If you’re planning on building a fast gaming computer, it comes that it should be equipped with an SSD. But then again, the choices are numerous and finding oneself battered by the voice of reason (and budget) is mind-numbing at best. To thin down your selection, we reviewed the Plextor M6S, checking to see if it fits the bill of both speed and price.
Looks
The Plextor M6S has nothing special about it in terms of external appearance. It’s a regularly sized 2.5” SSD that can fit with the standard casings, given that the chassis has specific hubs or braces for this little one.
Performance
| Bench Buddy | |
| CPU | Intel Core i5 4670K |
| VGA | ROG Poseidon 780 Platinum |
| Memory | 2 x 4GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer |
| SSD | Plextor M6S SATA 6Gb/s |
| Motherboard | ASUS Gryphon Z87 w/ Armor Kit |
For our benchmarks, we used three programs that are widely known for checking write/read speeds.
Crystal DiskMark
CrystalDiskMark is a disk benchmark software.It measure sequential reads/writes speed,measure random 512KB, 4KB, 4KB (Queue Depth=32) reads/writes speed,select test data (Random, 0Fill, 1Fill),provide theme support and Multi-Language support.
HD Tune Pro
HD Tune Pro is a hard disk / SSD utility with many functions. It can be used to measure the drive’s performance, scan for errors, check the health status (S.M.A.R.T.), securely erase all data and much more.
Read
Write
Plextor M6S HD Tune Pro Benchmarks (MB/s)
|
Plextor M6S HD Tune Pro Benchmarks (MB/s) |
||||||
| Trial 1 | Trial 2 | Trial 3 | Average | Max | Min | |
| Read | 418.6 | 419.5 | 419.4 | 419.167 | 423.7 | 161.5 |
| Write | 315.2 | 316.6 | 316.6 | 316.133 | 323.7 | 277.9 |
Using the HD Tune Pro, we conducted three tests. The results are shown as snippets above and to make it simpler, we provided a graph for reference. The trials shown are the average speeds that we got from each run, and we then averaged it again in the fourth column. We can say that the results are consistent with each run. The last two columns are the best and lowest speeds that we got for read and write. Also, the dip in 4KB (random small data) is apparent.
ATTO Disk Benchmark
The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Measure your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes.
Using the ATTO, we can say that the results are similar with the previous two tests. One might wonder why the ATTO shows a faster read speed at the higher levels, this is due to the previous tool, HD Tune, disregarding the file system format employed by the drive. Simply put, it dives in and goes raw.
Verdict
The Plextor M6S proves to be a decent choice for an SSD. The read and write speeds are fast enough to warrant a significant change in running your PC. For a gamer, the only thing noticeable is the bliss appearance of loading screens. The true manifestation of the SSD’s practical speed is in the booting of the operating system and other daily software that you use (such as Internet Explorer?). We also noticed that the M6S has good control of temperature. Compared with Samsung’s EVO line, Plextor’s M6S falls short in bundled software and in terms of performance. But the price may be enough to turn some heads. The Plextor M6S comes with a three-year warranty.
