Crucial m4 mSATA 256GB SSD Review

Benchmarks

Benchmarks were run in the Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook using a StarTech mSATA to 2.5″ SATA enclosure.
We are comparing our results with those of the standard 128GB Crucial m4 as well as the ADATA SP900 to give you an idea of how the tiny drive compares to the full-sized ones.

AS SSD

m4 mSATA	m4 Standard	SP900

AS SSD tests using incompressible data which provides us with a “worst case scenario”. The mSATA drive gave impressive numbers in sequential read and write, though random read/write speeds were for the most part much lower than its full-size brother.

ATTO

m4 mSATA	m4 Standard	SP900

ATTO tests using fully compressible data, which generally gives a “best case scenario”, and is usually what manufactures base their claimed numbers off of. Across the board the reads are slightly lower and the writes are slightly higher than the standard m4.

CrystalDiskMark

m4 mSATA	m4 Standard	SP900

CrystalDiskMark, like AS SSD tests using mainly incompressible data, the m4’s specialty. In this test we again see the mSATA drive perform better with sequential writes and worse with sequential reads, and then struggles with the random reads and writes.

HD Tune

m4 mSATA	m4 Standard	SP900

While the other benchmarks give averages of the drives performance in numbers, HD Tune tells you exactly how the drive is behaving through its graph. The mSATA m4’s graph was quite erratic, mainly due to the fact that it was the OS drive at the time. But the standard m4 was also the OS drive when it was tested and its graph is very stable.
The numbers themselves are overall worse, with a lower average and burst rate, and much higher access time.

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