Way back in December, KyoHyoukKim, posting on the Microsoft Answers forum, had a simple question:
My surface book 2 (15 inch, i7, 16G, 256G ssd) shows high read speed (~3000 mb/s), but super low write speed (~330 mb/s). I returned my 1st one due to this super low write speed, but 2nd one also show almost same benchmark speed. Based on other reviews, these numbers are consistently reported in 256G ssd model. I wonder if this write speed is normal or it can be improved by firmware update later. If this write speed is normal...why MS used this ssd?. 300mb/s write speed is much slower than my 2yr old surface pro 4 256G (~1000mb/s) and 3yr old 256G ssd(~800mb/s) in my desktop
Six months and 35 replies later, we have multiple Microsoft Agents asking the same questions over and over again — and we aren’t getting any answers.
It appears as if the problem isn’t confined to 15-inch i7 256 GB Samsung SSD systems. There are similar complaints from Surface Book 2 owners with 13-inch and 1 TB systems.
KyoHyoukKim says his 256 GB Samsung SSD is model MZFLW256HEHP-000MV, which is an M.2 form factor SSD. He put it up against his Surface Pro 4, which has a 256 GB Toshiba SSD, and got these results with CrystalDiskMark 6.0.0:
Surface Book 2 256G (Samsung): Read 2494.1 MB/s, Write 338.7 MB/s
Surface Pro 4 256G (Toshiba): Read 1616.3 MB/s, Write 942.2 MB/s
The Novabench testing site reports 954 MB/s sequential read and 181 MB/s write for the MZFLW256HEHP-000MV. It shipped with both the Surface Book 2 and the Surface Pro 4. I haven’t seen similar reports of slow write speeds on 256 GB Surface Pro 4.
As poster winndznow puts it:
Pathetic I spent 2500.00 on this and find out they cut corners with the drive...OR it needs firmware updates. Who knows.
That’s precisely the problem. Microsoft is back to asking the same questions, over and over again — and we haven’t seen any answers. Slothful SSD write speeds won’t trip up many SB2 and SP4 customers, but for some it’s a show-stopper. Certainly, Surface customers deserve an answer, if not a solution.
You can download CrystalDiskMark, free, from the Microsoft Store.
How’s your SSD write speed? Tell us on the AskWoody Lounge.