The Toshiba TR200 3D NAND SSD Review: One Step Forward, One Step Back

Mixed Random Performance

Our test of mixed random reads and writes covers mixes varying from pure reads to pure writes at 10% increments. Each mix is tested for up to 1 minute or 32GB of data transferred. The test is conducted with a queue depth of 4, and is limited to a 64GB span of the drive. In between each mix, the drive is given idle time of up to one minute so that the overall duty cycle is 50%.

The mixed random I/O performance of the Toshiba TR200 is much faster than the HP S700, but is slower than everything else, even the earlier Trion/TR series drives. Contemporary budget SSDs like the ADATA SU800 and Crucial MX300 are more than twice as fast.

The power efficiency of the TR200 during the mixed random I/O test is a marked improvement over the TR150 and is more than twice that of the HP S700, but that's not enough for the TR200 to rate much better than acceptable.

Toshiba TR200 960GBToshiba TR200 240GBToshiba TR200 480GBIntel SSD 545s 512GBSamsung 850 EVO 1TBSamsung 850 EVO 250GBSamsung 850 EVO 500GBCrucial MX300 1050GBCrucial MX300 525GBHP S700 250GBHP S700 500GBADATA Ultimate SU800 256GBADATA Ultimate SU800 512GBOCZ Trion 100 480GBOCZ Trion 150 240GBOCZ Trion 150 480GBOCZ Trion 150 960GBSanDisk Ultra 3D 1TBOCZ VX500 1024GBOCZ VX500 256GBOCZ VX500 512GB

The performance of the TR200 during the mixed random I/O test traces out a common bathtub curve shape, with performance dropping after the initial pure reads phase and climbing very slowly as the proportion of writes increases, before accelerating near the end of the test as the workload shifts to mostly writes. The TR200s don't show a large spike in performance at the very end of the test like the TR150 does, but at least they don't bottom out anywhere near as low as the HP S700.

Mixed Sequential Performance

Our test of mixed sequential reads and writes differs from the mixed random I/O test by performing 128kB sequential accesses rather than 4kB accesses at random locations, and the sequential test is conducted at queue depth 1. The range of mixes tested is the same, and the timing and limits on data transfers are also the same as above.

The larger two Toshiba TR200 models are marginally faster than their TR150 predecessors on the mixed sequential I/O test, but the 240GB has lost more than 12% of its overall performance. All of the TR/Trion series drives remain at the bottom of the chart, well below even the other DRAMless SSDs.

The TR200 climbs out of last place for power efficiency, and the 960GB model in particular is near the top of the chart along with the other DRAMless SSDs. The smaller two capacities have fairly average efficiency.

Toshiba TR200 960GBToshiba TR200 240GBToshiba TR200 480GBIntel SSD 545s 512GBSamsung 850 EVO 1TBSamsung 850 EVO 250GBSamsung 850 EVO 500GBCrucial MX300 1050GBCrucial MX300 525GBHP S700 250GBHP S700 500GBADATA Ultimate SU800 256GBADATA Ultimate SU800 512GBOCZ Trion 100 480GBOCZ Trion 150 240GBOCZ Trion 150 480GBOCZ Trion 150 960GBSanDisk Ultra 3D 1TBOCZ VX500 1024GBOCZ VX500 256GBOCZ VX500 512GB

All three of the TR200 models lose a lot of performance when writes are first added to the workload, but they regain a bit of performance through the first half of the test. The 960GB model gains a bit more performance in the second half of the test while the smaller models drop off again. The drives that do well on this test mostly either regain significant performance in the second half, or show steady increases across the entire test.