Transcend offers us today an M.2 SATA interface SSD for review. It is the MTS800, with a 512GB NAND capacity offering as much as 550MB/s read and 460MB/s write performance as claimed. The MTS800 M.2 SSD is fit for those who needs the power and capacity to match without sacrificing portability or size limitations on the medium where it will be applied.
The MTS800 is available in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB flavors and features a standard M.2 form factor. At 190 USD for the 512GB model, the MTS800 is certainly not the cheapest option out there yet it boast real 512GB of usable capacity if compared to its certain competitors which is a welcome gain to its feature set especially if your system has only one M.2 slot to spare and requires every available bytes squeezed from the chosen storage device. Is this the M.2 SSD that you need? Learn more to find out!
FEATURES & SPECIFICATIONS: CLICK HERE
| Capacity | 32GB, 64G, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 80.0mm × 22.0mm × 3.5mm |
| Weight | 9g (0.32 oz) |
| Storage Media | MLC NAND Flash Memory |
| Operating Voltage | DC 3.3V±5% |
| Operating Temperature | 0°C(32°F) to 70°C(158°F) |
| Certificates | CE, FCC, BSMI |
| Warranty | Three-year Limited Warranty |
| Note | Speed may vary due to host hardware, software, usage and storage capacity. |
| System Requirements | Desktop or notebook computer with a M.2 (MTS800) interface
(A SATA 6Gb/s port is needed for best performance) Required OS:
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UNBOXING & CLOSER LOOK AT THE MTS800:
The MTS800 comes in a no frills slim packaging. There’s virtually nothing to talk about here except for some not so fancy graphics and a simple specifications sheet at the back.
Along with an internal molded plastic tray that cradles the SSD, the MTS800 comes with paper works alone. No screws, nor extra accessories here to talk about. Clearly, Transcend is putting their efforts more into the product itself.
The Transcend MTS800 is as bare naked as it gets. There’s no fancy matte Black PCB, nor a heat sink – just a sticker with a barcode, model name, and the serial number of the SSD. On this side you could see the Transcend TS6500 controller with 2 of the 4 Micron branded 20nm NAND chips.
The MTS800 features a standard M.2 PCB layout, with a B & M connector. The last 2×128 GB NAND chips could be found on this side plus with the additional Samsung DDR3 DRAM with 1333 MHz frequency. Nothing out of place.
M.2 Slot based SSDs are really small, and they could pack a serious punch for their form factor which is ideal for mobile devices and SFF based systems where space is just as important as the performance. With the MTS800, that might be the case but let us find out if it is true.
TEST SYSTEM & PROCEDURES:
Storage devices, unlike motherboards, revolves around the use of various storage benchmarking tools to test their performance. It is important to note that we have a pre-made Test OS on a 256 GB Kingston HyperX Fury SSD for consistency purposes. In addition, we are always aiming to fill up the test drive to atleast 50% of its capacity, as well as to negate the FOB (Fresh Out the Box) performance by using the currently in-review storage drive for a week. This is to ensure that we are testing the drive according to its real world usage. All tests should be done with the drive attached to the native ports found on our motherboard to ensure that the system is on its optimal storage testing state.
The Transcend MTS800 comes with a 512 Million Bytes of capacity, roughly translating to 476 GB of available space. The test system’s specifications are as follows:
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TEST SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS |
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| CPU | INTEL CORE I5 4670K | |
| MOTHERBOARD | ASUS Z97-PRO WIFI AC | |
| CPU COOLER | COOLER MASTER SEIDON 120XL | |
| MEMORY | CORSAIR VENGEANCE PRO @2133 MHZ 16GB | |
| GRAPHICS CARD | ZOTAC GTX 980 TI AMP! EXTREME 6GB | |
| INT. STORAGE | KINGSTON HYPERX FURY SSD 240GB | |
| PSU | BITFENIX FURY 650G 650W | |
| DISPLAY | 27″ DELL U2715H WQHD IPS PANEL | |
| OS | MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE X64 SP1 (UPDATED) | |
| SOUND CARD | REALTEK ALC1150 | |
| EXT. STORAGE | 2TB WESTERN DIGITAL MY PASSPORT | |
SYNTHETIC STORAGE PERFORMANCE:
Crystal Disk Mark is a standard storage benchmarking software and is widely used through the industry. Test size is set to 1000 MB, with 3 Test Runs. Results from the Sequential and 4K Queue Depth 32 benchmarks will be taken for both Read and Write.
AS SSD is another well-regarded synthetic storage benchmarking tool in the industry, offering 4K Queue Depth 64 test, access time results, and even synthetic copy performance tests. Results below are from the Sequential and 4K Queue Depth 64 benchmarks for both Read & Write.
AS SSD’s Copy Benchmark should provide us a quick look at how the SSD behaves with certain files (ISO) and applications. Basically, AS SSD will take Two 500 MB files and then copy it to another folder on the same drive, gauging both the storage medium’s read and write speed at the same time.
REAL WORLD STORAGE PERFORMANCE:
Our first real world performance test is a courtesy of 24 GB uncompressed files consisting of images, PSDs, and other file formats within a single folder. To gauge a storage drive’s performance, we will copy them inside the current in-review drive using TeraCopy and will take the results from the said software’s log. Results are in seconds.
Our next benchmark is another file copy test, but this time, we are copying 12 GB of compressed files. Similar to the uncompressed file copy benchmark, we will copy the compressed files inside the current in-review drive with TeraCopy and will take the results from the said software’s log. Results are in seconds and as always, the lower time it took, the better.
Now Image Editing would be most likely suitable for CPU and RAM performance gauging, but truth is, with SSDs becoming a standard cache drive for professionals adepth at Photoshop and other related softwares, there is a benefit in using them instead of our clunky mechanical drives. Out test consist of resizing 8GB worth of images, selecting the test drive as a cache as well as the dump where the resized images will be stored. The lower time it took the system to perform the task, the better.
Temperature is another important thing to check out in today’s review, and we’re happy to report that everything’s good with the Transcend MTS800 around this area of importance.
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS & CONCLUSION:
The Transcend MTS800 is a nimble M.2 SSD – featuring great performance across the board. It never reached its rated performance of 550 MB/s read & 460 MB/s write but it’s almost there with only a handful of digits to spare. Have we tested this drive on its FOB state then we’re most probably going to reach that far.
Considering that, we also noticed that on Amazon, the drive has a rated 560 MB/s read & 310 MB/s write speed for the 512 GB version.Confusing us more are various sites pointing out that it features a 570 MB/s & 450 MB/s rated speeds for the read and write respectively. We wished Trancend will address this issue, as consistency is a key to their drive’s success.
Moving on, there’s nothing much to complain about the drive. It’s an easy upgrade solution for systems with M.2 slots and it stands mightily atop that fact. It’s no way near as fancy as other M.2 drives out there but at 118.99 USD, the 512 GB Transcend MTS800 is a value oriented upgrade solution for those who have an M.2 slot to spare.
| THE VERDICT |
PROS:
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CONS:
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Transcend MTS800
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PERFORMANCE - 8/10
8/10
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BUILD QUALITY - 7/10
7/10
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FEATURES - 7/10
7/10
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AESTHETICS - 7/10
7/10
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VALUE - 8/10
8/10
Summary
The Transcend MTS800 is a nimble M.2 SSD – featuring great performance across the board. It never reached its rated performance of 550 MB/s read & 460 MB/s write but it’s almost there with only a handful of digits to spare. Have we tested this drive on its FOB state then we’re most probably going to reach that far.
