The LS04 is the latest addressable-RGB LED strip from SilverStone, that incorporates the very unique dual-sided design. This new approach can allow for some creative lighting effects inside the PC cases.
Unboxing
The front of the packaging highlights all the supported RGB control software for the SST-LS04, such as ASUS Aura Sync, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion 2.0 and Razer Chroma. Lists of features and specifications are printed at the back, as well as the required serial number and EAN/UPC/JAN barcodes.
In each box, there are two LED strips and 30 cm extension cables. Six plastic mounting clips are also included, which are used to magnetically secure the strips to the metal panel of the chassis.
SilverStone LS04 ARGB LED Strips
SilverStone has put forty individually addressable RGB LEDs across the LS04’s length of 450 mm. 2020 surface-mounted LEDs are used, which means a single LED module is 2 mm x 2 mm (square) in size. The LS04 is noticeably thicker than normal LED strips, with a rectangular-shaped shell. The two-sided diffusion layers let the light shine through both the front and the side, providing more flexibility for the strips’ install locations in the case.
You can find a female or male 3-pin 5V addressable/digital RGB connector on the ends of the LS04 strip. They are required to plug into a compatible motherboard or controller for power and lighting adjustment. Multiple LED strips can be daisy-chained together, but the maximum number of LEDs will be limited by the controller.
Please be reminded that the lighting strips do not support the 4-pin 12V RGB connector and header. You will risk damaging the hardware, if incorrectly used.
Review
Installation for the LS04 strip is extremely easy with the included plastic mounting clips. There is no need to apply any adhesive to secure the LED strips in place, and will not leave sticky residues when removing them. The magnets work perfectly with steel case panels, but cannot function properly if they are made from acrylic, plastic and aluminium. You will have to revert back to traditional double-sided tape.
The internal circuit board and exterior rubber housing are flexible and can be bent/twisted to fit in tight spaces inside the PC case.
Every LED is evenly spread along the strip, about 1 cm apart from each other. Lighting hot spots are minimal, only visible in brighter environment. The RGB lighting looks extraordinarily beautiful in the dark with vivid colors and smooth transitions. Depending on what software and controllers you use, the lighting effects will be slightly different. The LS04 strip shines more lights through the side than the front.
Conclusion
The SilverStone LS04 adds some special flair to the LED strip with the dual-sided design, making it stand out from the crowded market. The addressable RGB lighting is diffused well, showing rich colors and fluid transitions. The magnetic mounting clips are useful and help simplify the installation process.
The unique construction and awesome-looking lighting of the LS04 come at a heavy price, which a single kit costs around $60 USD at the time of this review, along with a 1-year warranty. Thanks to the two included LED strips and their 450 mm length, purchasing one pack is already enough for a PC build. Similar ARGB lighting strips, such as Phanteks NEON and Corsair iCUE LS100, are on sale for $20 USD to $40 USD. But the LS04 has the edge on the number of LEDs per strip over the competitors (40 vs 28 vs 27), which also contributes to the more expensive price tag.
You can purchase the LED strips from your local/online resellers or the links below from Amazon.
Thanks SilverStone for providing us the LED strips for review. (Review Sample)
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Silicon Power recently released the most compact external SSD in their lineup, named the PC60. It is designed to be easily carried around by users, while having excellent read/write performance.
Specifications
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The Silicon Power PC60 is available in four storage capacities, from 240 GB to 1.92 TB. Our particular sample is the 960 GB version (SP960GBPSDPC60CK). The SSD utilizes the USB 3.2 Gen 2 or USB 3.1 Gen 2 interface, via a USB Type-C port, for data transfer. It has an advertised maximum sequential read/write speeds of 540 MB/s and 500 MB/s.
The rate MTBF and endurance numbers (TBW) are not disclosed, but all models will be provided with a 3-year warranty.
Unboxing
The PC60 is packaged in a white cardboard box, which has a front plastic window showing the actual drive. Lists of the SSD’s specifications and compatible operating system are printed at the back, along with contact information of Silicon Power’s tech support.
Inside the box is a short USB Type-A to Type-C cable and a user manual.
Silicon Power PC60 External SSD
The PC60 has a black square-shaped plastic body, with physical dimensions of 80 mm x 80 mm x 11.2 mm (Length x Width x Thickness). It weighs in at around 46 grams (~XX grams in our scale) without the USB cable. The top of the SSD gets a wave-like texture, while the bottom is smooth. A keyhole is there to quickly attach the drive to bags or keychains.
The SSD is equipped with Silicon Motion SM2259XT memory controller, and 3D TLC NAND flash. There is no DRAM cache onboard.
The single USB Type-C port supports the USB 3.2 Gen 2 standard, which has a theoretical bandwidth of 10 Gbps or about 1250 MB/s. It can work with older USB standards as well. A hidden white activity LED can be found next to the USB port.
Review
Testing Methodology
To test the performance of the solid-state drive, we use four well-established storage benchmarking software. They are CrystalDiskMark, ATTO Disk Benchmark, AS SSD Benchmark, as well as HD Tune Pro.
CrystalDiskMark can measure both sequential and random 4KB read/write speeds with a queue depth of 32. ATTO Disk Benchmark can test how the drive performs across different transfer block sizes, mostly in a sequential environment. AS SSD Benchmark can provide both normal read/write speed and the IOPS performance of the drive. HD Tune Pro can be used to simulate a large file transfer of up to 100 GB.
We also recorded the time to copy three files of 10 GB, 500 MB and 250 MB from a RAM disk to the SSD, to simulate a real-world situation.
In CrystalDiskMark, the PC60 had lower sequential read and higher write speeds than advertised, at 488 MB/s and 511 MB/s. For random 4K operations at queue depth 32, they decreased to 147 MB/s and 169 MB/s.
We observed slower numbers in AS SSD Benchmark, with sequential read/write speeds dropped to 460 MB/s and 486 MB/s. Surprisingly, the PC60 improved drastically for its random 4K write speed at queue depth 64, at 629 MB/s. We had retested the drive multiple times and still got the same results.
IOPS number represents how well a drive handles random input and output operations. The PC60 got a score of 995, with 22138 IOPS and 161234 IOPS for random 4K performance.
Once the test file sizes were increased to 32 KB, the PC60 achieved the maximum sequential read/write speeds at about 510 MB/s and 490 MB/s in ATTO Disk Benchmark.
A huge 100 GB file transfer is simulated in HD Tune Pro. Read speed was able to maintain at around 450 MB/s throughout the whole period. But the write speed dropped from 500 MB/s to 100 MB/s after the first 30 GB of data, possibly saturating the internal SLC cache.
It took the PC60 approximately 27.43 seconds to copy the three files, sized at around 15 GB. It reached speeds at 380 MB/s, which was a bit slower than standard SATA-based SSDs.
Comparison
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Overall, the PC60 performed similarly in sequential speeds, if not slightly worse than a normal SATA SSD in our tests. It lagged behind when transferring larger-sized data in HD Tune Pro, dipping to only around 120 MB/s. Random 4K operations were on par with other external SSDs, like the HyperX Savage EXO and KINGMAX KE31B.
Conclusion
The Silicon Power PC60 is a decent external SSD with reasonable read/write performance, at 480 MB/s to 510 MB/s. It can operate much faster and more responsive than traditional external HDDs. Portability is awesome with the thin 11 mm profile and keyhole design. Build quality can be better, as the plastic casing feels a bit flimsy.
The PC60 is priced at $97.99 USD (MSRP) for the 960 GB model, with a 3-year warranty. The SanDisk Extreme and RAVPower Mini, having similar advertised speeds, costs around $150 USD to $170 USD. The PC60 is one of the cheapest external SSDs in the market and worth considering as your next purchase.
*The 480 GB version of the PC60 is on sale for $58.99 (MSRP).
You can purchase the SSD from your local/online resellers or the links below from Amazon.
Thanks Silicon Power for providing us the SSD for review. (Review Sample)
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The new Pulsefire Raid is the first MMORPG– or MOBA-focused gaming mouse from HyperX, which sports a total of eleven programmable buttons, high-end optical sensor and (of course) RGB lighting. Let’s check it out.
Unboxing
Typical packaging design for HyperX products can be found with the same white and red color scheme. You get a glimpse on the appearance of the Pulsefire Raid from the few photos on the cardboard box.
The detailed specifications and system requirements of the mouse are printed on the side. In order to use the NGENUITY (Beta) software, it is necessary to have Windows 10 installed.
Apart from the usual Thank you card and quick start guide, there is no other accessories in the box.
HyperX Pulsefire Raid RGB Gaming Mouse
As a MMO mouse, the Pulsefire Raid is actually relatively compact and light. It has physical dimensions of 128 mm x 71 mm x 41.5 mm (L x W x H) and a weight of 95 grams. The ergonomically-shaped body is intended for right-handed users. Buttons are located only on the left side.
The mouse is constructed from standard black matte plastic. The scroll wheel and the HyperX logo are made translucent to allow the RGB lighting to shine through. Two massive rubber feet are placed above and below the sensor.
The Pulsefire Raid has a wider and taller base at the back to accommodate for your thumb and pinky finger. The sloped front portion is there to provide a more comfortable grip and reach for the primary buttons.
All eleven buttons, including the DPI switch, can be re-programmed through the NGENUITY (Beta) software. HyperX equips the two main buttons with genuine Omron switches, which are rated for at least 20 million clicks.
There are a total of five side buttons on the Pulsefire Raid. They are shaped differently with four standard buttons in a 2 x 2 grid and one sniper button at the front. Textured rubber pads are fitted on both sides to increase grip and handling.
Both primary buttons are distinctly separated to prevent accidental misclicks and side wiggles. In addition to the usual middle click for the scroll wheel, it can be tilted left or right for more actions, which are defaulted to horizontal scrolling.
Review
Sensor
The Pulsefire Raid is outfitted with the currently top-of-the-line PixArt PMW3389 optical sensor, which is capable of achieving up to 16,000 DPI, 450 IPS and 50 G of acceleration. The polling rate can be set from 125 Hz (8 ms) to 1000 Hz (1 ms).
We tested the Pulsefire Raid’s CPI/DPI divergences with MouseTester v1.5.3. The differences between the measured and nominal CPI ranged from +3.44% to +8.2%. Larger discrepancies were found at 1000 DPI and 2500 DPI, which has the two highest number at 8.2% and 7.56% respectively.
The sensor managed to keep the polling rate reasonably stable without sudden spike or drop during mouse movements.
I normally set the Pulsefire Raid at around 1200 DPI. I did not experience any hardware acceleration and jittering that affects the tracking and accuracy in games, such as Rainbow Six Siege and Apex Legends.
User Experience
The ergonomic shape and asymmetrical design of the Pulsefire Raid should work great with both claw and palm grips, for right-handed users. It feels a lot more maneuverable than the famous Logitech G502 HERO, because of the less bulky and heavy body.
Despite the five side buttons are closely packed together, the shapes and positions of them are easily distinguishable. Paired with the tactile click and feedback, I really enjoy using them for quick actions. Depending on your grip styles and hand sizes, you may need to shift slightly forward to press the front sniper button.
The 1.8-meter braided USB cable and stock Teflon feet do an acceptable job in reducing cable drag and glide friction. But with the very competitive gaming mouse market in 2020, it would be awesome to see HyperX implements more flexible, paracord-like cable and smoother 100% pure PTFE feet in the future.
Software
The Pulsefire Raid can be customized via the new NGENUITY (Beta) software. The user interface is separated into three major sections, including Lights, Buttons and Sensor.
All 11 buttons can be re-assigned to perform different functions or macro actions, which can be used to open specific applications and Windows shortcut. You can add up to five DPI settings in a single profile, from 200 DPI to 16,000 DPI at a 50 DPI interval.
The profile/preset menu is a bit confusing and unintuitive. Once you have completed changing the settings in the software, you will need to press “Sync” to save the updated profile into the onboard memory. Otherwise, the mouse will revert back to the old one, after the NGENUITY software is closed.
RGB Lighting
Two RGB lighting zones are available on the Pulsefire Raid, located on the scroll wheel and HyperX logo. The effects, brightness and speeds can be adjusted through the NGENUITY (Beta) software. There are five RGB lighting effect presets, such as breathing and trigger. The LEDs on the mouse get very bright with vivid colors.
Conclusion
The HyperX Pulsefire Raid is a decent mouse with great performance and utility. The extra side and tilt buttons offer more functionality and key bindings. The slimmer and lighter body allows it to not only suitable in MOBA or MMORPG games, but also fast-paced FPS games. Compared to the competitions, it does not sacrifice maneuverability or agility of the mouse with the added buttons.
The NGENUITY (Beta) software can be improved with simpler and more straightforward user interface. It provides enough amount of customization in key assignments and RGB lighting effects.
The Pulsefire Raid is priced at $59.99 USD (MSRP) with a 2-year warranty. In comparison, the Logitech G502 HERO and SteelSeries Rival 500 cost $74.99 USD and $79.99 USD (MSRP), which is around $20 USD more expensive. I think you should consider the Pulsefire Raid, if the additional buttons can be beneficial in games or even daily uses.
Thanks HyperX for providing us the mouse for review. (Review Sample)
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Tidying up cables plays an important role in making a PC look sharp and clean. The power supply cables do not often match the color scheme of the build. Custom length and colored cables for a fully-modular PSU can be expensive, and are limited to be used in a particular PSU model.
SilverStone recently updated their PP07 power supply extension cables with the PP07E, which could be a simple solution to fix your PC’s cable problem.
Unboxing
There are three different types of cable in the PP07E lineup, including the 24-pin ATX, 8-pin (4+4) EPS and 8-pin (6+2) PCIe. All of them are packaged inside a reusable zip-lock bag. You can find short descriptions of the product, its model number and specifications at the back.
SST-PP07E-EPS8BW
SST-PP07E-MBBW
SST-PP07E-PCIB
Each cable is provided with four cable combs for organizing and separating the wires.
SilverStone PP07E Power Supply Extension Cables
Our SilverStone PP07E samples has a black and white color scheme, where an all-black version is also available. All three cables have a length of 300 mm. According to SilverStone, the extension cables are compatible with all ATX and SFX power supplies, as long as they use the same connectors.
Review
Every PP07E wire is individually-sleeved with nylon braid, alternating black and white colors. Compared to paracord, nylon is more durable and allows for more vibrant colors. There is no visible heat-shrink on both ends of each wire, which ensures a uniform and clean look for the extension cable. They are miles better and more beautiful than the stock rainbow or black ribbon cables from the power supply. The included cable comb help align the wires evenly and prevent tangling.
Installation for the PP07E cables is quick and straightforward for both new and existing PC builds. They are flexible and can be easily routed around tight corners. Simply connect the extension cables to the end of the stock cables, before plugging into your motherboard from the power supply.
SilverStone decided to use 18 gauge (AWG) oxygen-free copper wires on the PP07E, which should be more than enough for the intended current and voltage. Thicker 16 gauge (AWG) wires can offer slightly more headroom for higher power usage, but may make the cables stiffer to bend inside the PC chassis.
Conclusion
The SilverStone PP07E extension cables give most users an almost effortless way to tidy up the cable mess in their PC builds. The nylon braid is soft and flexible to maneuver around the chassis without much hassle. One thing to keep in mind is the excess cable length (300 mm) increased on top of the stock power supply cables, which enough space is required to store behind the case. It would also be great, if SilverStone can offer more color and pattern options in the future.
The PP07E is priced at $14 USD for the 24-pin ATX cable, $7 USD for 8-pin EPS and $8 USD (MSRP) for 8-pin PCIe. Compared to other PSU extension kits in the market at around $30 to $40 USD, the total cost of around $29 USD is pretty reasonable and affordable. If you do not want to spend a boatload of money on fully-modular power supply and its dedicated custom sleeved cables, the PP07E can be an excellent choice to pimp up your existing PC builds.
You can purchase the extension cables from your local/online resellers or the links below from Amazon.
Thanks SilverStone for providing us the cables for review. (Review Sample)
Feel free to leave comments below, if you have any opinion about this website. Share the website around if you enjoy reading it. Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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Technologies evolve so fast that it is unthinkable to have up to 8 TB of SSD storage in a tiny M.2 2280 form factor a couple years ago. Sabrent recently expands their Rocket Q lineup to feature a new 8 TB model, which could be the first in the world (at least in the consumer market).
The Rocket Q SSD feeds its data through a PCIe 3.0×4 interface, and is equipped with the Phison PS5012-E12S memory controller. It is only possible to reach this amount of capacity with the help of the 3D QLC NAND flash from Micron. Sabrent has not disclosed the performance figures of the 8 TB model, but it should be similar to the 4 TB one. It can reach sequential read/write speeds of up to 3400 MB/s and 3000 MB/s.
All Rocket Q SSDs comes with a 5-year warranty and a MTBF of about 1.8 million hours. The availability and price of the 8 TB model have not been announced yet. The smaller 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB models can be purchased now, from $79.99 USD to $759.99 USD (MSRP).
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After three years, Corsair finally refreshed their top-of-the-line mechanical keyboard in the lineup with the K95 RGB PLATINUM XT. Compared to the original K95 model, it brings a series of improvements, as well as the new integration with the Elgato Stream Deck Software. Let’s see if the keyboard can live up to its “flagship” status.
Unboxing
The hard cardboard box sports the same design with most Corsair gaming products, in black and bright yellow colors. Photos of the keyboard are shown in both the front and back. Several key features are mentioned in four different languages.
The Corsair’s motto “PLAY THROUGH WHATEVER” for keyboards is printed in large comic fonts. You can also find a specification list with information, like physical dimensions and weight.
For accessories, there are a quick start guide, some additional keycaps, a keycap removal tool and a wrist rest.
Corsair K95 RGB PLATINUM XT Mechanical Keyboard
Identical with its older brother, the K95 RGB PLATINUM XT is a full-sized 104-key, with dedicated macro and media keys. It has a width of 46.5 cm, a depth of 17.1 cm and a height of 3.6 cm. It is not designed to be very portable with a weight of 1.31 kg.
Apart from the sticker at the back, there are two cable channels for users to route their mouse and headset cables under the keyboard.
Every corner is fitted with a big anti-slip rubber pad. The feet can be flipped to lift up the keyboard slightly for a better typing position.
The K95 RGB PLATINUM XT uses the floating-key design, where all the keycaps and switches are installed on top of the thick aluminum top plate without any side bezels.
Our particular K95 RGB PLATINUM XT sample is equipped with genuine Cherry MX Speed (Silver) switches, but you can choose to have Cherry MX Brown and Blue as well. The switches are not user-replaceable. Every key on the keyboard is individually lit by the RGB LED inside the translucent plastic housing.
Aftermarket keycaps can be used, as long as they are compatible with standard Cherry MX stem and stabilizer design. Be careful with the slightly different keyboard layouts and the narrower Windows key, before purchasing replacement keycaps.
Corsair has done some upgrades to the wrist rest for the K95 RGB PLATINUM XT. It is detachable and connects to the keyboard using the two clips underneath. Instead of having a hard textured plastic on the top, the new wrist rest is now padded with plush foam to offer more comfort to the users.
All stock keycaps are made from PBT (Polybutylene terephthalate) plastic with double-shot molded legends. The thicker, more durable PBT keycaps are generally harder and more expensive to produce in huge quantity. It is awesome to see Corsair implementing them in the K95 RGB PLATINUM XT as a mainstream manufacturer. Unlike standard ABS keycaps, they are more resistant to oil and stains from your fingers.
Inside the packaging, Corsair includes an extra 17 replacement keycaps for the keyboard. Gray textured keycap sets for FPS (WASD) and MOBA (QWERDF) games are included. Along with the Elgato Stream Deck integration, you can replace the pre-installed G-keys on the side with blue S-keys. An extra Corsair logo keycap is also available for the Escape (Esc) key.
The K95 RGB PLATINUM XT requires two USB Type-A connectors, which the additional cable is for the integrated USB pass-through port.
Review
Design
The overall design of the K95 RGB PLATINUM XT remains the same as the original K95 model. The sturdy single piece of aluminum plate provides the structural rigidity to the keyboard. The signature LightEdge is also present, which is a long RGB LED strip across the top of the keyboard. Compared to normal full-sized keyboard, the K95 is slightly wider to make room for the dedicated macro keys on the left.
Cherry MX Speed (Silver) Switches
The switches on the K95 RGB PLATINUM XT are no ordinary Cherry MX models. The Speed and Brown switches are now rated to have an extended lifespan of 100 million keystrokes. The Speed switches in our sample has a similar linear and light key press as the Red switches with the same actuation force of 45 grams. But the actuation and total travel distances are shorter at 1.2 mm and 3.4 mm. The switches are extremely responsive and double tapping is easy. It is perfect for fast-paced gaming, though the quick actuation may create more frequent misclick for normal typing.
The K95 RGB PLATINUM XT requires both the Corsair iCUE and Elgato Stream Deck software to perform as intended. They are a bit too heavy in size at around 750 MB and 230 MB respectively.
Corsair iCUE can control not only the K95 keyboard, but also other supported Corsair products, such as gaming mice and AIO CPU coolers. All 104+6 keys can be re-assigned or re-mapped to specific functions and a series of macro actions. You can also use any keys to launch an application or act as a mouse click.
For RGB lighting, there are plenty of preset effects in the software, including rainbow, wave and pulse. The top LightEdge LED strip has a total of 19 individual lighting zones. The performance tab is where you change the behaviors of the Windows lock key. It can be used to disable annoying key combinations, that may accidentally activate in games.
The only difference between “ACTIONS”, “LIGHTING EFFECTS” and “HARDWARE ACTIONS”, “HARDWARE LIGHTING” is the configurations inside the latter two sections will be saved in the five onboard profiles, which will continue to work without the iCUE software. This is a confusing mess in the user experience without proper explanation. Make sure you have saved your settings in the correct sections.
The keyboard’s firmware and polling rate can be updated or altered in the settings menu. It is defaulted to 1000 Hz (1 ms).
With the Elgato Stream Deck software, the six G-keys can be re-programmed to streaming-focus functions. Only Windows 10 and macOS 10.13 or higher are compatible with this feature. The software automatically detects the K95 keyboard and shows the button layout for configuration. A scroll-able list is at the right with all the available actions. Simply drag and drop the actions to the G1 to G6 keys. You can start your live stream, send a tweet in Twitter and adjust audio effects with a press of a button.
A floating bar, containing the icons of your actions, will stay up for quick reference at all time, which can be re-positioned to anywhere on the screen. Please be reminded that the Stream Deck software will have to be running in the background. Otherwise, the G-keys will instead do whatever they are assigned to in the iCUE software.
The K95 RGB PLATINUM XT has gorgeous RGB lighting with bright and vivid colors. The transition animations between effects are smooth. In the above video, you can take a look at the RGB lighting, as well as listening to the Cherry MX Speed (Silver) switches’ typing sound.
Extra Features
A full assortment of Multimedia controls keys can be found above the number pad. You can directly play, pause, skip and stop ongoing music or songs in the system. The textured metal wheel allows for step-less volume adjustments. Besides that is an audio mute switch.
The dedicated column of macro keys is one of the distinctive feature for the K95 series keyboard. In addition to performing the normal macro actions in games, they can also act as a mini six-button Stream Deck to control live stream-related applications.
There are three more buttons over the “F2” and “F3” function keys, which are for profile switching, brightness adjustments (3 levels) and the Windows key lock.
Next to the fixed USB cable is the USB 2.0 Type-A pass-through port, that can handle both power and data for most peripherals, like mouse, headset and USB flash drive.
Conclusion
The Corsair K95 RGB PLATINUM XT keyboard builds on top of the already feature-packed and solidly-built K95 RGB PLATINUM. It is no doubt a premium keyboard with all the bells and whistles everyone would wants. Dedicated media keys and volume wheel are helpful to quickly control playbacks. The more durable PBT keycaps and cushioned wrist rest are the only physical differences to the older model, but are noticeable upgrades.
The idea of making the G-keys into mini Stream Deck is awesome, especially for content creators and live streamers. The supported actions are massive and extensive. However, this is not a exclusive feature for the K95 RGB PLATINUM XT. The K95 RGB PLATINUM and K55 RGB also get it through software updates. It is awesome for existing users, but Corsair missed the chance to truly integrate the Stream Deck into the new keyboard, by drastically altering on the hardware level. Maybe even a column of LCD or OLED buttons, similar to the real Stream Deck.
The K95 RGB PLATINUM XT costs $199.99 USD (MSRP) with a 2-year warranty. There is no immediate need to upgrade for users with the older model. The price may be too steep, if you cannot utilize all the features of the keyboard. If you are a new consumer searching for a luxury keyboard with tons of capabilities and configurability, the K95 RGB PLATINUM XT is one of the best in the market.
You can purchase the keyboard from your local/online resellers or the links below from Amazon and Newegg.
Thanks Corsair for providing us the keyboard for review. (Review Sample)
Feel free to leave comments below, if you have any opinion about this website. Share the website around if you enjoy reading it. Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Support this website simply by shopping in Amazon and Newegg. It will give us small kickbacks, if you use the above affiliate links to make any purchases, which will help us grow.
When you plug in a newly-purchased HDD or SDD to the computer, the operating system will often ask you to initialize the disk. Have you ever wondered what the differences between MBR and GPT? Which partition style should you choose?
What are MBR and GPT?
MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition Table) are the formats to store all the partitioning information for the drives. They allow for the OS to recognize and boot from the existing partitions. Users will have to decide to use MBR or GPT during initialization, prior to creating any partitions.
MBR is first introduced by IBM in 1983 on their PC DOS 2.0 system. Just as its name implies, it is a special partition in the drive, containing a boot loader and partitioning data. The operating system will need to execute the code in the MBR to correctly start, after the BIOS is posted. This is why Windows will sometimes fail to start, when the MBR is corrupted.
GPT is developed as a replacement of the aging MBR format, which is also part of the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) standard. Every partition in a GPT drive is given a universally unique identifiers or globally unique identifiers (GUIDs).
Comparison – MBR vs GPT
Storage Capacity
At the time when MBR is launched, hard drives of several terabytes (TB) are insanely and impossibly large. The tiny 512-byte sector of the MBR limits it from allocating disks with more than 2.2 TB of space. In contrast, GPT with 64-bit addressing can work with drives up to 18 Exabytes (EB) of capacity. For your reference, 1 EB equals to 1024 Petabytes (PB) or 1048576 TB.
Number of Partitions
Apart from restricted capacity, MBR-based drives can only create four primary partitions on a single disk. Although you can increase the number by modifying an existing partition to a extended partition, it takes unnecessarily complicated steps to achieve. GPT, on the other hand, supports a maximum of 128 partitions in Windows, which is way more than enough for most users.
Reliability and Security
Unlike MBR, GPT creates and stores multiple copies of the boot loader and partitioning information in the disk. It is harder to affect the whole operating system and can be easily recovered, if some of the code are overwritten or corrupted. GPT also has a primary and a backup partition table with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) implemented for better data integrity.
Compatibility
Newer UEFI-based system should be compatible with both MBR and GPT, while legacy BIOS can only work with MBR. All 64-bit Windows 7 to Windows 10 and their Windows Server versions supports using GPT disks for booting and data with UEFI.
We recommend users to use GPT on their new drives, if possible. It is a more modern and reliable standard, which provides various advantages over MBR.
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