INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   With the new PCIe M.2 NVMe SSD solutions stealing the spotlight lately due to their surprisingly faster speeds (up to 4 times faster) compared to regular SATA models (we all know that the SATA III standard has been maxed out for years) most enthusiasts and professionals seem to turn towards the first in order to cover their needs. Still SATA based SSDs will probably hold the largest market share for at least a few more years since unlike M.2 models they can be used in pretty much any SATA compatible desktop and laptop system even models that date as far back as when the SATA II standard was first introduced in 2004. Manufacturers like Kingston are well aware of this fact so they haven't stopped introducing new SATA III SSD models in the market like the enterprise-class SSDNow DC400 480GB which we'll be testing today.

   Kingston Technology Company, Inc. is the world’s largest independent manufacturer of memory products. Kingston designs, manufactures and distributes memory products for desktops, laptops, servers, printers, and Flash memory products for PDAs, mobile phones, digital cameras, and MP3 players. Through its global network of subsidiaries and affiliates, Kingston has manufacturing facilities in California, Taiwan, China and sales representatives in the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, India, Taiwan, China, and Latin America.

   Kingston markets the SSDNow DC400 line of solid state drives as entry level data center (enterprise) models (currently available in 480/960/1600GB - 400/800/1800GB models featuring higher IOPS performance are also available as special orders) so leaving out the quite important 5 year warranty you can obviously also expect high reliability (the 480GB model is rated for 257TBW/Terabytes Written - 0.30DWPD/Drive Writes Per Day) and performance. Inside the DC400 we find 15nm MLC NAND flash paired with 512MB DDR3L-1600 cache and the PHISON S10 (PS3310-S10) quad-core 8-channel NAND flash controller which comes with a complete feature-set including as TRIM, end-to-end data path protection (ETEP), advanced wear-leveling, advanced garbage collection, smart ECC, native command queuing (NCQ), smart refresh, guaranteed flush technology, smart flush technology and firmware-controlled power loss management.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE SSDNOW DC400 480GB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We received the DC400 480GB inside a blister pack which allows you to see the drive prior to purchasing it.

 

 

The serial number, barcode, capacity and warranty information are all printed at the rear.

 

 

Just like the E50/E100 enterprise class models (and pretty much every other model by Kingston) the DC400 480GB has a large sticker at the top printed on which are the product serial number, barcode, capacity, electrical specifications, firmware version and several certification and warning logos.

 

 

The typical SATA power and data connectors are placed at the rear of the drive.

 

 

Opening the enclosure is not hard if you have the right Torx screwdriver but it does void the warranty.

 

 

On one side of the PCB we see eight 15nm NAND flash modules (each 32GB in capacity) and a 256MB DDR3L-1600 cache module (the drive features 7% over-provisioning).

 

 

Moving to the opposite side we see eight more 15nm NAND flash modules (again 32GB in capacity each), a second 256MB DDR3L-1600 cache module and the PHISON PS3310-S10 NAND flash controller.

 

 

KINGSTON SSD MANAGER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kingston SSD Manager is not advertised much by them but you can download it from their support page as seen above.

 

 

As clearly stated by Kingston you can use the SSD Manager to monitor the health of your drive and check its status, check for firmware updates, adjust the partition, securely erase data, check logs and manage TCG Opal and IEEE 1667.

 

 

 

TEST BED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TESTING METHODOLOGY

    After roughly 9 years of testing sold state drives i have 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 our 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 7 Ultimate x64 installation with every update installed up to January 15th 2017.

 

 

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK X64

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – AS SSD / IOMETER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS – IOMETER SNIA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The SSDNow DC400 480GB is the very first enterprise-class solid state drive to reach our lab featuring the PHISON S10 (PS3310-S10) quad-core NAND flash controller and at first I honestly didn’t know if it would be able to compete with other entry-level enterprise class models like the M510DC by Micron. To my surprise not only does the SSDNow DC400 compete with every other SSD in our charts but it actually surpasses most of them and by a good margin. Performance however is not all you’re getting with the SSDNow DC400 since thanks to an MTBF (meantime between failures) of 2 million hours and 257TBW endurance it gets very close to the specifications of the higher-end and more expensive enterprise class models. Unfortunately the lack of tantalum capacitors means the DC400 may not be as “safe” as some other entry-level models (M510DC included) but thanks to its firmware power loss protection it can still (or at least should) move data from the transfer buffer and other temporary buffers to the NAND. As for Kingston’s SSD manager software it offers most of what we’d like to see but unfortunately it’s not actually as complete as some others we’ve seen in the past.

   Enterprise-class products always cost more than their consumer oriented counterparts and with a current price set at USD262.70 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 238Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the same can be said about the SSDNow DC400 480GB SSD by Kingston. Obviously however because of its endurance numbers, top of the charts performance and 5 years warranty we can’t really complain which is why it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality / Durability (2 Million Hours MTBF / 257 TBW)
- Top Of The Charts Performance
- Features Set
- 5 Years Warranty
- Kingston SSD Manager
- Available in 400/480/800/960/1600GB/1800GB Capacities

 

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Firmware Based Power Loss Protection