Patriot Inferno 100 GB

With the Inferno, Patriot have come up with an SSD built around the well-reputed SandForce SF-1222 controller. Will it offer the same level of performance as those of the excellent OCZ Vertex 2 or Mach Xtreme Technology MX-DS which use the same controller?


Remember that the particularity of this SandForce controller is to use storage memory as cache memory when reading/writing to the disk. This is why many SSDs based on the SF-1222 offer reduced capacities (100 GB instead of 120 GB, 200 GB instead of 240 GB.). This has been corrected in SandForce's new firmware, which now allows manufacturers to offer drives with the same storage capacities as the competition. Sometimes, simply updating the drive will increase its capacity. Other times, as would seem to be the case with the Patriot, the drive is on sale in two different versions. The Inferno is available in different capacities: 60 GB, 100 GB, 120 GB, 200 GB and 240 GB.


We have tested the 100 GB version, the precise reference of which is PI100GS25SSD:
 

Note straight off that, in contrast to the trend with some manufacturers, here there's no USB port to retrieve data from an old drive. You only have the SATA-2 interface at 3 Gbps which guarantees sufficient bandwidth for the theoretical performance levels announced: up to 285 MB/s for reads and 275 MB/s writes.

We're biting at the heels of the current best (OCZ Vertex 2 and Mach Xtreme Technology MX-DS) and almost on a par with the Intel X25-M. The AS-SSD test confirms this:
 

The access times readings show up a slight shortfall on the previously cited drives, which perhaps explains why the Inferno is ever so slightly down in the practical tests further on in the article:
 

The Inferno remains nevertheless an excellent drive in terms of pure performance. Lets see what it gives in the more practical tests...

Performance in practice

The PC Mark Vantage index shows some shortfall on the best current drives. its score of 24556 places it quite a way away from the 30,000 points upwards obtained by the top drives:
This delay is perhaps due to the access times that are slightly down on the other models. Nevertheless in the purely practical tests the Inferno works wonders and is on the podium. If we only take into account these last tests, in a purely applied framework, this SSD has the best drives dancing to its tune. The only thing likely to put it at a disadvantage is that availability in stores is so limited.