INTRODUCTION

   M.2 NVMe solid state drives may be the go-to choice for most people when it comes to performance for a primary drive but for purely backup/storage purposes 2.5" SATA based models are a far more convenient choice (not to mention older systems are only compatible with SATA SSDs). Even so we haven't seen many high-capacity models make their way to the market lately and even though it's easy to understand the why i feel that people with older systems or people who are just looking for a more cost effective solution for a secondary storage drive should have plenty of choices in front of them. Luckily there are some manufacturers who feel the same way I do one of which is Patriot Memory and today I'll be testing their latest Burst Elite 1.92TB 2.5" SATA SSD.

   Patriot started in 1985 in the San Francisco Bay Area. We dedicate ourselves to being the brand of choice for the tech industry with a high commitment to quality and outstanding customer service. Patriot Memory designs, manufactures and markets high performance memory modules, flash memory, mobile accessories and gaming equipment. Here at Patriot, we pride ourselves in developing new and innovative products that offer a sleek, modern and functional design. Along with high quality and innovative designs, our products come backed with our industry leading warranty and top of the line customer support. We ensure that every product meets or exceeds our high level of standards. For memory, that process begins with using high-quality components and ends with rigorous functional testing to ensure each module is reliable and compatible. All of our tests include real world stress tests, drop tests and over charge tests as well. We do all of this so you can rest assured that you'll be receiving a high quality product.

   The Burst Elite line of 2.5" SATA SSDs by Patriot is currently available in 120GB/240GB/480GB/960GB/1.92TB capacities and is based on the quad-channel DRAMless SM2259XT NAND flash controller by Silicon Motion paired with 64-layer 3D QLC NAND flash by Micron. The SM2259XT sports numerous technologies including Silicon Motion’s proprietary NANDXtend error-correcting code (ECC - LDPC decoding and RAID protection) technology, static data refresh (guarantees data integrity), direct-to-TLC and SLC caching (algorithms for sustained performance), end-to-end data path protection, SRAM ECC, global wear levelling (algorithm which evens program/erase count and extends SSD lifespan), DevSleep (device sleep - power save), S.M.A.R.T, TRIM and NCQ and fully supports real time full drive encryption with AES, TCG Opal, Hardware SHA 256 and TRNG. As for durability Patriot reports an MTBF of 2.000.000 hours for the entire line and a TBW (TeraBytes Written) of 50TB for the 120GB model, 100TB for the 240GB model, 200TB for the 480GB model, 400TB for the 960GB model and 800TB for the 1.92TB model (all are covered by a 3-year limited warranty).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

THE BURST ELITE 1.92TB

The Burst Elite 1.92 SATA SSD arrived inside a blister package the front of which allows you to see the drive.

Contact information about Patriot is printed at the rear of the box right beneath a few words about the drive in 9 languages.

The Burst Elite is the only thing placed in the blister package and as expected follows the typical 2.5" form.

At the rear of the drive, we find the usual SATA III power and data connectors.

Opening the enclosure is very easy and as with other similar models lately the PCB actually takes up less than half of the interior.

On the top side of the PCB, we find two Micron 64-layer 3D QLC NAND flash modules whereas on the other we find the SM2259XT DRAMless NAND flash controller along with two more 3D QLC NAND flash modules.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   After over 13 years of testing solid state drives, I’ve concluded that it's almost impossible for any single benchmark suite to accurately measure their performance and that's why in certain benchmark suites we see amazing read/write performance numbers with some drives while in others things are quite different. The reason behind this is that some benchmarking suites are configured to read and write random chunks of data while others read and write constant (sequential) ones. So that's why i always use a very wide selection of benchmarking suites including AIDA64, HD Tach RW, HD Tune Pro, Crystal Disk Mark, Sisoftware Sandra Pro, AS SSD, IOmeter and ATTO. To get the most accurate results each test gets repeated a total of 6 times with the average performance numbers recorded into our charts*. Also, as of February 25th 2015 our results will also include the Storage Networking Industry Association’s (SNIA) IOMeter tests. These tests include a 12 Hour write test used to “simulate” performance degradation over time and a mixed workload test which basically shows what you can expect when using an SSD continuously for roughly two hours. Unfortunately, due to the time required for these tests we repeat them a total of 3 times and not 6 as the above.

   Many people have made inquiries about the charts in the past so once again please do keep in mind that the Charts have the average performance numbers of each drive recorded and not the peak (highest) ones. Also, although every single one of these programs can help potential buyers choose the right drive for their needs you should also remember that from any kind of benchmark up to real world usage the gap is not small (and usually most differences will go unnoticed by most people). All tests were performed in a fresh Windows 10 Pro x64 installation with every update installed up to the date of this review.

* Since November 2018 the SSD comparison charts have been divided to 2.5” and M.2 models to reduce their growing size.

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK

TEST RESULTS - AS SSD / IOMETER

TEST RESULTS - IOMETER SNIA

CONCLUSION

   2.5” SATA III SSD models have been around for well over a decade now so performance-wise they reached their limit a long time ago. This however doesn’t mean improvements are not possible so if you check some of my latest reviews, you’ll see performance bumps compared even to models released just a couple of years ago, perhaps not impressive ones true but still they’re there. Capacity is my only issue with the Burst Elite line (as with most 2.5” SSD lines out there) since it doesn’t quite deliver what I’d like to see in terms of capacity from it. Yes, 1.92TB is not bad and for many people this should be plenty but for me the sweet spot currently for any SSD is 4TB so i do hope Patriot releases such capacity models as well.

   With a retail price currently set at USD186.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and at 169.99Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the Burst Elite 1.92TB 2.5” SATA III SSD by Patriot is priced extremely well and significantly lower compared to similar factor and capacity models. So overall the Patriot Burst Elite 1.92TB model delivers on performance (for a SATA III model), capacity, durability and cost and that’s exactly it deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Overall Performance
- Features
- Endurance Numbers (800TBW For The 1.92TB Capacity)
- 3 Year Limited Warranty
- Price

CONS

- Value Model (DRAMless Design)
- No Cloning Software Included
- Available Capacities (Only Up To 1.92TB)