As you might expect from a drive with the focus on reads, the 4K random read IOPS performance from the SK hynix SE3010 960GB is very, very strong. At a very shallow queue depth of 1 (more like desktop use) it outperforms all the other 960GB/1TB 2.5in class drives we have tested producing 95,656 IOPS. This is a little lower than the official figure of 98,000 IOPS, but still very good.
When tested at a queue depth of 256 which is more akin to the heavy traffic in its normal working environment like web serving, it actually gets faster, producing a score of 98,678 IOPS, surpassing the official figure.
What is surprising though is how strong the write performance was when tested scoring a very good 85,135 IOPS although this did fall once the drive was given a serious amount of work to do – at a queue depth of 256 it produced a figure of 84,199 IOPS.
It's also a drive built to last with a strong metal case and thermal pads on both the lid and base to help disperse heat build-up … not to mention built in power protection.
At the time of writing we couldn't find anyone selling the drive or a UK price for it.
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Pros
- Excellent read performance at deep queue depths.
- Power protection for data.
- Competitive price.
Cons
- Read performance for small bitty files at shallow queue depths not its strong point.
Kitguru says: As a drive designed for intensive reads at deeper queue depths the SE3010 certainly delivers with particularly strong IOPS performance for random reads.