SSDs have come a long way since their early years of adoption, where even a 32GB variant is just a luxury back then. Fast forward today, SSDs are now even available at 16TB – which is astounding for the technology’s development. Now what we got here is another high capacity SSD – not as high as 16TB, but a fraction of it which means it’s perfectly attainable by most consumers.

What we’re talking about is the 1TB variant of the Transcend SSD370S. A series of SSDs with models ranging from 32GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities. Broad as it is, the SSD370S we got here features a Synchronous MLC NAND Flash – which is proper for the capacity so Transcend need not to wager over the more expensive yet faster SLC NAND Flash. The 1TB SSD370S is rated at 570 MB/S Read performance, while the Write performance is rated at 470 MB/S. It comes in at $319 USD as of this writing, or at around 20, 500 Pesos in the Philippine soil.

Specifications

Capacity 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Size 100mm x 69.85mm x 6.8mm (3.94″ x 2.75″ x 0.28″)
Weight 63g (2.22 oz)
Storage Media Synchronous MLC NAND Flash memory
Operating Voltage DC 5V
Operating Temperature 0°C (32°F) to 70°C (158°F)
Certificates CE, FCC, BSMI
Warranty 3 years (The 3 years warranty does not apply when SSD Scope’s wear-out indicator shows 0% within 3 years)

*Please access here for more information about Transcend Warranty Policy.

*Note Speed may vary due to host hardware, software, usage and storage capacity.
Package Contents SSD370, 3.5″ Bracket, Screws x 8

Unboxing

The SSD370S comes in a professional, Transcend standard packaging. It’s not as flashy compared to others out there, but there is a sense of responsibility from Transcend to protect the contents very well with this one, as well as to inform the consumers about the content’s specifications down right to its included accessories and software.

Transcend SSD370S Images (1)

Along with a set of screws, and a rack to mount the SSD on a 3.5″ bay, the SSD370S came with abundant amount of manuals, and pamphlets. There’s nothing to complain except for a missing SATAIII cable. For a 20K peso SSD, I expected it to be included in the package.

Transcend SSD370S Images (2)

The Transcend SSD370S is not as fancy as you’d think it is, featuring a simple glossy gray metal housing with little branding at the top. Conforming to the standards of a notebook’s 2.5″ drive bay, this one should fit perfectly inside a notebook with it’s 6.8mm z-height for clearance.

Transcend SSD370S Images (4)

At the back lies the drive’s serials, and certifications together with the screw holes for vertical mounting on some cases and brackets such as the one included on this SSD’s package.

Transcend SSD370S Images (3)

The SSD370S is powered by Transcend’s very own TS6500 controller, which is basically known as the Silicon Motion SM2246EN. Together with Micron’s 128Gbit 20nm MLC + LPDDR2 in 1TB configuration, this appears to be Transcend’s way to feature a high capacity drive, without over complicating the price.

Test Setup

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.

Transcend-SSD370S-Images-(5)

The Transcend SSD370S comes with a Trillion Bytes of capacity, roughly translating to 953 GB of available space to play with. The test system’s specifications are as follows:

TEST SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
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 TRANSCEND SSD370S 1TB
PSU COOLER MASTER SILENT PRO HYBRID 1300W
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

Benchmarks

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.

Transcend MTS800 Review Images (1)

Transcend MTS800 Review Images (2)

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.

Transcend MTS800 Review Images (3)

Transcend MTS800 Review Images (4)

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.

Transcend MTS800 Review Images (5)

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.

Transcend MTS800 Review Images (6)

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.

Transcend MTS800 Review Images (7)

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.

Transcend MTS800 Review Images (8)

Conclusion

Great, is how I would describe Transcend’s SSD370S’ performance. It’s not perfect, not the best I’ve seen, but is great nonetheless – especially if we’re going to talk about its near advertised speeds which we admit that not all drives could exhibit on our tests that requires the drive to be filled up at 50% and out of the FOB state. For most part especially around our synthetic benchmarks, it goes head to head with our M.2 SSD which is also from Transcend which is good since M.2 generally should feature better I/O performance. But when real world performance is concerned, the SSD370S just generally better overall. Shaving extra time copying our compressed and uncompressed files but shying away to beat the M.2 SSD on our image editing benchmark.

Moving on, there’s nothing much to complain about the drive – except for the lack of APM support which would be beneficial for notebook users due to the feature’s advanced power saving benefits. It’s not the fastest we’ve seen too, but its price makes up for it. Putting itself competitively around similar priced solid state drives internationally. Locally however, with its 20, 500 Pesos SRP, it’s quite not easy to justify the extra 5, 000 Pesos. But then again, the competition is most likely to feature the same retail pricing.

The Transcend SSD370S is a great SSD, featuring the industry’s standard performance for its price, and capacity. Backed with a 3 year manufacturer warranty, this solid state drive is a perfect solution should you require the capacity and speed for your needs.

Transcend SSD370S

8/10

Summary

The Transcend SSD370S is a great SSD, featuring the industry’s standard performance for its price, and capacity. Backed with a 3 year manufacturer warranty, this solid state drive is a perfect solution should you require the capacity and speed for your needs.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published