ADATA Ultimate SU800 SATA III SSD Review

Final Thoughts

ADATA's Ultimate SU800 will be competing primarily with Crucial's MX300 for market share. Both SSDs are low-cost mainstream performers that deliver an excellent user experience. Both employ essentially the same flash array and both deliver performance that is comparable to one another. The main differentiator between the two competitors comes down to the flash processor. This is where we feel the SU800 may have a slight edge. Crucial's MX300 and ADATA's Ultimate SU800 are both backed by a three-year limited warranty. The warranty limitation comes down to endurance or TBW (Total Bytes Written).

This is where we see the advantage going to ADATA because of the SM2258 controller at its heart. The SMI SM2258 controller that powers the SU800 features advanced LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) error correction. LDPC error correcting is ideal for TLC-based SSDs because it significantly increases the endurance of the drive's flash array. LDPC is the reason why ADATA's Ultimate SU800 has more than double the rated endurance of Crucial's MX300. It has been our experience that an SSD's endurance rating (TBW) is a better indicator of how long a drive will actually last than the length of its warranty.

Micron 3D flash is more about density than anything else, which is why we are kind of puzzled to see companies offering capacities less than 512GB. Based on cost per gigabyte and our testing results, we believe the 512GB model will provide the best value. The 512GB model is significantly more powerful than the smaller capacity points. It is also less expensive per gigabyte of storage and more future proof because you get more capacity which inevitably most users will need as time goes on.

ADATA's Ultimate SU800 series SSDs deliver an excellent SSD user experience at a very low price point, which is why it is TweakTown recommended.

Pros:

• Price Point
• Moderate Workload Performance
• Build Quality
• Free Software

Cons:

• Low Performance at 128GB Capacity

Product Summary Breakdown

Performance	85%
Quality including Design and Build	90%
General Features	90%
Bundle and Packaging	90%
Value for Money	90%

Overall TweakTown Rating

89%

The Bottom Line: Low cost, high endurance, and good performance make the ADATA Ultimate SU800 an excellent mainstream SSD.

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