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Users’ impression of SanDisk mostly is memory card brand. Actually, they have been working for high speed SSD for long time.
The main product line is Extreme series. Two years ago, I have test the first generation SanDisk Extreme 240GB.
Last year, they unveil Extreme II and this year is Extreme PRO during Computex.
It’s the product this review. SanDisk Extreme PRO has 3 capacities.
There are 240, 480 and 960GB. This review will test 240 and 480GB.



As SSD using experience, SandForce240GB performance is higher than 480GB a little.
Recently, more products use Marvell controller. Some 480GB performance is higher than 240GB official spec.
The key difference of Extreme PRO and other SSD is it has the same performance for 3 capacities.

First of all, let’s check the appearance of SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD.
It’s same design pattern with own memory card. Black as main tone with red linear .


240GB product code is SDSSDXPS-240G-G25.
It’s 2.5”. The height is 7mm. Sequential Read / Write up to 550/520 MB/s.
Random Read / Write up to 100K / 90K IOPS. The numbers are based on CrystalDiskMark.
Official specs make SanDisk Extreme PRO as best SATA3 SSD performance in current market.


480GB product code is SDSSDXPS-480G-G25
Sequential Read / Write up to 550/515 MB/s
Random Read / Write up to 100K / 90K IOPS. Tested by CrystalDiskMark.
480GB and 240GB main difference is Sequential Write from 520 MB/s to 515 MB/s.
Durability is Terabyte Written>80 TBW for 3 models.
Extreme PRO provides 10 years conditional warranty. Internet shows 10 years warranty for remarked regions.


I would like to remind you, the warranty will be void if SSD warranty sticker broken. Please don’t try it.
SanDisk Extreme PRO series uses Marvell 88SS9187 controller.
It is self-owned SanDisk latest 1Ynm, eX2 ABL MLC, oggle Flash.
NAND Flash IC is very special. Currently, Marvell 88SS9187 mostly build with Toshiba NAND Flash.
DRAM Cache in 240GB is 512MB and 480/960GB is 1GB.
The detail performance will show you in following result.

First platform is Intel DeskTop, using GIGABYTE latest G1.Sniper Z97.
It builds in Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2201 LAN controller and Creative Sound Core 3D audio processor.
As G1.Sniper Z97 design and components, the C/P is quite good in Gaming MB market.


GIGABYTE G1 series has big change since Z97/H97 chipset. The design moves to popular black and red.
Logo changes to robot eye which is better than the past. Audio is the key feature.
It owns AMP-UP Audio technology and market only swappable OP-AMP chip design.


Intel Z97 is Intel latest mid-high end chipset. It’s popular in the market now.
Usually, Intel chipset IOtransmission is better. Since Z87, it supports 6 native SATA3 ports.
I believe it’s good for SATA3 SSD and RAID performance.

System Configuration
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K
MB: GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z97
DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT DDR3 2800 4GX2
VGA: SAPPHIRE Raden HD 6970 CrossFire
HD: SanDisk Extreme PRO 240-480GB
POWER: ANTEC TRUEPOWER Classic 850W
Cooler: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283
OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit


System setting
Intel Core i5-4690K OC 4.5GHz
CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT enable XMP as DDR3 2800.


Single SanDisk Extreme PRO 240GB or 480GB at SATA3 port
Non-OS drive without data installs in Intel Z97 platform.
Each software has two pictures. The above one is 240GB and below one is 480GB.
HD Tune Pro 5.50
Black Size is the special one. The default is 64K on the left and 8MB on the right.
64K - Read - Average 436.7 MB/s Access Time 0.036ms
8MB - Read - Average 527.4 MB/s Access Time 0.036ms


64K - Read - Average 473.8 MB/s Access Time 0.024ms
8MB - Read - Average 528.7 MB/s Access Time 0.036ms

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64K - Write - Average 443.9 MB/s Access Time 0.026ms
8MB - Write - Average 490.1 MB/s Access Time 0.036ms


64K - Write - Average 429.7 MB/s Access Time 0.027ms
8MB - Write - Average 486.9 MB/s Access Time 0.038ms


SanDisk Extreme PRO is excellent in HD Tune Pro Write.
The seeking time is around 0.026~0.038ms. The key is writing curve starting above 400 MB/s.
I used to test some high end SSD. The 64K Writetransmission speed is significant upand down, or average speed below 200 MB/s.
SanDisk Extreme PRO is close to 430 MB/s during test.

File Benchmark
Sequential 4KB randon Read - 97383 IOPS / Write - 86810 IOPS
ATTO DISK Benchmark over 128KB starts to reach max Read 560.5 Mb/s and Write 526.3 MB/s


Sequential 4KB randon Read - 97403 IOPS / Write - 85818 IOPS
ATTO DISK Benchmark over 64KB starts to reach max Read523.7 Mb/sand Write 526.3 MB/s


ATTO DISK Benchmark over 64K starts to reach max Read /Write 500 MB/s.
The 0.5~2K data transfer rate is even better. It leads Intel 730 Series 480GB a lot.

CrystalDiskMark
Seq Read - 547.8 MB/s Write - 514.3 MB/s
<All 0xFF, 0Fill> Read - 550.9 MB/s Write - 516.8 MB/s
<All 0x00, 1Fill> Read - 548.0 MB/s Write - 514.3 MB/s


Seq Read - 548.3 MB/s Write - 515.4 MB/s
<All 0xFF, 0Fill> Read - 548.0 MB/s Write - 514.9MB/s
<All 0x00, 1Fill> Read - 548.8 MB/s Write - 515.2 MB/s


CrystalDiskMark random test and 2 sequential mode speed are the same.
This is one of the main advantage of Marvell Controller. Seq performance is close to official specs.
4K QD32 Write and Read are top level of current SATA3 SSD.

AS SSD Benchmark - 1118
Seq Read - 526.51 MB/s Write - 494.30 MB/s
4K - 64Thrd Read - 357.62 MB/s Write - 247.29 MB/s


AS SSD Benchmark - 1175
Seq Read - 525.94 MB/s Write - 492.08 MB/s
4K - 64Thrd Read - 367.33 MB/s Write - 292.44 MB/s



Current top level SATA3 SSD can reach more than 1100 in AS SSD Benchmark.
4K-64Thrd Read can reach 357~367MB/s. This is new key factor for SSD performance.
Compression Benchmark is also consisntent.
Seq Read is 525MB/s and Seq Write is 494MB/s.

PCMark Vantage - HDD Score : 78950
SSD Benchmark TOTAL => 5127.39


PCMark Vantage - HDD Score : 78162
SSD Benchmark TOTAL => 5093.71


Its a pity that PCMark Vantage HDD doesnt reach 81000, which official claim.
The performance gap is around 2.6~3.5%. Its still acceptable. I also upgrade G1.Sniper Z97 BIOS to F6.
F6 is marked improving SSD performance. In the past, GIGABYTE MBSSD performance is lower.
It might be MB tuning issue. I hope GIGABYTE can enhance BIOS to complete the SSD performance.

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Iometer
5 minutes - 100% Write / 100% Random 4KB
Total I/Os per Second => 86380.81


5minutes - 100% Write / 100% Random 4KB
Total I/Os per Second => 86356.60


5minutes - 100% Read / 100% Random 4KB
Total I/Os per Second => 96403.27


5minutes - 100% Read / 100% Random 4KB
Total I/Os per Second => 97599.02


You can see the Random Read / Write 4KB in IOMETER 2008 are really high.
The key is after 20 mins repeating test, there is no decline as SanForce controller.
Marvell 88SS9187 controller performance wont decline. Its standard technology for current high end SSD.

Comparing to former Extreme II, Extreme PRO performance doesnt improve much.
However, using same Marvell Controller and own latest NAND Flash, official specs show power consumption is 30% lower.
In such low power consumption, the Extreme PRO performance is really outstanding.

Second part is NoteBook test. I use DELL New!Alienware 17.
As high end Gaming Notebook in the market, the performance and hardward specs are all top level.


AlienFX lighting is DELL New!Alienware body surrounding many LEDs.
The shell is coating aluminumand soft touch rubberized finish. Its magnesium-alloy frame for better quality, texture and durability.
Its 17.3 antiglare FHD monitor. The speaker is the best I have ever used in Notebook.
It supports one mSATA and two 2.5 SATA3. I change to Sandisk Extreme PRO SSD.


Sandisk Extreme PRO 480GB SSD install at SATA3 port as system drive.
OS installs Windows7 Ultimate 64bit, all drivers and Intel Smart Response Technology.
AS SSD Benchmark - 1095
Seq Read - 512.79 MB/s Write - 485.38 MB/s
4K - 64Thrd Read - 362.11 MB/s Write - 283.22 MB/s


ATTO DISK Benchmark over 128KB can reach max Read 560.5 Mb/s and Write 526.3 MB/s
CrystalDiskMark
Seq Read - 547.8 MB/s Write - 512.5 MB/s


Comparing to Desktop PC numbers, most benchmark in Notebook is similar.
It means even Sandisk Extreme PRO SSD set as system drive, the performance is still good.
Of course, DELL New!Alienware SATA3 optimization is high, also enhance Extreme PRO scores.

BootRacer
Boot Result => 14.142 seconds


In BootRacer, it needs only 14.142 seconds. The speed is really fast.
Of course, if you only install drivers without any software, the booting time will be less than 12 seconds.
However, I think this kind of test is no reference value. Complete installation is more close to reality using environment.
If I change to Windows 8.1, the booting time will be faster. But its not popular yet.
After consideration, I still use Windows 7 as OS.

Recently many Z97 MB supports M.2(N.G.F.F.) spec up to 1000MB/s bandwidth.
Some high end M.2 SSD can reach more than 700 MB/s bandwidth. Most is 500MB/s.
Also, MB only support one M.2 SSD, the price and RAID application still far away to be mainstream.
SATA is main specs for years. If you want to upgrade your system performance, SATA3 SSD is first choice.
Now, SSD is also divided into parity and high performance.



SanDisk Extreme PRO strength in SSD market is Random4K Read/Write can reach 100K/90K IOPS.
SequentialRead/Write can be up to 550/515~520 MB/s. Its almost the best SSD specs in the market now.
SanDisk performance tuning is outstanding to make 240/480/960GB have same performance.
Extreme PRO provides 10 years conditional warranty. Its also the longest in the market.
After service cost is high, of course it impacts the product price segment.
As cost/performance, SAMSUNG 840PRO should be the opposing force, next is Intel 730 Series.
If you want to pick high end SATA3 SSD, for max performance and warranty, Extreme PRO is a good option.
Its windwithme review test about SanDisk latest Extreme PRO SSD.

It will also post in my blog WIND3C, Any comments are welcome.