Conclusion

With its SandForce SF-2281 based SSD S511, ADATA hasn't been able to reach the exact same performance level like for example the Vertex 3. On average the performance of the S511 is inbetween the Vertex 3 and the Agility 3 which is seriously fast. Especially the sequential read throughput with 536 MByte/s is very high. This definitely is a convincing argument. Sequential write is also on a competitive level with 457 MByte/s. Performing random reads of 4 KByte blocks with the ADATA SSD S511 60 GByte resulted in as near as makes no difference 13'000 IOPS. This value is a bit disappointing, especially because of the fact that ADATAs competitors manage to squeeze quite a lot more IOPS out of their SF-2281 drives in this case. Nevertheless random writes are blisteringly fast again. 60'000 IOPS really is serious performance and a lot of fun to work with.

We very much liked the delivery the ADATA SSD S511 comes with. You'll for example find a 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch adapter included. Furthermore ADATA has a partnership with Acronis. Therefore you can find a number on the box which can be entered on the ADATA Website in order to download a free copy of Acronis Disk Image. This makes the transition to a new drive much easier.

If you should consider buying a recent and yet well performing SF-2281 based SSD and the most important factor for your descision is the price point, the S511 from ADATA will be a very good choice.

Because of the relatively low IOPS performance regarding random reads the ADATA SSD S511 scores four out of five stars.