We proceed to IOMeter benchmark. Iometer is run by using workstation and database patterns for queue depths (outstanding I/Os) of two and 32, representing very light and moderate loads. Iometer is both a workload generator (that is, it performs I/O operations in order to stress the system) and a measurement tool (that is, it examines and records the performance of its I/O operations and their impact on the system). The app's ability to bombard drives with an escalating number of concurrent IO requests also does a nice job of simulating the sort of demanding multi-user environments that are common in enterprise applications. It can be used for measurement of the performance of an SSD. We run the IOMeter tests using the Xtreme Benchmark template .

With just 5034.83 combined IOPS, the Crucial m4 256GB SSD is not the fastest SSD around.

Below you see the results of Futuremark's PCMark 7 Professional edition. The drive scored 5121points. Below you see the performance of the Crucial m4 256Gb SSD in various tasks defined by the software:

Below you see the performance of the SSD compared to some other SSDs we have tested in the past:

PCMARK VANTAGE HDD suite

The PCMark Vantage x64 HDD Suite created testing scenarios that might be used in the typical user experience.  There are eight tests in all and the tests performed record the speed of data movement in MB/s to which they are then given a numerical score after all of the tests are complete.  The simulations are as follows:

• Windows Defender In Use
• Streaming Data from storage in games
• Importing digital photos into Windows Photo Gallery
• Starting the Vista Operating System
• Home Video editing with Movie Maker
• Media Center which can handle video recording, time shifting and streaming from Windows media center
• Adding music to media player
• Loading applications

SiSoft Sandra is a good all round synthetic software suite.The results for the Crucial m4 256Gb are good: