Performance (Standard 125): 34 out of 40
Much like the IronWolf hard-disk drive models, the SSD IronWolf 125 is a great general-purpose model. One that can thrive in and out of NAS appliances. This flexibility combined with rather good stability is sure to make the IronWolf 125 a winner and an excellent choice for a wide range of builds/scenarios.
Performance (Pro 125): 38 out of 40
The Pro 125 may certainly not be as flexible or as wide in the range of scenarios it has been optimized for but inside its still fairly wide envelope it will be hard to find its equal. Buyers really will have to step up to either enterprise SATA SSDs or M.2 to do better. That right there is impressive, especially when you consider just how gosh darn consistent this bad boy is.
Technological Innovation (Both Models): 20 out of 20
Seagate really knocked it out of the park with this generation. By splitting their 125 into two separate, and rather distinct models, they are not trying to copy others. Instead they offering tailor-made performance for you the buyer. Mix in excellent NAND with excellent features and they are easily two of the most impressive SATA solid-state drives we have seen in years.
Build Quality & Warranty (Both Models): 18 out of 20
When you take an excellent warranty, pair it with generous total bytes written ratings, and then add in three years of free Rescue services the only way Seagate could possibly do better is to make it a full 5 year warranty with five years of included Rescue services. That is about it and few will consider the warranties to be anything other than stellar. The same is true of their build quality. While some will be less than impressed with the thickness of the chassis both models are rocking… that is about the only nit to pick. Color us impressed.
Value (Standard 125): 19 out of 20
With its combination of excellent performance (for its class) and asking price (for its class) the standard edition IronWolf 125 is hard to beat. It really is pretty much the SATA SSD cache drive to beat for NAS appliances… and right up there for secondary storage in PCs.
Value (Pro 125): 15 out of 20
In some ways the Pro variant of the new IronWolf 125 is an even better value as the extra up-front cost nets buyers even more consistent performance, actual hardware level data loss protection, and generally speaking best in class abilities. By the same token, few outside of business scenarios will care about these differences and will find it hard to justify its noticeably higher asking price. Especially when for not that much more than the cost of a Pro 125 960GB’er buyers can get the two Terabyte capacity version of the standard IronWolf 125. We have split the difference and called it 15 out of 20, but most will find it to be either ‘perfect’ or ‘hard to justify’. Adjust your own score accordingly.
Final Score (Standard 125): 91 out of 100
Final Score (Pro 125): 91 out of 100
With this one-two punch Seagate has delivered a veritable knock-out blow to the competition. Be it NAS appliance buyers, more serious prosumer/enthusiasts, or even SMB NAS servers, Seagate has the entirety of the SATA SSD cache demographic covered. Just understand what each model brings to the table and picking the right model will be a snap.
