http://www.tomshardware.co.uk en 10 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:22:23 +0100 http://m.bestofmedia.com/i/bestofmicro/design/groupe/logo_toms_uk.jpg http://www.tomshardware.co.uk http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-520-sandforce-review-benchmark,review-32373.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-520-sandforce-review-benchmark,review-32373.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:10:00 CET If you thought that Intel had conceded the high-end SSD market to its competition, you were wrong. The company's new SSD 520 centers on SandForce's SF-2281 controller, incorporates top-bin IMFT NAND, and is protected by a five-year warranty.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/sata-6gbps-performance-sata-3gbps,review-32370.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/sata-6gbps-performance-sata-3gbps,review-32370.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:10:00 CET Are you mulling the potential benefit of an SSD upgrade on a system without 6 Gb/s SATA connectivity? We run the benchmarks on several different solid-state storage architectures in order to determine how much performance you give up on an older machine.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/picturestory/35-petarack-petabyte-sas.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/picturestory/35-petarack-petabyte-sas.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:40:00 CET We're big fans of big technology, and with more than 1 PB of capacity, Aberdeen's Petarack is sure something to marvel at. We take a look inside and figure out what it takes to deploy 1 000 terabytes of space in an enterprise environment, reliably.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-laptop-upgrade-optical-bay,review-32366.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-laptop-upgrade-optical-bay,review-32366.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:10:00 CET You want a performance-oriented SSD in your notebook, but you also need the capacity of a hard drive. Why not just remove your optical drive, drop your hard drive into its bay, and load up a brand new SSD with Windows and your apps?]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-review-benchmark,review-32364.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-review-benchmark,review-32364.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:10:00 CET Welcome to the year's first SSD recommendations. We updated our list to reflect recent price drops on second-gen SandForce-based hardware. There are several good deals in the budget range. Prices are falling, so we're letting you know!]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/video-editing-performance-ssd-hdd,review-32358.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/video-editing-performance-ssd-hdd,review-32358.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:10:00 CET A number of metrics are used to quantify storage performance. If you're a content creator, you have to be wondering how such dry terminology can apply to your video projects. Rather than telling you, we're going to dissect several media-oriented tasks.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/tests-ssd-review-solid-state,review-32353.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/tests-ssd-review-solid-state,review-32353.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:10:01 CET It's easy to forget that lower-capacity SSDs are also usually slower. Today we're testing the most prolific 60/64 GB configurations to gauge where they fall in the big picture. We emerge at the other end with a recommendation based on our testing, too.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/buy-ssd-recommendation-value,review-32349.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/buy-ssd-recommendation-value,review-32349.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 06:10:00 CET Welcome to the last column of 2011. We updated our recommendations to reflect the recent price drops on second-gen SandForce hardware. There are several good deals to be found for right about $150-200 bucks. Prices are falling, and we keep you informed.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/octane-sata-indilinx-benchmark-performance,review-32348.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/octane-sata-indilinx-benchmark-performance,review-32348.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 08:20:00 CET What? A performance SSD from OCZ not based on SandForce's tech? The new Octane SSD features an Indilinx controller. Does OCZ rectify the controller company's past mistakes, or does it need more time to marinate? The truth lies somewhere in the middle.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/solid-state-drive-work-tests,review-32339.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/solid-state-drive-work-tests,review-32339.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Thu, 15 Dec 2011 06:10:00 CET A number of metrics are used to quantify storage performance. If you're a regular Joe, you have to be wondering how such dry terminology can apply to office work. Rather than telling you, we're going to dissect several routine computing tasks.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-ntfs-compression,review-32330.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-ntfs-compression,review-32330.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:10:01 CET Flash-based solid-state drives with more than 64 or 128 GB of capacity are fairly small, but they're still really expensive relative to hard drives. Compressing the Windows partition frees up some space, but is that really a good idea?]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/battlefield-rift-ssd,review-32327.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/battlefield-rift-ssd,review-32327.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Fri, 25 Nov 2011 06:10:00 CET We use a ton of terms to quantify storage performance. If you're a gamer, you have to be wonder how such dry terminology can apply to having fun. Rather than telling you, we're going to dissect three more popular titles to illustrate for you instead.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-price-ssd,review-32325.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-price-ssd,review-32325.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:10:00 CET Welcome to the sixth iteration of our highest-ranked SSDs at any given price point. We updated our recommendations to reflect the recent price drops on second-gen SandForce hardware. There are several good deals to be found for right about £150.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/microsdhc-memory-card-performance,review-32317.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/microsdhc-memory-card-performance,review-32317.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:10:01 CET With rated write performance as high as 10 MB/s and capacities as high as 32 GB, there's plenty of choice in the microSDHC marketplace. Do the contenders actually hit their performance targets? Interestingly, some of them are actually quite a bit better!]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/advanced-format-1tb-hard-drive,review-32312.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/advanced-format-1tb-hard-drive,review-32312.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 06:10:00 CET Advanced Format technology makes it possible to build 9.5 mm high 2.5” hard disks with 500 GB per platter. The result is a range of slim and speedy storage giants.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-710-enterprise-x25-e,review-32309.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-710-enterprise-x25-e,review-32309.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:10:00 CET Take note, enterprise customers: the successor to Intel's vaunted X25-E is here, and it doesn't center on SLC flash. Instead, the company is turning toward High Endurance Technology MLC. We dig deep to find out what this means for speed and reliability.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/revodrive-hybrid-ssd-hard-drive,review-32304.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/revodrive-hybrid-ssd-hard-drive,review-32304.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:10:00 CEST If you're tempted to buy a PCI Express-based SSD and add your own conventional storage, OCZ's RevoDrive Hybrid could might suit you. A 120 GB SSD and 1 TB of disk space come together on a four-lane PCIe card to serve up an advanced caching solution.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/usb-3.0-controller-performance,review-32302.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/usb-3.0-controller-performance,review-32302.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Thu, 20 Oct 2011 06:10:00 CEST Given a lack of chipset vendors integrating USB 3.0 support into their core logic (with the exception of AMD's Socket FM1-focused A75), motherboard manufacturers are forced to lean hard on third-party solutions. We take a few for a test drive.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-nand-reliability,review-32297.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-nand-reliability,review-32297.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Fri, 14 Oct 2011 06:10:01 CEST Welcome to the fifth iteration of our highest-ranked SSDs for any given budget. We updated our recommendations to reflect the recent price drops on second-gen SandForce hardware. There are several good deals to be found for right about £175]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-upgrade-hdd-performance,review-32292.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-upgrade-hdd-performance,review-32292.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Fri, 07 Oct 2011 06:10:00 CEST Should you buy a new processor for your next machine? How about a new graphics card? Have you given any thought to the status of your storage subsystem? We're making a case for incorporating solid-state technology the next time you're upgrade-shopping.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/sas-6gb-raid-controller,review-32291.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/sas-6gb-raid-controller,review-32291.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Thu, 06 Oct 2011 06:10:01 CEST We got our hands on four SAS 6 Gb/s RAID controllers from Adaptec, Areca, HighPoint, and LSI and ran them through RAID 0, 5, 6, and 10 workloads to test their mettle. Does your system need eight more ports of connectivity? We can answer that!]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/samsung-830-ssd-toggle-mode,review-32281.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/samsung-830-ssd-toggle-mode,review-32281.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:10:00 CEST Samsung's 830 is a late entry to the 6 Gb/s SSD market, but the company claims impressive performance. Can it unseat the incumbent SandForce-based drives? Let's just say this new offering shakes up the SSD world in a major way. Other vendors, beware.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/3tb-hdd-hard-drive,review-32271.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/3tb-hdd-hard-drive,review-32271.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:10:00 CEST Hard drives able to hold 3 TB of data need to be considered carefully because they might not always work as expected. This round-up of four high-capacity disks compares products from Hitachi, Seagate, and Western Digital, then covers their caveats.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/external-blu-ray-burner,review-32269.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/external-blu-ray-burner,review-32269.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Tue, 06 Sep 2011 06:10:01 CEST The advent of affordable, high-capacity media could bring a renaissance in optical storage, but only if the performance is adequate. We tested a few of today’s fastest drives with USB and eSATA connectivity to find out where this technology stands.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/hard-drive-magnetic-storage-hdd,review-32264.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/hard-drive-magnetic-storage-hdd,review-32264.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:10:01 CEST Even though we shun hard drives in this era of SSDs, magnetic storage is really quite remarkable. In this piece, we dive into the history of hard drives, dissect the technology that makes them work, and explore the advances that give us 3 TB drives today.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-solid-state-nand-reliability,review-32260.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-solid-state-nand-reliability,review-32260.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Fri, 26 Aug 2011 06:10:00 CEST We've added more SSDs to our database and observed a number of significant price changes in the past month. As a result, this months recommendations undergo a notable revamp. And to those of you waiting for a hierarchy table at the end, it's here!]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-gaming-performance,review-32255.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-gaming-performance,review-32255.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 06:10:00 CEST There are a ton of terms used to quantify storage performance. If you're a gamer, you have to be wondering how such dry terminology can apply to having fun. Rather than telling you, we're going to dissect three popular titles to show you instead.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/flash-memory-summit-nand-reliability,review-32253.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/flash-memory-summit-nand-reliability,review-32253.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 06:10:00 CEST We were invited to speak on two panels at this year's 2011 Flash Memory Summit. Now that the conference is over, we wanted to circle back with some thoughts on what we saw and provide an explanation as to why we test SSDs the way that we do.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-upgrade-hard-drive,review-32246.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-upgrade-hard-drive,review-32246.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 06:10:00 CEST It's a foregone conclusion that SSDs are must-haves in performance-oriented PCs, but our testing reveals that solid-state drives are reasonable upgrades in older mainstream machines, too. We build three old boxes to gauge the impact of an SSD on each.]]> http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/m4-ssd-capacity-comparison,review-32243.html#xtor=RSS-1425 http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/m4-ssd-capacity-comparison,review-32243.html#xtor=RSS-1425 Wed, 03 Aug 2011 06:10:00 CEST SSDs are a lot faster than hard drives. But their price tags continue deterring enthusiasts. Less-expensive SSDs are available, but what do you trade off (aside from capacity) when you buy a smaller drive? We test four models from Crucial to find out.]]>