SSD by stefan @ 2017-03-27
The entry-grade Silicon Power S56 SSD is packing a Phison controller, is available with capacities up to 960GB and sports decent performances level for a TLC drive. This type of product is generally recommended for upgrading mainstream machines that do still feature in some cases slow 5400 RPM mechanical drives without spending a lot of money.
We would like to thank at first Silicon Power for supplying a sample of their S56 240GB TLC SSD for testing and reviewing.
“Founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic data storage industry experts, Silicon Power is committed to delivering outstanding product and service quality. Headquartered and with its own state-of-the-art production site in Taipei, SP has become a leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, portable hard drives, solid state drives, DRAM modules and industrial-grade products.
The international player with four branch offices around the globe continuously strives to offer the perfect data storage solution for all requirements of modern digitized life.
With a strong focus on combining innovative technology and award-winning design, SP lives up to its brand promise to reliably preserve and protect your most valuable data.
Because memory is personal!”
More Than Just a Solid Performance
Equipped with a high quality controller to provide outstanding system performance. An ideal boot-up disk that can significantly reduce boot time while accelerating application loading and response processes.
Incredible Speeds
The ultra-fast SATA III 6Gb/s transfer interface delivers incredible sequential transfer rates of up to 560 MB/s read and 530 MB/s write that enable shorter boot time, faster application loading and quicker file execution.
SLC Cache Technology
The S56 especially applies the ”SLC Cache technology”, which adopts the new caching architecture that combines both SLC and TLC flash blocks. The implementation of such technology enables all data to be written in the SLC portion first and then sequentially copied to TLC, therefore leading to higher peak writing performance.
Internal Auto-copy technology
The Internal Auto-copy technology allows automatic copy operation from SLC cache to TLC blocks inside the NAND without using the controller or DDR, which can encourage higher efficiency by reducing the burden from the controller and DRAM.
Bad block management for higher reliability – because we truly care about your data
Even new disks can contain one or more bad blocks that may cause irreparable damage to your system. But have no fear! To prevent flash memory corruption, the S56 is built with bad block management technology. Bad blocks are continually monitored and replaced to keep your system in good condition and to improve reliability and endurance of the SSD, because we truly care about your data.
Multiple techniques supported
The S56 is one of the lightest and thinnest SSD of its kind yet it is shock- and vibration-proof since it contains no moving parts. Furthermore, S.M.A.R.T. monitoring system and ECC technology are built to promise higher data transmission safety.
SP ToolBox Free-download Software
SP Toolbox was developed for using with SP SSDs and Industrial Flash products, and provides multiple ways for users to obtain disk information, and to change settings easily. Additionally, it is an advanced and user-friendly software that makes it easier than ever to maintain a healthy and efficient device.
The next SSD we are going to take a look upon is the Slim S56 240GB from Silicon Power, which, as the S57 before it does also employ TLC NAND and the company advertises it as an entry-grade product for upgrading mainstream and older systems. Versus the S57, the S56 does feature higher rated read/write speeds, but the overall aspect does remain the same. The product is shipped inside a very simple cardboard/plastic enclosure and on the frontal area we will get to see that the chassis does come with a 7mm height (for compatibility with a wide range of systems) and also a warranty of three years:
On the back side of the packaging, Silicon Power is comparing the product with the performance of a standard 5400RPM HDD and shows the benefits of using the SSD; the technical specifications are also located here:
After removing the drive from the packaging, we will get to see that it features a chassis entirely made of plastic, with a large sticker on the top which displays the drive capacity (our sample was the 240GB version, but the S56 is also available in 120GB, 480GB and 960GB variants) along with the serial number:
Metallic mounts are available on both bottom layer but also on the sides:
Also here we will be also able to spot the SATA Data/Power connectors:
CPU : Intel i5 3570K Retail
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard : ASRock Z77 Extreme6
RAM :GeIL PC3-17000 2133MHz 8GB EVO Leggera
Video : Sparkle X560 Calibre
Power Supply : Cooler Master 850W
HDD : OCZ Vector 150
Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840
The drive is shipped unformatted:
Here is the total free space reported by Windows:
With the help of AIDA64, we could extract more information regarding the drive:
SP Toolbox utility has been recently released by Silicon Power and allows the user to interact directly with the SSD statistics. The fist tab, Device Info allows us to check out the current firmware version of the drive, used space, total data written but also the current drive temperature:
The Health tab is next, where we will get to see the current state of the drive, along with the estimated remaining life:
S.M.A.R.T. info can be also consulted here:
Wear Out Count menu displays even more in-depth information:
If we have experienced issues with the product, we can always go to the Diagnostics Scan tab and check the SSD:
The final tab, Performance Test does also act as a benchmark:
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Unlike the S57 240GB model which was featuring a Marvell controller, the entry-grade Silicon Power S56 240GB comes with a Phison one and also packs TLC NAND flash in order to keep costs down. The performance is a bit better on this model and on a first look, the plastic enclosure of the drives looks quite similar at these two models. This model is also packing higher capacity SKUs of 480GB or 960GB and is great to be installed in mainstream systems which need an upgrade from the slow 5400 RPM mechanical drives or even entry-level machines which do sport SATA interface.
Since we are dealing with TLC NAND, we also need to remind of the SLC Cache technology; SLC Cache is acting like a drive buffer and as soon as this one fills up, we will basically write straight to the TLC portion of the ICs, which is slower. This aspect can be noticed when moving a lot of data to the drive but in normal operation such type of behavior should not bothersome at all.
For added value, Silicon Power is also offering their SP Toolbox utility for free, which allows the user to monitor the current drive health, total data written, temperature, S.M.A.R.T. information, perform diagnostics and more.
The Silicon Power S56 240GB drive is available online for about 97.61 Euros.
We would like to thank again to Silicon Power for making this review possible!