MemoRight MR25.2-064S SSD

EDITORS NOTE: Please read Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing to understand how the benchmarks used in this article should be interpreted.

Since first making a commercial public debut at the 2007 Consumer Electronic Show, Solid State Drives (SSD's) have been a topic of hot discussion among performance enthusiasts. With virtually no access time delay these nonvolatile flash memory-based drives were quick to promise a more reliable storage device with greater performance while operating at a fraction of the power level. It didn't take manufacturers very long before marketing claims attempted to convince the public that these devices would replace the Hard Disk Drive (HDD). Unfortunately, in the world of technology there is a difference between what marketing firms claim to offer and what they actually deliver; that difference is time.

For a little over a year now Benchmark Reviews has anxiously awaited the fabled Solid State Drive that could replace our current list of preferred Hard Disk Drives. Making this wait seem even longer was the fact that HDD manufacturers were constantly improving there product and adding new enhancements to the technology. First there was perpendicular storage, and then came fluid bearings, and finally there was the increase in cache buffer DRAM. Performance has always been the hurdle that SSD's have had a tough time clearing, with read and write bandwidth creating the largest obstacles. Response time and reduced power consumption has been the key argument for owning an SSD, but without the bandwidth throughput to measure up against HDD's they became an expensive niche item. That time has passed.

As of now, the Solid State Drive has surpassed the Hard Disk Drive in all areas. Power consumption is still astonishing low, even when compared to the newest series of HDD's available. Access time has only got better with new revisions, as nearly all SSD's register less than .1 ms delay. Bandwidth has dramatically improved as controller components have been refined and redesigned. Even the previous setback of SATA-I controller limitation has been recently overcome with commercially available SATA-II solutions. All that remains on the list of items holding back the widespread use is cost.

As a professional system builder of higher-end computer systems, I have learned some very important lessons in regards to system performance over the past eight years. While gamers constantly leap for higher frame rates out of their video card, there is something more important than a faster processor, memory, or even front side bus. The real backbone to overall system speed and performance is the primary boot drive. In today's world, that usually means the hard disk drive for nearly all computers. After hundreds of performance computers built and sold, I have seen a 10,000 RPM drive make a 2GHz CPU seemingly perform twice as fast, whereas a 5,400 RPM drive makes that same CPU run like it was only half as fast.

Solid State Drives are not for everyone. Similar to the evolution towards DDR3 system memory, a gradual replacement of the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) by the Solid State Drive (SDD) is going to move very slow. The cost of purchase for SSD's is the primary cause, since most drives cost more than an purchase price of an entire computer system. But what if the price was within reach? What if the data throughput was comparable? This is where Benchmark Reviews comes in to answer the tough questions, as we test the MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S 2.5-Inch 64GB SATA SSD Solid State Drive.

According to the research by expert market analyst, Web-Feet, the current SSD market has grown 74% every year, and it is expected to total $10 billion by 2012. The consumer SSD market is also expected grow significantly from 42 million in 2006 to $7.5 billion in 2012, replacing current hard disk with SSD

What is a SSD (Solid State Drive)?

Solid State Drives are data storage devices usually consisting of nonvolatile flash memory. This eliminates delicate servo motors and mechanical drives common in conventional Hard Disk Drives to remove the heat and noise generated and provide resistance against external impact. Compared to a HDD with an identical capacity, the SSD offers half the weight and fractions of the response time. Moreover, SSD's allows the user to easily install the drive to replace an existing HDD without any system modification. Solid State Disks are expected to expand applications from high-performance mobile PCs to replace conventional HDDs.

MemoRight

Ever since human beings invented words, they have made a huge leap to meet the demand for recording and storage. With progress in various recording media and methodology, information can be stored and reliably retrieved and shared. History hence continues and culture develops. The birth of electronic media has forced us to make huge leaps again in this field. Decades ago IBM designed the first Winchester Hard Drive for computers. A Zero and a One are lifeless and dull symbols on their own, but our lives are enhanced and more colorful because of them.

In March 2006, a group of talented, ambitious and creative young people, engineers who are passionate about future storage break-through, were brought together for a mutual goal. They wanted to play a leading role in the data storage revolution which led to SSD (Solid State Disk). MMC (Memoright Memoritech Corporation Limited) in Shenzhen has started a journey to create a new era of data storage.

Human Resources are our assets. More than 80% of our engineers have obtained a Master's degree or above. Our team has a complete and balanced ability to work independently in research and development. We have experts who have experience in hard drive design, flash devices design, micro engineering and it's related precision manufacturing. Our motivation is invention. We are dedicated to achieve perfection. It is our ultimate goal to design various SSD technologies to world standard. Memoright Memoritech, records our team's ever fulfilled dreams, and also human's wonderful past and future!

MemoRight GT Features

• Sequential Read Speed > 120 MB/sec
• Sequential Write Speed > 120 MB/sec
• High Rectify errors ability <10 (-16) and High data security
• Balanced wear leveling enables the product's lifespan to extend to up to more than 10 years
• Better shock durability, Low power consumption, No Noise

MR25.2-064S SATA SSD Specifications

The system boot speed is determined by the time required for the hard disk to read the data need by the OS for operation, regardless of CPU or memory performance. Accordingly, it is difficult to expect fundamental improvement in boot speed without addressing the structural problem associated with the hard disk. The MemoRight GT SSD uses nonvolatile flash memory to resolve this problem. With a maximum read speed of 120 MB/s, data is read three times faster than an average hard disk, remarkably expediting the computers boot process.

Applications that involve large-scale images or videos such as Photoshop, Premiere and AutoCAD require substantial amounts of time for rendering and storing data. Memorights GT dramatically reduces the work time so that professional photographers, graphic designers, video professionals, engineers, and architects all conduct tasks efficiently and maximize cost reduction.

Online and PC games such as Crysis and Call of Duty 4 involve large scale data exceeding 1GB, extending the time required to load the game and read new data when accessing a new map. The MemoRight SSD expedites the loading process and allows users to experience uninterrupted, optimal game environments.

Thanks to the ubiquitous environment that allows networking regardless of time and place, various types of mobile devices have become essential part of our lives. However, it is not easy to maintain data security in mobile and portable devices that are always on the move. The MR25.2-064S SATA SSD is a semiconductor storage device built with flash memory modules. It is light and sturdy, minimizing the risk of damaging the data against drops, impact or vibration.

Being able to use a notebook PC or a mobile device even for 10 minutes longer is very important. MemoRight's GT SSD only consumes 0.5W in the idle state, allowing significant power saving for the notebook computer and UMPC.

MemoRight GT Closer Look

For the better part of a month I had patiently awaited delivery of MemoRight's GT series SSD. Their own marketing representatives played down the performance, which is surprising for a product that is already at the top of the hill according to the specifications. So when I received the MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S my first impression was one of suspicion. At first glance, I thought the well-hyped GT looked painfully plain for a high-performance SSD. This is primarily attributed to components used to construct the drive, which was rough black metal on the top half and bare metal on the lower half.

Modern day computers have been heading in two different directions for several years now. Desktop computer systems have been pushing the performance envelope, and everything from designer cases to extremely powerful graphics cards have kept components large scale. On the other hand, notebook computers are in a constant struggle to get more out of less. Very recently Apple announced the new MacBook Air notebook, which offers the solid state drive as an optional upgrade. Not coincidentally, the MemoRight MR25.2-064S GT series SSD offers the best to both worlds, and manufacturers are beginning to take notice.

Unlike the USB flash drive which is visiible to users during normal use, the drive is a component which is often installed and forgotten. To this extent, MemoRight has not spent much effort on dressing up the exterior appearance that will only be seen during product installation. The GT series is boxed in a metal chassis, which will make sharp impacts a bit more powerful. Additionally, the metal chassis is also exposed to electrical shock which may come into play if the device is ever submerged.

While most SSD applications thus far have historically been for military application, the retail consumer market is beginning to open up many doors for performance-orientated resellers. Because of the military specifications inherent to the design, many manufacturers have utilized a metal case for protection. I can confirm from my many years as a Marine that the Federal Government likes its squared corners and right-angles. They seem forget a few key variables such as impact on weight and shock value (both electrical and gravitational) which would make the use of a plastic shell not only more economical but also more rugged. Dropping an ultra-lightweight plastic shell on a hard surface creates far less of an impact than a heavier metal-encased SSD.

MemoRight's GT series consists of only semiconductors and NAND flash memory, which helps to give the MR25.2-064S a level of rugged durability against shock and vibration not available to hard disk drives. Furthermore, the GT series is equipped with a very elaborate flash memory management algorithm to guarantee high data integrity and even wear patterns.

In our next section, Benchmark Reviews tests the MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S 2.5-Inch 64GB SATA Solid State Drive in a series of bandwidth performance benchmarks. Has the age of the SSD finally come? We will soon find out.

Testing Methodology

EDITORS NOTE: Please read Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing to understand how the benchmarks used in this article should be interpreted.

Solid State Drives have traveled a winding course to get where they are today. Up to this point in technology there have been several key differences between Solid State Disks and magnetic rotational Hard Disk Drives. While the DRAM-based buffer size on desktop HDD's has recently reached 32 MB and is ever-increasing, there is still a delay in the initial response time. This is one key area in which flash-based Solid State Drives continually dominates because they lack moving parts.

However the benefits inherent to SSD's have traditionally fallen off once the throughput begins, even though data reads or writes are executed at a high constant rate whereas the HDD tapers off in performance. This makes the average transaction speed of a SSD comparable to the data burst rate mentioned in HDD tests, albeit usually lower than the HDD's speed.

Test System

• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 (Intel X48 Chipset) with E BIOS
• System Memory: Corsair PC3-14400 DDR3 1800MHz
• Processor: Intel Q6600 Core 2 Quad 2.40GHz
• Cooling: Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Exposed Copper Heatpipe CPU Cooler
• Video: ZOTAC GeForce 8800 GT 512MB AMP! HDMI Graphics Card
• Audio: HT Omega Claro Plus+ AD8620BR Op Amp Sound Card
• Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S203 SATA 20x DVD R/W
• Enclosure: Lian Li PC-B25B Black Aluminum Mid-Tower ATX Case
• PSU: ePower Technology EP-1200P10 xScale 1200W PSU
• Monitor: SOYO 24-Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor DYLM24D6
• Operating System: Windows XP Professional SP-2 (optimized to 16 processes at idle)

Disk Hardware

• Mtron MOBI 3000 16GB MSD-SATA3025 2.5" Solid State Drive
• OCZ 64GB OCZSSD64GB SATA 2.5" Solid State Drive
• Mtron Pro 7000 2.5-Inch 16GB SSD SATA7025
• MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S 2.5-Inch 64GB SATA SSD
• Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000 RPM SATA Hard Disk Drive (16MB Cache Buffer)
• Seagate 7200.11 500GB ST3500320AS 7,200 RPM SATA-II Hard Disk Drive (32MB Cache Buffer)

Benchmark Reviews is aware that all Intel ICH9 and ICH9R chipsets which come on the 3 and 4 series motherboards exhibit a bandwidth limit defect on SSD's of approximately 80MBps when not operating in ACHI mode (BIOS configuration). Since the Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 motherboard we used for testing also comes equipped with a JMicron JMB363 SATA controller for two additional SATA-II ports, all tests were conducted on this drive controller.

Test Tools

• HD Tach RW v3.0.4.0 by Simpli Software
• ATTO Disk benchmark v2.02

Comparing a Solid State Disk to a standard Hard Disk Drives is always relative; even if you're comparing the fastest rotational spindle speeds. One is going to be many times faster in response (SSD's), while the other is usually going to have higher throughput bandwidth (HDD's). Additionally, there are certain factors which can effect the results of a test which we do our best to avoid. Nevertheless there will be some tests which will not be completely representative of the individual product tested, but a combination of the product and supporting system hardware. An excellent example of such a test is the write-to bandwidth benchmarks, which rely on other system components to force data onto the drive along with the bus bandwidth to support it. This dependency on system hardware is why you will see Benchmark Reviews place an emphasis on read bandwidth over write tests.

HD Tach Benchmarks

EDITORS NOTE: Please read Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing to understand how the benchmarks used in this article should be interpreted.

It's show time! All claims to performance are either made real or proven false in our testing, and although SSD's clearly offer some advantages it sometimes takes seeing a product compared to the performance of others to prove the point. In the tests below, Benchmark Reviews utilizes the HD Tach RW tool to compare the MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S 2.5-Inch 64GB SATA Solid State Drive against the fastest collection of desktop drives we can get our hands on.

HD Tach is a software program for Microsoft Windows that tests the sequential read, random access and interface burst speeds of the attached storage device. For the record. every single product tested was brand new and never used. HD Tach allows write-bandwidth tests only if no partition is present. Additionally, each and every product was tested five times with the average result displayed here.

Before we begin comparing the MemoRight MR25.2-064S SSD to the top contenders, let's examine the test results. Since this GT series utilizes a SATA controller interface, we weren't very sure how it would perform in regards to the marketing claim of 120 MBps. Evidently it had no impact at all. To our complete surprise the 150 MBps barrier for SATA-I is not much of a hurdle, since the GT successfully performed with a 123.7 MBps burst speed. Now that we know the marketing claims are legitimate, we can compare the MemoRight MR25.2-064S to our top-performers in the desktop drive sector. But even before we do that, let's see how the GT did against our recently reviewed Mtron MOBI 3000 2.5-Inch 16GB SSD MSD-SATA3025.

Comparing the HD Tach results directly between the MemoRight GT and Mtron MOBI 3000 gave us a stark contrast in performance between the two SSD's. While the MOBI 3000 is not the fastest SSD from Mtron (we'll get to that one next), it is their most affordable (although still far more expensive than the recently reviewed OCZ 64GB OCZSSD64GB SSD). The very first thing that becomes evident is how capacity has no effect on at all on the sequential read and write speeds, which really should be the case for all flash-based drives. Even the random access times are both very close. The similarities end here, however.

While the MOBI 3000 was able to outperform the OCZSSD64GB by more than 41.0 MBps in the data burst speed test, the MemoRight GT easily outpaced it with a 123.7 MBps burst compared to 103.3. More obvious in our results were the averaged bandwidth results. The sustained read speeds were similar, with the MemoRight GT scoring 117.9 MBps compared to the MOBI's 102.4. However the sustained write bandwidth test indicated a clearly different story. With exactly 71.0 MBps better sequential write speeds, the MR25.2-064S score of 122.8 MBps easily outperformed the MOBI 3000's meager 51.8.

Our next match-up puts the MemoRight GT head-to-head with its competitors fastest model: the Mtron Pro 7000 2.5-Inch 16GB SSD SATA7025. At first I was a little concerned about my test results, since the 7000 Pro seemed to be producing results very similar to the MOBI 3000. But after nine total tests I was convinced that the Mtron 7000 Pro really wasn't much different. While the results were close, the MemoRight GT recorded a 123.7 MBps burst speed which outperforms the Mtron 7000 Pro's respectable 113.0 MBps. Even the sustained read speeds were very similar, with the GT scoring 117.9 MBps compared to the 7000 Pro's 112.2. It was in the sustained write speed tests that the difference was abundantly clear: at 122.8 MBps the MemoRight GT decimates the pathetic 54.7 MBps write speed of the Mtron 7000 Pro. At this point, it seems that Mtron had better improve its technology very soon, or they won't be a contender in the SSD market.

Next up was everyones favorite: the Western Digital Raptor HDD. While we have tested all four variations of the Raptor, the 74GB version was the most popular among gamers and so that's what we displayed. All four Raptor hard drives performed nearly identical, with only very negligible differences in burst and average speeds.

Comparing the MemoRight GT to the Raptor may amount to the largest factor for most enthusiasts considering the new SSD technology for their performance desktop computers. In the Burst Speed tests the Raptor averaged 127.9 MBps compared to the GT's lesser 123.7, which marked the first time the GT has seen a defeated in a test. This is not a huge surprise, since the combination of fast spindle speed and large 16MB cache buffer amount to a substantial burst capability. Over the span of capacity however, the advantage lends itself to the faster SSD. The MemoRight GT averaged a 117.9 MBps sustained read speed while the Raptor was clearly beaten with a 78.2 MBps, making a very real case for SSD's as the desktop drive replacement. The final nail in the coffin might be the sustained write speed, which the Raptor is best known for. One peek at the chart however, and the GT's monumental 122.8 MBps sustained write speed proves itself twice as fast as the Raptor's 68.2 MBps. Although not shown, the other Raptor models also performed within 3% of these results. Suffice it to say, the king is dead.

Just for good measure I have included a chart to compare the test results of MemoRight's GT against the other drives we tested, including Seagate's newest 7200.11 Hard Disk Drive. The 7200.11 features a cache buffer twice the size of previous hard disks, totaling 32MB. This comes into play early on in the tests, as the Seagate 7200.11 actually beats out the Western Digital Raptor in sequential read speed performance by a long shot.

Pressing along with its 120.0 MBps burst, the MemoRight GT was matched by Seagate's 7200.11 burst of 120.0 MBps; which are both considerably close to the Raptor's 127.9 MBps. Unlike the previous comparison however, the Seagate 7200.11 puts all 32MB worth of cache buffer to use as sequential read speed reaches 88.8 MBps on average, compared to the already phenomenal 117.9 MBps offered by the most powerful MemoRight GT. Just one good look at this chart, and you can see that history has been written.

Although Benchmark Reviews completely endorses the test results of HD Tach for our benchmarking, it's always good to have a second opinion. We decided to then test the MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S Solid State Drive using the ATTO Disk Benchmark tool in our next section. Please continue to see if our results were a fluke or not.

ATTO Disk Benchmark Results

EDITORS NOTE: Please read Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing to understand how the benchmarks used in this article should be interpreted.

Normally ATTO Disk Benchmark is not my first choice for drive testing tools. To be honest, I think it makes for a poor scientific comparison of products because the results have such a large range of variance. But since the Intel ICH9 and ICH9R southbridge has a bug that prohibits SSD bandwidth beyond 80 MBps I cannot use my all-time favorite System Speed Test software. The ICH chipset has an available DOS driver, but the JMicron JMB363 controller used for testing does not which left us without our favorite testing tool.

The ATTO Disk Benchmark program is free, and offers a comprehensive set of test variables to work with. In terms of disk performance, it measures interface transfer rates at several different user-specified intervals and reports read and write speeds. The drives seek and access times are not statistics made available in this application, which makes this a considerably basic tool.

Bandwidth results are indicated as the transfer rate in the image above. Since there are results for each transfer file size, we decided to use the 1 MB statistic in our chart. Based on the results indicated above, the MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S does very well at performing very near to the 120 MBps advertised maximum rate throughout the bandwidth test results. From 64.0 Kb to 1 MB the read and write transfer bandwidth is virtually identical, with the 64 Kb file size appearing to be the delta. Since most enthusiasts will directly compare the newly minted champion against the former, we have included the test results of the Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD below.

Western Digital's Raptor is a very good product for the money, but its time has come. With a performance delta around 16 Kb, the Raptor certainly reaches top performance at a lower delta than the MemoRight GT.

In the chart below, I have organized the products using the sum of their read and write bandwidth speeds. The MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S appears well ahead of the pack, but the Seagate 7200.11 hard drive gets the closest in terms of performance. Training behind is the Mtron Pro and MOBI, followed by the Raptor in last place. Access time is the key benefit for Raptor owners, but with 32MB of cache buffer in the 7200.11 it won't be long before other hard drives are within reach. For now it looks like there is some real promise in the linear read and write speeds of MemoRight's GT.

Originally I hadn't planned on including the ATTO Disk Benchmark results in this article. While the software is decent enough to mention, it was merely included because almost all SSD manufacturers test with it. After several tests had been completed, I began to see why they decided on this particular software for benchmarks. What I like least about this software is how you can manipulate the settings to produce very different results. As an example, if you reduce the total test length size from 32 MB (used in our testing configuration) to one of the smaller sizes the benchmark results are more than 30% different.

Nevertheless, MemoRights GT series has proven itself capable of beating out Hard Disk Drive performance on every level... except cost. Yet with cache buffers growing larger and larger, perhaps there's a reasonable middle ground that will provide the best of both worlds. Ignoring the MemoRight GT results, aside from immediate response time SSD's still generally seem to have some ground to cover before beating HDD's in bandwidth throughput. I suspect that hybrid drives could play an important role in this argument very soon.

In our next section, we address the collection of test results and give our conclusion.

SSD Final Thoughts

EDITORS NOTE: Please read Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing to understand how the benchmarks used in this article should be interpreted.

Just like I stated at the very beginning of this article, the system disk is the primary factor in computer performance and program response. Processor and system memory all make an impact, but they both have to wait on the slowest man in the race to retrieve data; and that's presently the Hard Disk Drive on almost all computers. Not even an increased bus speeds can make a difference, because when you open a file or application you're not waiting on the CPU or RAM to process that response, you're waiting on the disk to collect data and respond. I have pleased hundreds of customers with the up sell to Raptor desktop drives in their high-performance computer systems, but now that there's a more powerful alternative to offer this will have to change.

Of course, not everyone will be happy. Solid State Drives are still expensive and on the same niche level as DDR3. There are clear advantages to be sure, but if you can't afford the performance then what good is it going to do you? After all, manufactures know it always about the money. Making matters a little worse is the recently discovered defect in all Intel ICH9 and ICH9R chipsets which exhibit a bandwidth limit of approximately 80 MBps for SSD's. So if cost doesn't keep you away, perhaps Intel will.

Very recently OCZ was able to offer the Samsung-based 64GB OCZSSD64GB Solid State Drive to consumers for around $17/Gigabyte, making it the most affordable SSD play yet. But since the performance results on that OCZ SSD are so far from the products we tested in this review, there's no reason not to speed another couple of hundred for something that performs multiples better. This is also true for the Mtron MOBI 3000 SSD which targets "budget-conscious" users. Now that MemoRight offers their GT series with similar pricing but incredibly different performance, consumers must make the decision for themselves: buy the from expensive low end, or buy the slightly more expensive high-end? Until the climate of Solid State technology changes to accommodate either affordable mainstream pricing, or hybrid hard drives to offer the best of both worlds, SSD's will remain the answer for those affluent few who can afford the luxury. But for those blessed few, the performance has finally become worth considering the trouble.

MR25.2-064S Conclusion

EDITORS NOTE: Please read Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing to understand how the benchmarks used in this article should be interpreted.

Perhaps I am expecting MemoRight to perform as well in product presentation and packaging as their products do in performance. Hard Disk Drive manufacturers have historically separated themselves from the rest of the hardware market when it comes to product hype, and MemoRight follows suite with very conservative retail packaging devoid of exciting colors or helpful feature lists. If they believe in their product enough to produce it, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to place a chart somewhere on the back pointing out well it performs. The packaging for the GT series is very plain (and that's putting it nicely). Years back you could find generic food products on store shelves with a black lettering on top of a plain white package. This is the same thing, with colors reversed. My point here is that MemoRight should probably add something to their retail packaging to help the consumer along with their buying decision, because without a review article like this one to inform the consumer the packaging screams low thrill.

Appearance is always a relative subject. I suppose if you're the type to put colored LED's inside your computer, than a boxy black SSD may not help reflect your laser light show at the next LAN party. On the other hand, if you're going to replace your notebook drive then it won't much matter. Personally, I am a function before fashion person, so the dull appearance isn't going to really have an ill effect on me. The shame is that a product producing the most impressive results we have yet to record looks like a Cold War relic.

Hard Disk Drives have convinced us that everything which holds our data must be heavy and covered is steel. MemoRight holds to the status quo in their decision to house the MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S SSD in a metal case. It doesn't take an engineer to realize that dropping a steel writing pen on the ground causes a harder impact than dropping a lightweight plastic pen. The same concept holds true here, and the construction is better could be improved because of it. At just under the same weight of a standard Hard Disk Drive, MemoRight forfeits any weight benefit gained by taking an inherently indestructible product and making it heavy. Even still, the durability is intact, and military funding is sure to favor the heavy-weight look.

Whenever I rate product functionality, I tend to lean more toward the right-here-and-now aspect of the product. At the 2008 CES I visited with vendors who showed me their 832GB SATA SSD, but now two months later and the product is still in the press-release phase of physical existence. This has caused me to become more of a "prove it to me" product analyst, and so now I rate products based on what I have here against what presently exists in the real world. With that said, the MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S performs better than everything else available on the retail market. It is a top-level elite performer on several fronts, and handled former champions of performance such as the Western Digital Raptor with complete ease.

MemoRight offers the GT series in 64 GB (reviewed) and 128 GB capacities, which makes them perfect candidates for notebook computers, UMPC's, servers, and high-performance workstations. The GT extended my notebook battery run time by a very noticeable margin, in addition to huge performance gains. Because this MemoRight Solid State Drive offer unmatched performance, it's not surprising that I learned they are also difficult to keep in stock. Presently the 64 GB MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S is available for $1999, and the 128 GB version sells for $3399. Bleeding edge technology that delivers extreme performance comes with a heavy price tag.

If you're a hardware enthusiast or gamer, the price of SSD's is going to seem out of reach - as it should be. Solid State Drives are not a new toy so you can get an extra frag or two out of your video games. If this is your goal, the money is better spent on a high-performance graphics card instead. SSD's deliver their best value in other areas. For the lightweight traveler who depends on compact computing with a noteworthy battery life, the SSD is the obvious solution. In regards to performance, the MemoRight GT MR25.2-064S has finally closed the gap between Solid State Drives and the long-favored 10,000 RPM Raptor. In terms of response time it is quite literally instant, and now the bandwidth matches the rest of the performance curve. If you can afford this product, it would certainly make for a quality upgrade in both performance and product longevity.

Pros:

+ Very low power consumption
+ 118 MBps Read / 123 MBps Write Bandwidth
+ Resistant to extreme shock impact
+ 5-Year MemoRight warranty
+ Excellent 0.09 ms Random Access Time
+ Rugged metal casing reinforces product durability
+ Lightweight data storage solution
+ Fastest SSD product tested to-date
+ Available in 64 GB and 128 GB capacities
+ Include Secure Erase data wiping functionality

Cons:

- Very expensive product
- Poor product documentation

Ratings:

• Presentation: 8.25
• Appearance: 8.75
• Construction: 9.75
• Functionality: 10.0
• Value: 5.75

Final Score: 8.50 out of 10.

Questions? Comments? Benchmark Reviews really wants your feedback. We invite you to leave your remarks in our Discussion Forum.

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