Choosing an SSD is a time-consuming scenario. Everytime we hook up to the internet, we are bombarded with suggestions, things to consider and things to stay away from. And the process goes on and on. But the good thing about it all is that the market is pretty competitive. There’s no one claiming to be the fastest since a month or so would be enough for other brands to blow away their proud numbers. Now, another guy enters the ring. This review tackles my exploits with the Apacer AS330 Panther, a 240GB SSD. Will this SSD purr like a panther or hide amongst the bushes of tangled computer cables, wishing it would just be left alone?
Physical Features
The Apacer AS330 Panther is a standard-sized SSD that’s covered with a design that’s reminiscent of a cow instead of a fierce panther.
The review unit that was lent to me was bereft of anything other than the device.
Performance
| Bench Buddy | |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4670K |
| VGA | ASUS GTX980 Matrix |
| Memory | 16GB |
| SSD | Apacer Panther AS330 240GB SSD |
| Motherboard | ROG Maximus VII Gene |
For our benchmarks, we used four popular programs that are widely known for checking write/read speeds.
Wait, wait! What do these numbers mean?
Well, from a consumer’s point of view, these numbers dictate how fast an SSD is given a number of trials in reading/writing data. As SSDs and HDDs have one job (clue: it stores), manufacturers duke it out in terms of performance and implementation of their respective technologies and available hardware.
If you’re after faster loading speeds in your files and Operating Systems, then best get a fast SSD. Do take note that some programs may not be affected by how blazing fast your SSD is in getting data in and out of it.
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.
While it does have high marks in the sequential tests, the Panther loses its flair in the subsequent test. It proves to be troublesome as it lags even against the budget Plextor M6S!
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.
AS SSD Benchmark
An incredibly lightweight, but powerful software solution meant to test the condition of your Solid State Drive in order to detect possible issues
This benchmarking tool is easy and lightweight, and with another opinion, we can enforce or challenge another benchmark tool’s claim.
We got lower numbers with this benchmark tool and the difference is plays at about 10 to 20 MB/s
Anvil Storage Utilities
We are definitely getting skewed results here. The numbers are similar to that produced by HDTune Pro and the write speeds are proving to be problematic for this SSD.
Verdict
While the Apacer AS330 Panther is quality SSD, it does have a major fault. It might be fast in terms of read but the device suffers a lag time in terms of writing data. Checking our figures above, we can deduce that the overall scores are low once the write speeds are factored in. The numbers reflect a slow random write at it can be attributed to the SSD’s controller.
The Apacer SS330 Panther may have missed its mark but if you’re looking for an SSD to boot your system, you can consider this one. Other than that, the basic tasks might be faster than an HDD but do tone down your expectations.
We will update the price and availability once we get the details from an official source.
