Review | ADATA Ultimate SU800 256GB SSD

The SU800 is ADATA’s forerunner model into the 3D NAND powered SSDs. On this review, we are going to check out if this sub $80 USD storage device is enough to sate our appetite for a budget oriented, performance driven SSD.

The ADATA SU800 we’ve got is the 256GB version featuring Micron’s 3D TLC NAND. The controller on the other hand is the SM2258 from Silicon Motion. This SSD comes in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB variants.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

ADATA Ultimate SU800 256GB SSD
Capacity	256GB (128GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB)
Controller	Silicon Motion SM2258
NAND Flash	Micron 3D TLC NAND
Form Factor	2.5” 7mm
Sequential Read	560MB/s
Sequential Write	520MB/s
Random Read IOPS	80K IOPS
Random Write IOPS	85K IOPS
Warranty	3 years
TBW	200TB

Our unit is again the 256GB variant, with a 560MB/s read and 520MB/s write performance. Warranty is 3 years, which is enough for a device with 200TB TBW. The SSD comes with Acronis True image HD and the ADATA SSD Toolbox.

PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES:

The ADATA SU800 comes packed inside a small packaging with a two part internal shell. A standard for 2.5 inch storage devices.

No screws here nor a free SATA cable. It’s 2018, what should we expect? At the very least we’ve got a spacer should you happen to require the SU800 on a notebook. 3D NAND based SSDs are more efficient compared to older generations so it’s a fitting choice.

DESIGN, LAYOUT AND CONNECTIVITY:

The ADATA SU800 SSD is a simple looking 2.5  inch fellow. The front is made out of plastic, while the back is made out of aluminum.

The back features the usual stuff. The SSD doesn’t feature torque screws so it could only be opened by force.

With the SU800, what you see is what you get. Finish is not incredible, yet it isn’t bad at all. Passable to say at least, aesthetically.

TEST SETUP AND METHODOLOGY:

Our storage device reviews revolves around the use of various storage benchmark tools and real world benchmarks. Our setup fills up the test drive to at least 50% of its capacity. This is done so to negate the FOB (Fresh Out the Box) performance of the drive; ensuring that we are testing the drive near its expected usage. The drive is formatted under NTFS and is attached to its natively supported interface. This is to ensure the system is at its optimal testing state.

TEST SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
PROCESSOR	Intel Core i5-6600K
MOTHERBOARD	ASUS Z170-A
CPU COOLER	Cryorig C1 Top Flow
MEMORY KIT	Crucial Ballistix Tactical @ 2666MHz 4x4GB Kit
GRAPHICS CARD	ASUS GTX 1060 STRIX OC 6GB
INTERNAL STORAGE	Crucial BX200 480GB
POWER SUPPLY	CORSAIR RM850X 850W
DISPLAY	27″ DELL U2715H + LG 43UF680T 4K UHD TV
OPERATING SYSTEM	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

THROUGHPUT PERFORMANCE:

Throughput performance in MB/s is measured with CrystalDiskMark. First up on the test is the Sequential read and write performance, measured with a block size of 1MB, 1GB transfer size and 32 Queue Depth. This test is more in line with large file transfers; similar to watching a movie.

The second one is the Random 4K read and write performance, measured with a random block size of 4KB, 1GB transfer size and 32 Queue Depth. This test is more in line with small file transfers; similar to transferring installation files and reading game data.

The ADATA SU800 starts strong at the sequential transfer rate benchmarks. Able to achieve 552 MB/s for the read and 506 MB/s for the write. Random 4K performance is also good compared to other 2.5 inch SATA drives at the tests with 268 MB/s read and 360 MB/s write performance.

IOPS PERFORMANCE:

Input/Output Operations per Second is is measured with AS SSD. The Random 4K-64Thrd read and write benchmark is used for this test. Performance is measured with a random block size of 4KB, a 1GB transfer size and 64-thread IO requests. This tests the storage medium’s ability to use Native Command Queuing (NCQ) at higher Queue Depth. A Useful metric for server side applications.

IOPS performance hits the ceiling from the datasheet with an 88K IOPS write. Read performance however could be a little better.

ACCESS TIME PERFORMANCE:

The read and write latency is measured with AS SSD using a 512KB block size. Access Time is just as important as the throughput and IOPS performance of the drive; allowing us to peak into how fast or slow a storage medium can access a given data. Latency is measured in milliseconds.

Read latency is recorded at 0.038ms, while the write latency is at 0.034ms. Excellent performance for a SATA SSD.

FILE COPY PERFORMANCE:

Our real world performance test consists of 3 file folders containing 6GB worth of text files, images and videos each. The files are copied within the drive using TeraCopy to evaluate the storage medium’s performance. File copy performance is measured in seconds.

The SU800 tipped the scales when it comes to the file copy performance aspect of this review.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The ADATA Ultimate SU800 256GB is one excellent SSD below the $80 USD mark. Sequential speeds for example are up to ADATA’s claims, while other areas are not far off either. The file copy performance is the best in class as well.

While we like how fast it is given the price, the ADATA SU800 sure had its own fair share of not so favorable attributes. For an instance, the shell is made out of plastic, which is I assume to keep the MSRP from shooting over the roof. I’d like to see better random read performance at the most demanding Queue Depth levels too. Suffice to say, it’s not perfect, nothing is and that’s alright for most tasks.

The ADATA Ultimate SU800 is once again an excellent SSD for its price. At under $80 USD and with an excellent market availability, it is a worthy SSD to add on your devices.

SEQUENTIAL PERFORMANCE WRITE IOPS PERFORMANCE FILE COPY PERFORMANCE ACCESS TIMES VALUE FOR MONEY

RANDOM READ IOPS COULD BE BETTER PLASTIC TOP SHELL