With the gaining popularity of SSDs, it was only a matter of time until we started seeing large capacity external SSDs hit the street and the time has come. Whereas less than seven days ago we had never had an external SSD of 512GB capacity, today I have three 512GB and a 1TB external SSDs sitting in front of me as I type. AS an added benefit, we can state right off that these external SSDs are probably the most powerful manufactured to date and surprisingly, all can be thrown in your pocket. Clicking on any of our photographs or charts will bring up a higher resolution copy. Today we are going to rip apart and test the new Monster Digital OverDrive 3.0 External SSD seen here. Monster has just released this SSD in several capacities, ranging from 128GB all the way to 1TB. Regardless of capacity, the form factor is the same and this SSD is smaller and thinner than just about any cell phone at 60mm x 126mm x 8mm. Although initial pricing was expected to be $179 (128GB), $299(256GB), $599(512GB) and $1399(1TB), we have been in steady contact with Monster Digital since well before launch and, you might want to check that link above. Pricing for 256 and 512GB capacities can be found at under $1/GB at Amazon. Specifications for the Monster Digital OverDrive 3.0 are equally impressive with read and write performance listed at 250MB/s and 150MB/s. In addition, the OverDrive 3.0 is a USB 3.0 device that is energy efficient as no external power is required, is impact resistant to 500G and has a 3 year limited warranty. The exterior of the Monster Digital OverDrive 3.0 External SSD is constructed of a laser etched stainless steel enclosure and contains a 165mm USB 3.0 cable that tucks into the unit. As much as we love to see the one piece design, it would be an added benefit to one day see completely enclosed USB 3.0 access, however, this no doubt would have increased overall dimensions. Once the exterior case is removed, we get a good look at the PCB which contains the Phison PS2251 controller and eight modules of Toshiba NAND flash memory, with each a capacity of 64GB. The combination is rather unusual as only once have we seen this memory used in a solid state solution prior, this being seen in the Patriot Supersonic Magnum 256GB Flash Drive Review at TSSDR, our sister site. In fact, the same Phison controller was used and the only difference in components between the two was the fact that four less memory modules were present on the Patriot. Similarly, TSSDR also posted a recent Kingston Data Traveler 512GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review which also uses Toshiba memory and the same Phison controller, however, we cannot confirm that that memory matches that of the Patriot or this OverDrive. TEST BENCH AND PROTOCOL Our analysis today will be conducted with our Asus Z77 Premium Test Bench. Clicking on any pictures or benchmarks will bring up a more easily viewable high resolution image. In testing, our main objective is to obtain results as pure and as accurate as possible and we want to ensure that no anomalies slip through. Simply put, we want to provide you with the absolute best results the tested hardware can provide. Repetition in testing is standard and, if necessary, we may conduct specific tests in Windows 7 ‘safe mode’ to ensure the OS has little to no influence on the end result. In order to validate and confirm our findings, testing is supported by industry accepted benchmark programs. All results are displayed through capture of the actual benchmark for better understanding of the testing process by the reader. We would like to thank ASUS (P8Z77-V Premium), Intel (Core i7-3770K), Crucial (Ballistix), Corsair (H100) and Be Quiet (PSU/Fans) for supporting the build of our Z77 Premium Test Bench. In addition, we would also like to thank HighPoint for their contribution of the RocketStor 5322, RocketRAID 2711 and their External Mini-SAS to Esata cabling. Through this configuration we are able to benchmark all notebook and mSATA SSDs, whereby achieving identical performance as a direct system connection, yet we simply hot swap from the external storage dock. BENCHMARK SOFTWARE The software we will be using for today’s analysis is typical of many of our reviews and consists of ATTO Disk Benchmark, Crystal DiskMark, Anvil Storage Utilities and HDTune Pro. Testing of such hardware limits our benchmark programs as performance of low 4K benchmarks is very low, resulting in extremely long testing and failure to test correctly in programs such as AS SSD and PCMark Vantage. Much of the software is free and can be downloaded simply by clicking on the linked title. THE PHISON PS2251 CONTROLLER The Phison PS2251 controller was introduced back in 2011 and is described as being a super speed USB 3.0 to flash micro-controller. It is a SATA 2 controller, has an integrated 32-Bit processor and built-in hardware 60-bit ECC circuit (BCH). Eight pieces of Toshiba Toggle Mode NAND flash memory are also contained and shown. ATTO DISK BENCHMARK VER. 2.46 ATTO Disk Benchmark is perhaps one of the oldest benchmarks going and is definitely the main staple for manufacturer performance specifications. ATTO uses RAW or compressible data and, for our benchmarks, we use a set length of 256mb and test both the read and write performance of various transfer sizes ranging from 0.5 to 8192kb. Manufacturers prefer this method of testing as it deals with raw (compressible) data rather than random (includes incompressible data) which, although more realistic, results in lower performance results. For our testing with ATTO, Crystal DiskMark and ASU, we will publish both results in USB 3.0 (left) and USB 2.0 (right). A simple click will bring up a higher resolution image. Very evident when placing USB 2.0 and 3.0 results side by side is the incredible performance jump USB 3.0 brought to the table. CRYSTAL DISK BENCHMARK VER. 3.0 X64 Crystal Disk Benchmark is used to measure read and write performance through sampling of raw (0/1 Fill/compressible) or random data which is, for the most part, incompressible. In the Monster Digital OverDrive 3.0 512GB External SSD, performance results are very similar whether we test with compressible or incompressible data and, for this reason, results are displayed utilizing incompressible data. Crystal DiskMark gives us a good look at exactly what today's USB three external storage mediums are meant for, and that is large file storage. We have seen exactly the same in the Patriot and Kingston reviews, as we see here, and that is very low 512 and 4K read and write performance which is not indicative of today's typical notebook SSDs. There is a reason why. Typical form factor notebook SSDs are built to start and run your computer. The boot process and typical operation of just about every application requires the following of instructions laid out in 4K small 4 K files. If you tried to boot a system from the OverDrive, a visible difference in performance would be visible compared to that of an SSD based system. This mandates the necessity for consumer SSDs that have all around performance, whereas, external SSDs are intended for data storage and most often, large file storage of things such as photos, music and videos. For this, the high sequential performance we see above reigns true. ANVIL STORAGE UTILITIES PROFESSIONAL (BETA) You may not see this for long (and its definitely not common) but you get a freebee simply for reading! Over the last little while, we have been assisting with beta testing new benchmark software called Anvil Storage Utilities which is an absolutely amazing SSD benchmarking utility. Not only does it have a preset SSD benchmark, but also, it has included such things as endurance testing and threaded I/O read, write and mixed tests, all of which are very simple to understand and utilize in our benchmark testing. Anvil Storage Utilities provides a good rendition of both IOPS and access times with respect to the Monster Digital OverDrive 3.0 512GB SSD. Both system and drive information are available on the bottom left and right of the chart. One might notice that only 'storage driver' is listed as use with the OverDrive, and not AHCI. Although the controller is built specifically for USB 3.0, it is most likely that USB 3.0 itself creates the performance bottleneck we see with such devices. HD TUNE PRO VER. 5.00 HD Tune Pro supports performing secure erasure, running comprehensive error scans (including a review of a disk’s SMART health status), displaying read, write, and spin-up times and recording benchmark performance metrics. REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS By all indications, 2013 is going to the year of external SSDs, just as it will for the NGFF controller we reported on at Computex in Taiwan a few weeks back. To make the grade, three things will have to be present and these are value, performance and capacity. As a media professional, I can speak for my peers who would immediately acknowledge that 512 and 1TB compact SSDs have a definite place where temporary storage of large high resolution photographs and video is necessary. This is where the Monster Digital OverDrive 3.0 External SSD is going to excel. Not only is it first out of the gate with both 512 and 1TB capacities, but also, its size is that of a small cell phone at only 4.95" (126mm) x 2.36" (60mm) x 0.31" (8mm). It weighs only 3.7 oz. Built of stainless steel with etched branding, the OverDrive looks great, feels solid and fits in your pocket, and it has no additional parts with the USB 3.0 cable built into the unit. When considering the performance and interior build, Monster Digital chose wisely to go with the Phison controller and Toshiba memory, both products having a great reputation. Performance was a bit higher than specs at 275MB/s read and 178MB/s write and these speeds are ideal for the intended purpose of the unit. Pricing of the Monster Digital OverDrive is going to be its strongest point. To date, we haven't seen any similar device that can touch this price point and Monster's lowering of the MSRP to accommodate 256 and 512GB capacities below the $1/GB point is wise. It ensures that all three bases are covered and that this product will be competitive regardless. The Monster Digital OverDrive 3.0 512GB External has earned our editor's Choice Award for their ability to provide capacity, performance and value with this release. Check Out Monster Digital OverDrive 3.0 SSD Pricing at Amazon! DISCUSSION FORUM
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