Phoenix Pro 120gb only 111gb?

[rlb9682]

I just received my Phoenix Pro 120gb SSD and from what I've read it's supposed to be 120gb usable, yet when it's connected to my PC I only see 111gb usable space.

Is something wrong with this one, or is it reading improperly? I don't want to do anything with it yet if the size is incorrect.

HD Tune Pro: FM-25S2S-120GBP2 Information
Firmware version : 3.1

Capacity : 120.0 gB (111.8 GB)
Buffer size : n/a
Sector size : 512 bytes
Standard : ATA8-ACS - SATA II
Supported mode : UDMA Mode 6
Current mode : UDMA Mode 6
Avergae speed : 4 MB/s
Rotation speed : 0 RPM

S.M.A.R.T : yes
48-bit Address : yes
Read Look-Ahead : yes
Write Cache : yes
Host Protected Area : yes
Device Configuration Overlay : no
Firmware Upgradable : yes
Automatic Acoustic Management: no
Power Management : yes
Advanced Power Management : no
Interface Power Management : yes
Power-up in Standby : no
Security Mode : yes
SCT Tables : yes
Native Command Queuing (NCQ) : yes
Trim : yes

Volume : System Reserved (D
Capacity : 99 MB
Free : 71 MB
Usage : 28%
File system : NTFS
Serial : 124B-0E23
Alignment : 1 MB

Volume : (E
Capacity : 114370 MB
Free : 114277 MB
Usage : 0%
File system : NTFS
Serial : E6DA-7CC6
Alignment : 1 MB

[G.SKILL]

Hi rlb9682

it is correct.
As used for storage capacity, one megabyte (MB) = one million bytes, one gigabyte (GB) = one billion bytes, and one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment. As used for buffer or cache, one megabyte (MB) = 1,048,576 bytes. As used for transfer rate or interface, megabyte per second (MB/s) = one million bytes per second, and gigabit per second (Gb/s) = one billion bits per second.

Even HDD is the same.

[rlb9682]

I see what you're saying, but it was explained better at benchmarkreviews.com when they stated that the Gskill SandForce SF-1222 controller does 7% over-provisioning-meaning in this case that roughly 8.4gb of the 120gb will be unusable, hence I see 111.4 (roughly) of usable space. Thanks for the reply and explanation.

[seeker_moc]

Well the drive itself is actually 128GB, and the ~8.4 GB over provisioning they were talking about brings it down to the advertised 120GB.

What you're seeing is that HDD manufacturers use decimal number system to determine GB size. Meaning 1 GB = 1000 MB, 1 MB = 1000 KB, etc. So 1 GB = 1000000000 bytes.

However, Windows and other operating systems measure storage size in binary, so 1 GB = 1024 MB; 1 MB = 1204 KB, etc. So 1 GB = 1073741824 bytes.

120000000000 / 1073741824 = ~111.76 binary GB, which is what Windows is reporting to you.

[rlb9682]

Thanks for the very thorough explanation! I hadn't expected such a detailed description, but it certainly helped my understanding of the size of the drive. Thanks again.

[glich]

yes its all marketing lies 1 Gb is technically 1073741824 but HD makers just round that to an even million and when you multiply that by 120 you start seeing a difference.

[Tradesman]

You also lose some size depending on the file system used, and the sector size you use in setup