INTRODUCTION

   Solid state drives (SSDs) have many things in common with their "distant" cousins the typical flash drives but performance was never really one of those things mainly due to USB connectivity limitations (both hardware and software ones). This obstacle as some of you know was left behind not too long ago with the arrival of new USB 3.0 compatible controllers and the UASP (USB Attached SCSI) compatible driver found in Windows 8/8.1 since these two marked the day when manufacturers could actually squeeze the same parts found in every day SSD models inside tiny enclosures and expect similar performance results with increased capacity. Casual users have very little use for such drives however so unfortunately not many "portable" SSDs exist in the market as we speak but with the release of the T1 by Samsung and the Ventura Ultra by Mushkin (which we have here with us today) things are starting to get very interesting.

   For nearly 20 years, Mushkin has been dedicated to helping overclockers, gamers, IT managers, digital artists and mobile professionals enhance their computing experience by providing reliable, high-performance products. Mushkin products include a line of Flash Memory-based products and complete selection of memory upgrades for desktops, notebooks and servers. Since the company’s founding in 1994, Mushkin has received numerous awards and commendations for quality, reliability and technical excellence.

   We already mentioned that this type of USB drives feature a regular SSD inside and so that obviously includes both the NAND flash modules and the NAND flash controller. Well for the Ventura Ultra line (currently available in 60/120/240GB capacities and soon available in 480GB) Mushkin has paired one of the most popular NAND flash controllers the SF-2281 by LSI/SandForce (wear-leveling and power saving features are enabled) with high quality MLC NAND flash modules (not branded ones). This combination (always according to Mushkin) allows the 8 channel Ventura Ultra 120GB model to achieve read and write speeds of up to 445MBps and 440MBps so if these numbers are real it should have no problem competing with the Portable SSD T1 by Samsung (that's what we're here for).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

THE VENTURA ULTRA 120GB

The drive is placed inside a typical clear plastic package that allows you to see it from the front.

At the rear you can see the features and specifications of the Ventura Ultra.

Mushkin has used aircraft grade aluminum for the enclosure which measures 93mm in length, 24mm in width and 13.25mm in height while weighing just 38g (yes it's only available in black).

Squeezing almost all of the components found in regular SSD models inside a tiny enclosure is not as easy as it sounds so naturally the Ventura Ultra is longer than most USB flash drives in the market.

A round activity LED is placed at the top of the drive right next to the protection cap.

There's nothing really on the other side of the drive just the two out of three screws holding the enclosure together.

I really was hoping for something "sturdier" than a typical USB connector cap (doesn't look all that nice either) but unfortunately that's what Mushkin decided to use.

The enclosure is can open very easily (just remove the three screws) to reveal the Sandforce SF-2281 NAND flash controller (other side of the PCB), NAND flash modules and the ASMedia 1053E bridge chip (as you can see the aluminum enclosure is used as a heatsink to "cool" the components).

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Since flash drives are basically plain storage media devices just like solid state drives and hard disk drives we are using almost the same testing methodology to successfully record the achieved performance numbers. The benchmark suites used are HD Tach RW (Read Speeds / Long Bench 32mb Zone Testing), HD Tune Pro (Read speeds), Sisoftware Sandra Pro (Read / Write speeds), AIDA 64 Engineer Edition (Average Linear Read / Random Read speeds), Crystal Disk Mark x64 (100MB-1000MB Read / Write speeds) and finally ATTO (Max Read / Max Write speeds). Every test is repeated a total of 6 times after which the average performance numbers are recorded into our charts (0 = we were unable to complete that test).

   All tests are performed with our main rig running Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Service Pack 1 complete with every update until May 28th 2015 (UASP compatible models are tested using a fresh Windows 8.1 installation on a Plextor m6e). As always for comparison purposes in the charts you will also find many other flash drivers which have been tested using the same exact test bench as the one in this review (we really can't keep every flash drive we get forever and also even if we could testing them all again and again would simply not be possible).

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK X64

CONCLUSION

   We recently tested the Portable SSD T1 250GB USB 3.0 drive by Samsung so having the Ventura Ultra 120GB by Mushkin on our test bed shortly after helped us understand the differences UASP compatible drives have compared to regular ones. As a matter of fact we were so curious to see just what differences one can expect so we also tested both drives under Windows 7 Ultimate and the read/write performance numbers dropped sometimes by just 10% and sometimes as much as 30% so do keep that in mind if your USB 3.0 controller doesn't support UASP or if you're just not using Windows 8/8.1 (or the soon to be Windows 10). With that out of the way i don't really need to point out that the Ventura Ultra 120GB is the 2nd fastest USB 3.0 drive we've used to date (only falls behind the slightly larger T1) since our charts do a very good job pointing that out. I do however need to point out that due to the tiny enclosure the NAND flash modules (and the controller naturally) build up heat quite fast so if you plan on using the Ventura Ultra for very long periods of time i'd recommend against that. It's a lightning fast USB 3.0 drive for the first 15-20 minutes of use but anything after that and you may experience a significant drop in performance. Of course under normal use you will not need to use it for even half that time in order to fill its capacity with data but i wouldn't use it as a portable OS drive because of that especially in the summer.

   The Ventura Ultra 120GB USB 3.0 flash drive by Mushkin may not really compare to the Portable SSD T1 by Samsung in terms of performance but it also doesn't compare in terms of price since currently you can get it for just USD74.99 inside the USA (Newegg.com) and for 93.89Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). All said and done we do expect more from Mushkin in the near future since there's no doubt in our minds that they can make something to take the T1 directly on but we just don't know if they'd want to have something as expensive in the market aimed towards enthusiasts and professionals or if they prefer to target the more "mid-end" segments. Regardless the Ventura Ultra 120GB USB 3.0 flash drive works as advertised and although far from perfect it's good enough for our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Aircraft Grade Aluminum Enclosure / High Quality NAND)
- Top Of The Charts Performance
- Also Available In 480GB
- Overall Size
- Price (Compared To The T1 By Samsung)

CONS

- Heat Buildup