FC-Test - continued

Copy tests combine read and write operations, and the X25-M's new firmware again provides a healthy performance boost. Although the Apex does well with the Install test pattern, there's a clear separation between the top three drives—the X25-M, P256, and PB22-J—and their rivals from OCZ, Super Talent, and Transcend.

The results of our partition copy tests play out much like the first round of copy tests. Transcend gets a brief reprieve from the back of the field with the ISO test pattern, but it's still the slowest contender overall.

The trend of storage controllers defining SSD performance can be seen throughout our FC-Test results. Sure, the P256 and PB22-J are essentially identical drives, but the Vertex and UltraDrive are not, save for their use of the same Indilinx controller.