We like PCMark 8's Storage 2.0 benchmark module for its real-world application measurement approach to testing.
PCMark 8 offers a trace-based measurement of system response times under various scripted workloads of traditional client / desktop system operation. From simple application start-up performance, to data streaming from a drive in a game engine, and video and photo editing with
Adobe applications, we feel comfortable that these tests reasonably illustrate the performance profile of SSDs in an end-user / consumer PC usage model, more so than a purely synthetic transfer test.
The trace-based PCMark Storage Test proved to be another strong point for the Intel Optane SSD 800P series drives. The high-end Optane SSD 900P was the clear leader, but the Optane SSD 800P fell into place right behind it. Technically, the
Samsung SSD 960 Pro put up a slightly higher overall score than the 800P, but in the majority of individual results and in terms of total bandwidth, the Optane SSD 800P outpaced all of the NAND-based SSDs.
