Introduction and specs
The Patriot Ignite is the ideal compromise for anyone who'd like a solid-performing SSD without having to overspend. The Ignite comes in two models - 480GB ($179.99, £120.35, AU$231.45) and 960GB ($359.99, £240.67, AU$462.92). The drive is designed to boost your machine's performance by performing 80K IOPs on 4K random reads and 75K IOPs on 4K random writes, all while packing this performance within a slim 0.27-inch (7mm) form factor. Whether you are going to purchase this for a desktop or a laptop, the Patriot Ignite will fit most (but not all) computers.
Competing with drives like the Crucial BX100 ($400, £300, AU$530), and the Samsung 850 Pro (US$399, £232, AUD$420), the Ignite is a versatile, lower-cost, albeit slightly slower performer.
Compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows, 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Mac OS X, and Linux systems, the Patriot Ignite will cover you in most endeavors, though not as rapidly as more expensive devices.
Design and specs
The 480gb Ignite that we tested measures 3.94" x 2.75" x 0.28" (100mm x 69.85mm x 7mm) and weighs an incredibly light 0.26 lbs (116.2g). The drive uses a Phison S10 Series SSD Processor, combined with MLC NAND flash. It features advanced intelligent wear-leveling, ECC recovery at 115bits/2kb, and Advanced Garbage Collection, which all ensure that the Ignite SSD removes invalid data blocks, removes old data, and checks that it is operating properly.
Also included are TRIM support, a DRAM Cache of 512 (for the 480GB model), support for end-to-end data path protection (ETEP), and a reported mean time between failures (MTBF) of two million.
As for security, the Patriot Ignite supports AES 256-bit encryption, which automatically encrypts incoming files and decrypts departing files, which is really cool and tremendously useful.
Performance and verdict
Patriot claims transfer speeds up to 560 MB/s reads and 545 MB/s writes. I tested this drive on a SandyBridge Socket 2011 Intel Core i7-3820 3.60GHz, with 32 gb DDR3 RAM, on an Asus Rampage IV Formula motherboard, and a NVIDIA GTX 770 video card. I used three applications for benchmarking: CrystalDiskMark, PCMark 8, and ATTO Disk Benchmark.
In CrystalDiskMark, I found that I was unable to reach the 560 MB/s reads and 545 MB/s writes as the Patriot Ignite 480GB clocked in at only 357.7 MB/s reads and 284.5 MB/s writes. This is only about 60% of what was advertised for reads and 52% of what was advertised for writes. QD32 random read and writes were significantly lower, as reads were only 192.3 MB/s and writes were 32.36 MB/s. In regards to IOPs, I found that the Patriot Ignite read had about 4,707 IOPs and writes were higher at 8425 IOPs.
ATTO Disk Benchmark confirmed my results. Although I witnessed higher reads than on CrystalDiskMark, ATTO clocked the Patriot Ignite at only 386.2 MB/s and writes were more or less the same, clocking in at 291.2 MB/s.
On PCMark 8, the Ignite scored a 4814. To compare, the Crucial BX100 scored a 4960 which is marginally better, but the Samsung 850 Pro blew them both out of the water with a score of 5042.
We liked
Although the benchmarks are somewhat disconcerting, in real-life use I found that the Patriot Ignite was fast enough for moderate-to-heavy use. Even though it was unable to reach its advertised performance, the 480GB drive is a solid, budget option a mid-level consumer who wants some speed but cares more about capacity. Also, the drive supports AES 256-bit encryption, which is crucial for anyone who is focused on security.
We disliked
The inability to reach 560 MB/s read and 545 MB/s write speeds was disheartening. So much of what separates junk drives from useful tools is how quickly and easily data can be transferred. Although this drive isn't as fast as Patriot wants it to be, it isn't a total clunker. In fact, I found it easy to use and fast enough for its low price tag.
Verdict
The Patriot Ignite is not going the fastest drive but it's definitely not a dud. This is a decent SSD drive, with huge capacity, that is more affordable than its competitors. However, if you are someone who really cares about top-of-the-market performance, then you may want to look at the Samsung 850 Pro, but if you are someone who hasn't made the jump to SSD, and you'd like to do it without dropping a ton of cash, then the Patriot Ignite is a great option for you.
from TechRadar: Technology reviews http://ift.tt/1bzWoyq
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