peak run.

The OCP purpose for this benchmark is a go/fail at 60K learn IOPS. Most drives we take a look at will far exceed the minimal, however the outcomes are instructive regardless.

The Essential T500 acquired a “DNF” as a result of its poor latency and IOPS that didn’t make the cut-off.

Right here is the present boot leaderboard:

Conclusion

The Essential T500 Gen4 SSD presents a sophisticated image, particularly for a drive that’s marketed as a high-performer. Whereas it delivers sturdy learn efficiency, as evidenced by outcomes from our CrystalDiskMark, and Blackmagic checks, it falls considerably quick in write-heavy workloads and boot-bench situations. Much more regarding are the sustained write duties, the place the drive’s efficiency takes a considerable hit.

The issue is finest highlighted when evaluating CrystalDiskMark and Blackmagic checks, which use a comparatively small footprint (32GB for CDM and 5GB for Blackmagic) vs. our VDBench checks, which make use of a extra lifelike/helpful 90GB footprint after a 100% fill. Within the extra intensive testing, the drive got here undone and additional, it didn’t go the OCP boot take a look at (a typical challenge amongst Phison drives).

This raises questions on how effectively the drive can deal with real-world workloads, those who surpass a number of Chrome tabs. The efficiency drawback is heightened by the truth that there are a number of older drives on this phase which might be extraordinarily good. Clearly, Micron felt compelled to get their new 232-layer NAND onto the drive, however as we see typically, NAND is just one piece of the SSD puzzle.

Regardless of Micron touting the T500 as a drive meant for resource-intensive purposes, it’s troublesome to suggest for any severe gamer, content material creator, or skilled. There are just too many different higher choices that value considerably much less.

Essential T500 at Amazon (affiliate hyperlink)

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