Performance:
The test system used in this review is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 3700x CPU, MSI B550 GAMING PLUS motherboard, 16GB (8GB x 2) of Crucial Ballistix 3200 MHz DDR4 memory, Crucial P5 1TB SSD and a GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6G graphics card. For the operating system, I used the latest version of Windows 10 Pro.
To test the performance of Silicon Power's Armor A66 portable hard drive, I ran a series of benchmarks using CrystalDiskMark, HD Tach RW and ATTO Disk Benchmark. To get a feel for the "real world" performance, I also copied and pasted 1GB of random files and directories as well as a single 4GB ISO file in Windows Explorer.
CrystalDiskMark 8.0.1:
First, I ran a few quick tests using CrystalDiskMark. This benchmark tool measures the performance of a storage device by testing its sequential read and write speeds as well as its random read and write speeds using blocks 4K in size.
Silicon Power doesn't really say what kind of speeds the Armor A66 is capable of. Using CrystalDiskMark we can see that the drive is able to read at 121.8 MB/s and write at 122.6 MB/s when connected to a USB 3.0 port.
HD Tach RW 3.0.4.0:
Next, I used HD Tach to test the Armor A66's read, write and burst speeds as well as its seek times and CPU usage.
When connected to the computer's USB 3.0 port, the Armor A66 had average read and write speeds of 109.3 MB/s and 108.7 MB/s, respectively, as well as a burst speed of 243.0 MB/s.
ATTO Disk Benchmark 4.01:
I also used ATTO Disk Benchmark to test the Armor A66's sequential read and write speeds. The tests are run using blocks ranging in size from 512B to 64 MB and the total length set to 256MB.
When tested with ATTO, the Armor A66's read speeds topped out at about 132 MB/s and its write speeds at 133 MB/s.
"Real World" Benchmark:
To test the "real world" performance of the Armor A66, I copied and pasted 1GB worth of randomly generated files and directories. All of the files are between 1KB and 95MB in size and no more than five directories deep. To see how well the drive handled large files, I also copied and pasted a 4GB ISO file.
| 1GB of Files | 4GB ISO File | |
| Write: | 11 seconds | 32 seconds |
| Read: | 11 seconds | 32 seconds |
The Armor A66 performed fairly well here, taking 11 seconds to write 1GB worth of test data and the same amount of time to read it back.
Final Thoughts:
The Armor A66 is an excellent choice for anyone looking for an affordable, all-terrain drive that’s rugged enough to handle whatever life throws at it. Available in a number of different colors and capacities, Silicon Power's new portable hard drive is good looking, well constructed and is equipped with an advanced suspension system designed to meet the U.S. military drop-test standards. It also features a rubber bumper that provides additional 360˚ protection against shocks, drops and water and serves as a place to store the included USB cable when not in use. Performance-wise, the Armor A66 performed as expected. Thanks to its USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface, the 2TB version of the drive was able to read at speeds as high as 140 MB/s and write at more than 135 MB/s.
The Armor A66 is available now in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB and 5TB capacities and can be purchased directly from Silicon Power or through online retailers like Amazon.com. Prices currently range from $47 up to $120 with the 2TB version reviewed here going for $60.
