Final Thoughts
Honestly when we were approached to review this drive we thought, “How good could an HP SSD really be?”. But after we were briefed on the specification and internals of the drive we were intrigued. Remember this drive makes use of the SMI SM2258 controller and Micron 3D TLC NAND. This is the same combination that is used on many enthusiast 2.5-inch solid state drives currently in the market. On top of that the drive runs on HP’s own high performance firmware, which made for better and more consistent overall performance.
Talking about performance this drive (512GB version) is rated for 565 MB/s sequential reads and 520 MB/s sequential writes. Looking at our test results it definitely performed right up to specifications. In ATTO Disk Benchmark we saw scores of 562 MB/s read and 516 MB/s write. For CrystalDiskMark the results were 563.2 MB/s read and 513 MB/s write. Finally in AIDA64’s Disk Benchmark linear tests it scored an average of 5.25 MB/s read and 232.7 MB/s write. The write results were actually better than most drives as they start to drop off after 10%, whereas this drive lasted to about 35% before performance in the linear write test started to drop off.
At the end of the day this is a very good drive and one of the better all-around performer in all of our tests. Right now the 512GB version is selling at our favorite online retailer for $229.95, which compared to other drives in similar capacities is a little expensive for what you are getting. A 500GB Samsung 850 EVO is only $163.99 and comes with a 5-year warranty compared to the 3-year of the S700 Pro. But this is a very strong entry for HP and is definitely a drive you would want in your system, especially if you are upgrading from a traditional hard drive.
Overall ThinkComputers gives the HP S700 Pro 512GB Solid State Drive a 9 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– Great overall performance
– Better performance in linear write tests than other drives
– 3-year warranty
– Solid internal components
Cons:
– Price
– Other drives come with a 5-year warranty
