The Mushkin Source 500GB SATA SSD Review: A Value Proposition For An Everyday PC

Sequential Read Performance

Our first test of sequential read performance uses short bursts of 128MB, issued as 128kB operations with no queuing. The test averages performance across eight bursts for a total of 1GB of data transferred from a drive containing 16GB of data. Between each burst the drive is given enough idle time to keep the overall duty cycle at 20%.

The Mushkin Source turns in respectable performance on the burst sequential read test, and the DRAMless design is clearly not a handicap at all for this workload.

Our test of sustained sequential reads uses queue depths from 1 to 32, with the performance and power scores computed as the average of QD1, QD2 and QD4. Each queue depth is tested for up to one minute or 32GB transferred, from a drive containing 64GB of data. This test is run twice: once with the drive prepared by sequentially writing the test data, and again after the random write test has mixed things up, causing fragmentation inside the SSD that isn't visible to the OS. These two scores represent the two extremes of how the drive would perform under real-world usage, where wear leveling and modifications to some existing data will create some internal fragmentation that degrades performance, but usually not to the extent shown here.

On the longer sequential read test, the Mushkin Source maintains high performance both for the initial test run reading back data that was written sequentially, and when reading from a dataset that was fragmented by the random write tests.

Power Efficiency in MB/s/W	Average Power in W

With sequential read performance that is competitive against mainstream drives and a slight power consumption advantage from not having to power DRAM, the Mushkin Source turns in very good power efficiency scores, though not quite as high as the HP S700 managed.

Mushkin Source 500GBIntel SSD 545s 512GBSamsung 850 EVO 500GBSamsung 860 PRO 512GBCrucial BX300 480GBPlextor M8V 512GBCrucial MX500 500GBHP S700 500GBADATA Ultimate SU800 512GBADATA XPG SX950 480GBToshiba TR200 480GBOCZ Trion 150 480GB

Like any SATA SSD, the Mushkin Source can't quite saturate the SATA interface at QD1. At any higher queue depth, the Source delivers steady full-speed sequential reads.

While the random access performance and power consumption of the Mushkin Source may not have looked good in the broader picture, for sequential reads the Mushkin Source is clearly as fast as any other SATA drive and draws less power than almost any other.

Sequential Write Performance

Our test of sequential write burst performance is structured identically to the sequential read burst performance test save for the direction of the data transfer. Each burst writes 128MB as 128kB operations issued at QD1, for a total of 1GB of data written to a drive containing 16GB of data.

The burst sequential write performance of the Mushkin Source isn't quite top-tier, but it is comparable to most mainstream SATA SSDs.

Our test of sustained sequential writes is structured identically to our sustained sequential read test, save for the direction of the data transfers. Queue depths range from 1 to 32 and each queue depth is tested for up to one minute or 32GB, followed by up to one minute of idle time for the drive to cool off and perform garbage collection. The test is confined to a 64GB span of the drive.

On the longer sequential write test, the Mushkin Source's standing falls somewhat, but it still offers decent performance, unlike the Toshiba TR200.

Power Efficiency in MB/s/W	Average Power in W

Every other SATA SSD in this batch uses at least as much power during this test as the Mushkin Source, which easily tops the efficiency ranking.

Mushkin Source 500GBIntel SSD 545s 512GBSamsung 850 EVO 500GBSamsung 860 PRO 512GBCrucial BX300 480GBPlextor M8V 512GBCrucial MX500 500GBHP S700 500GBADATA Ultimate SU800 512GBADATA XPG SX950 480GBToshiba TR200 480GBOCZ Trion 150 480GB

The Mushkin Source doesn't reach its full sequential write speed until QD4, which is later than some drives but not uncommon even among mainstream SATA SSDs. The Source maintains that performance through the remainder of the test, with no sign of the SLC cache overflowing.

The Mushkin Source may not quite reach the highest sequential write speeds possible for a SATA SSD, but it gets pretty close and is obviously the most efficient SATA drive we've put through this test. That's a strange win, but we'll take it.