Benchmarking Results – BlackMagicDesigns Disk Speed Test
BlackMagicDesign’s Disk Speed Test assesses your storage system’s ability to handle the rigors of reading and writing for a range of different video resolutions and formats. The Plextor M6e checks off most, if not all, the major NTSC screen resolutions that are commonly used today.
The Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB drive, which again, is somewhat hobbled by the Marvell SATA3 controller, gets considerably lower read and write scores, and fails in more resolutions as the bit depth increases. It’s clearly the wrong storage medium for the job, and won’t get much better, even with a “better” SATA3 port.
Finally, our ADAPTEC 5805 RAID 0 array shows of why it’s been in our video editing system for so long. Compared to the Plextor M6e, the max read and write speeds basically trade places with this array, but it gets the nod in more places when it comes to overall format support. While the ADAPTEC 5805 with four 1TB SAS drives is the optimum solution, the Plextor M6e gets the nod in all the categories that we currently edit in.
The issues only seem to crop up with we’re at 50 or 60 fps at 1080p, which are resolutions we rarely use at all. It’s possible that the 512GB version of the Plextor M6e, with its higher write speed performance, would be able to seal the deal. It’s also a much less complex solution, without the need for a controller card and four additional hard drives.
Final Thoughts
After all the testing is done, the Plextor M6e does prove itself to be an extremely advantageous upgrade for any user without access to an M.2 slot on their motherboard, and wants to take advantage of the performance of today’s latest technology moving forward. In benchmarks, this product proves itself extremely well, going toe to toe with a much more complex RAID 0 array with a hardware controller, and showing why this technology is the future, by basically embarrassing a fairly decent SATA SSD.
And the best part is, it plugs right into your older system, with a high level of compatibility, with setup no more difficult than what you’re used to installing a SATA based drive. We know that if that RAID 0 array drops a drive, we’re doing one of these in a 512GB version. We’re also moving everything into a smaller case!
While the Plextor M6e does offer a much less complex way to get high data throughput, the pricing does come at a bit of a premium vs the available storage. That’s where SATA SSDs are still a good value for fairly brisk storage for the dollar. The Plextor M6e in the 512GB version, in this configuration with PCIe adapter, will run you $459 US, while one of the fastest SATA SSDs, the Samsung 850 PRO 512GB, will run you $379.99 US. But of course, it’s nowhere near as fast.
About the only thing that’s a detriment, would be the premium price, for the storage given, if you need more than the Max 512GBs currently available. But it sure is fast though!
Pros
- The latest storage technology available on your older system
- Faster performance than any SATA SSD and less complex than a RAID 0 array
- Extremely easy and quick setup
Cons
- Takes up a PCI Express Slot
- Priced at a premium for the amount of storage given
Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
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