When it comes to selecting the perfect SSD for your new PC, you may be literally overwhelmed for choice with so many brands and types to choose from. Finally, most buyers will desire an SSD that increases performance while being the least expensive. That is a cost-effective product. 

Transcend's SSD230S SSD is aimed at the mainstream market. This is the company's first SSD to use 3D NAND technology. While 3D NAND improves performance and increases storage density, it has a lower endurance level. As a result, special procedures and technologies are required to improve the product's durability.


Specifications



The SSD230S is a 2.5-inch drive that connects to the motherboard using the conventional SATA 6Gbps interface. As a result, we do not expect the drive's performance to be comparable to that of an NVMe drive, as it is most likely to be bottlenecked by the storage interface. The SSD230S is available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities. 


We discovered a PCB that did not even take up the entire space of the SSD230S enclosure when we opened it up. This is made possible by high-density 3D NAND storage technology. It's no surprise that the SSD is so light, allowing for ultra-portable notebook computers. 


The Silicon Motion SM2258 SSD controller, as well as a DDR3 DRAM, used as a cache, are located on the other side of the PCB. We already discussed the endurance constraints of 3D NAND storage. Silicon Motion's NANDXtend ECC technology uniquely mitigates this issue in the SM2258 SSD. A low-density parity check (LDPC) is used in this technology to authenticate the accuracy of transmitted data before writing it to the memory chip. This prevents unnecessary write operations to the drive, which endangers the integrity of the floating gates in a flash memory chip.




SMI also uses StaticDataRefresh technology to ensure that each charge in the cell (which holds the actual bit) maintains the proper voltage level. The worst that can happen to a cell is that the data stored as 0 becomes a 1 owing to interference from nearby cells. This will have an effect on the drive's overall read performance. This method allows the drive to maintain a greater read performance over time by refreshing each cell and correcting the voltages.

The Transcend SSD230S's DDR3 memory chip serves as an interface between the quick main memory and the slower NAND storage flash. This allows frequently used data to be kept directly on the DDR3 memory chip, allowing for faster data transfer to the main memory. This architecture enables the SSD to perform better in specific usage circumstances. 

Software


Transcend includes their SSD Scope program, which allows customers to test the SSD230S. Of course, we should not believe the performance benchmark provided by the manufacturer, as it is bound to be skewed toward demonstrating the drive's high performance. We'll use CrystalDiskMark, ATTO Disk Benchmark, and Windows file transfer scenarios to determine the actual performance of this drive later in the article's benchmark section.


It was also mentioned that the SSD Scope contains a Status function that displays the SSD's wear-out indicator. According to the Transcend warranty, "warranty does not apply when SSD Scope's wear-out indicator displays 0% within the warranty coverage." This demonstrates that they are voiding the guarantee for consumers who perform excessive write operations on the SSD drive, which degrades the drive.

Performance and Benchmark