Read
External SSDs are one of the newest types of computer accessories, and I’ve got to like them in recent years. Compared to USB memory sticks, they offer higher speeds and, above all, higher capacity. Yet at the same time, they are still small enough for comfortable carrying in a pocket. We’ve expanded our results database of tested storages with the low-budget PC60 model from Silicon Power.
Portable SSD PC60
The package displays the SSD itself and several of its basic specifications, such as speed, resistance to falls, the possibility of attachment to a keychain and its capacity and dimensions.
In the package you will find the SSD itself, a cable with USB-C and USB-A connectors, and short documentation. The SSD uses USB 3.2 gen 2 for transfers with a transfer rate of 10 Gb/s, which is currently the gold standard.
The design and dimensions of the PC60 are relatively unconventional and we haven’t had anything similar for testing yet. More or less all the external SSDs we’ve tested were of a rectangular shape, but the PC60 is not. The manufacturer chose the shape of a square with dimensions of 80 × 80 × 11.2 mm. The SSD is therefore shorter than most competing ones, but also significantly wider, which you will see in comparison in the pictures below. The weight is only 44 grams, so the SSD is surprisingly light considering its larger area. The main reason is the plastic construction, which looks more subtle than the competition.
It will be most logical to compare the dimensions with other external SSDs. In the picture below you can see the Samsung Portable T5, SanDisk Portable SSD first and second generation as well as the Pro version, Patriot PXD, WD_Black P50 Game Drive and SonnetTech Fusion Drive. This comparison shows how short of an SSD the PC60 is (almost like the T5), but at the same time significantly wider than most competing designs.
The manufacturer states maximum speeds of up to 540 MB/s for reading and 500 MB/s for writing on the product page. This is less than the last tested SSDs offered, their speed ranged from 1–3 GB/s. The reason for the lower speeds can be found inside the SSD. Although the PC60 uses 96-layer 3D TLC NAND memory from Intel, in practice the data is transferred via SATA using the Silicon Motion SM2259XT controller. It supports TCL memory but does not support DRAM. The insides of the PC60 matches the 2.5″ Silicon Power Ace A55 SSD, i.e. at least according to the memory chip and the controller. For transfers from SATA to USB it uses the ASMedia ASM235CM controller.
In practice, this means that the SSD operates at SATA III speeds, although the manufacturer states a 10 GB/s USB connection. With cheap SSDs, the memory is also often partitioned into faster and slower using cache or DRAM. Since the controller does not support DRAM, only the SLC cache option remains. Therefore, I wrote large files with tens to hundreds of gigabytes on the SSD and didn’t notice any slowdown. I also tried several benchmarks that would normally detect speed drops due to full cache, but in this case no slowdown occurred even when writing 200 GB.
I have been dealing with this issue for a longer time than usual, as the Ace A55 has the same components, and foreign reviewers have noticed the performance decrease of sequential write after 30 GB. Such behavior did not occur in our tests, so it looks like the PC60 has been revised. It contains the same integrated circuits, but on a different, black PCB (it was blue in foreign reviews) with probably newer firmware.
Testing took place as always on the Intel Z390 platform, specifically on the Gigabyte Aorus Z390 Xtreme motherboard with an Intel Core i9-9900K processor and 32 GB 3600 MHz DDR4 Corsair Dominator Platinum, from which 25 GB was allocated to the RAM disk.
External SSDs are one of the newest types of computer accessories, and I’ve got to like them in recent years. Compared to USB memory sticks, they offer higher speeds and, above all, higher capacity. Yet at the same time, they are still small enough for comfortable carrying in a pocket. We’ve expanded our results database of tested storages with the low-budget PC60 model from Silicon Power.
Write: practical tests
Practical tests in Windows show that the PC60 does not reach the speed specified by the manufacturer, even with large files. It therefore peaks at the end of the starting point of SSDs tested so far. The exception is with the smallest files, where it achieves the second best result, which is quite surprising.
Write: synthetic tests
Synthetic tests of writing show slightly better results than we have seen with the practical ones, but it still does not reach the speed stated in the paper specifications. We can also see from AS SSD that compared to NVMe SSD disks, the PC60 has a significantly slower access time, while TB3 models suffer from this too.
External SSDs are one of the newest types of computer accessories, and I’ve got to like them in recent years. Compared to USB memory sticks, they offer higher speeds and, above all, higher capacity. Yet at the same time, they are still small enough for comfortable carrying in a pocket. We’ve expanded our results database of tested storages with the low-budget PC60 model from Silicon Power.
Read: practical tests
Slightly higher numbers can be seen in practical read tests, but it is still at the end of the list of tested devices. As with the write, you can see relatively good results with the smallest files, where the PC60 took second place.
Read: synthetic tests
Synthetic read tests again do not reach the stated maximum speed, but in this case it’s a little closer. Surprisingly, with reading, we see a slightly better result of the access time, where the PC60 placed in the middle of the tested SSDs.
External SSDs are one of the newest types of computer accessories, and I’ve got to like them in recent years. Compared to USB memory sticks, they offer higher speeds and, above all, higher capacity. Yet at the same time, they are still small enough for comfortable carrying in a pocket. We’ve expanded our results database of tested storages with the low-budget PC60 model from Silicon Power.
Overall score and performance on macOS
The overall score is also lower due to lower results. Tests in the macOS home environment are similarly lower than the paper specs as with AS SSD, but this is not a surprise.
External SSDs are one of the newest types of computer accessories, and I’ve got to like them in recent years. Compared to USB memory sticks, they offer higher speeds and, above all, higher capacity. Yet at the same time, they are still small enough for comfortable carrying in a pocket. We’ve expanded our results database of tested storages with the low-budget PC60 model from Silicon Power.
SP Widget
The manufacturer also offers the SP Widget application for the SSD.
It offers options for file encryption and decryption.
You can also set up automatic backups or cloud synchronization here.
The application has pathetic visuals, below-average controls and functionality is also not 100%. Overall, it gives the impression of a high school project and not a supplement to an SSD of a proper hardware manufacturer. I don’t think I’ve even tested worse software.
External SSDs are one of the newest types of computer accessories, and I’ve got to like them in recent years. Compared to USB memory sticks, they offer higher speeds and, above all, higher capacity. Yet at the same time, they are still small enough for comfortable carrying in a pocket. We’ve expanded our results database of tested storages with the low-budget PC60 model from Silicon Power.
Conclusion
Silicon Power PC60 is a slightly controversial product, as synthetic tests show poorer performance than specified, and this is confirmed in practice. The manufacturer saved on the components and the outer plastic case, which, however, allowed them to reduce the production price and the 960 GB version is available for very interesting money. Although the SSD is slower (but always keeps its speed), it is also reflected in the very attractive price, which can be the key factor.
Of course, you can’t expect to get premium features in this price range, such as a metal body, water resistance, sophisticated software or hardware encryption. If these things are a priority for you, you will have to reach for one of the more expensive models. However, the PC60 is more than sufficient SSD for relatively fast data transfers and as external storage for a computer, laptop or game console. And thanks to its low weight, it won’t even make your pants sag. Given the price, a 3-year warranty can also be considered decent.
| Silicon Power PC60 |
| + nízka cena |
| + stabilný výkon bez poklesov |
| + telo odolné voči pádom |
| + 3-ročná záruka |
| - nižšie rýchlosti |
| - plastové telo sa ľahko poškriabe |
You can buy this external SSD at Heureka.sk in the following configurations: