So, against my better judgement, or perhaps in my
dedication to the importance of experimental evidence,
I've tested the effect of -80C treatment of a fairly
standard
Samsung SSD.
To do this, I ran the Passmark Performance Test 10.0 test
suite on the CPU (CPUMark) and the disk (DiskMark)
before
and after 16 days at -80C. The absolute beast* of a test
rig
is as follows:
Dell Optiplex 7010
Intel i7 3770
16gb DDR3 Ram (4 x 4gb sticks, 2 green 2 blue)
ATI FirePro 8700 graphics card
bs0-co Performance dust package
the SATA 3.0 cable the Dell came with
slightly sticky keyboard
2 (count 'em) 23" Dell 1080p monitors
a 3tb 3.5" storage HDD**
bs0-custom 120mm zip-tie fan mod
Windows 10 build 19041.746
PC was off*** between pre/post tests to ensure software
spec. was frozen****.
1 ThermoScientific Forma957 -80C lab freezer.
and the test subject: a Samsung 860 EVO SATA SSD.
Protocol:
Take 1 SSD. Run Benchmarks
Put SSD into ziploc bag.
Place bag/SSD in Forma957 for 16 days @-80C
Lie to colleague about why a computer component is in
the
freezer.
Remove bag/SSD, allow to warm up for ~1hr
Refit to test-rig & re-run benchmarks
I ran the post treatment benchmarks 3 x since the first
run
was strangely low. Runs 2 & 3 seemed similar. CPU &
drive
data all viewable on <link>.
Conclusion: While there is no objective difference in the
drive performance, I feel this is just one section of a
broader narrative. Subjectively, I now find my file
storage
experience to be significantly less harsh. Boot times are
quantitatively (21 seconds in pre & post) the same, but
qualitatively a world apart... the post treatment 21
seconds felt smoother, more relaxed while pre-treatment
was a harsher, workmanlike experience. Some might say
that this is down to pre-treatment being early afternoon
halfway through a full week Vs. dicking about on the
internet on a Friday evening, but I know what I felt. I'm
really looking forward to my file-storage experience
going
forward and may even consider a -80C treated SATA
cable
to fully unlock the benefits.
16 day SATA drive -80C treatment is available for $98.75
+S&H directly from bs0-co. Value combo drive/cable
treatments from only $108.49 and the budget special
"throw the whole mail package in the cold room for
20mins/1 coffee whichever is quicker" is $54.95. PCI-E
4.0
NvME drives are currently not supported, preliminary
testing suggests a costlier LN2 solution will be required.
*in the context of 2012-vintage office equipment
**subtly pocketed while upgrading a server
*** no choice, was boot drive.
**** they write themselves.