Corsair has been churning out fine SSDs for
a while now, so you'd think it would have a formula for success planned out.
Its latest drive, though, bucks the trends seen elsewhere for a specification
that's unique among many of this month's drives.
Corsair
Performance Pro Series
Taking centre stage is the only controller
that's not made by the all-conquering SandForce. Instead, the Marvell 88SS9174
is drafted into action, which is the same controller as used by the Plextor M3
Pro.
Corsair has forged its own path when it
comes to the actual memory chips used too. Every drive here uses multilayer
cell (or MLC) NAND modules, as it's faster than the single-layer modules used
in the first generation of SSDs. The modules used by Corsair are still based on
MLC technology, but the Toshiba-made memory used here is described as using 'Toggle
Mode', an innovation that can allegedly transfer more data transfers per second
when compared to traditional MLC chips.
The only area, in fact, where Corsair
hasn't innovated is when it comes to the manufacturing process used: this 256GB
drive uses 32nm silicon rather than the 25nm technology that appears on other
drives.
There's no doubt, though, that Corsair's
innovative design has paid off. In our large file write test the Performance
Series Pro recorded a score of 500.9MB/s-only marginally behind the 507.4MB/S
of this month's best drives - and its large file write score of 320MB/S was,
again, towards the top of our benchmark table.
The Performance Pro was beaten by one other
drive in our small file tests, though. While the Corsair's small file write
speed was 186.4MB/S, the Plextor M3 Pro ran through the same benchmark at
196.9MB/s, and the Plextor bested the Corsair in our small file read test too,
scoring 30.7MB/s to the Performance Series Pro's 30.4MB/S.
Our AS SSD tests also proved that the Corsair
is one of the top SSDs here. Its sequential write speed of 413.85MB/s is twice
as fast as some rivals and significantly better than the 328.1 MB/s of the
Plextor, for instance.
In other AS SSD tests, though, there was
less clear air between the Corsair and the Plextor. Its sequential read speed
of 471.96MB/S is slower than the 492.25MB/s of the M3 Pro, for instance, but
the Corsair's sequential write pace of 413.85MB/s is ahead of the Plextor's
328.1 MB/s result.
Plextor
Announces M3 Pro Series SSD
The M3 Pro takes the cake in a handful of
tests, then, but the Corsair offers consistently solid performance at a decent
price. $441.6 for this 256GB drive is a fine price - the OCZ Vertex 3 is $504
for 240GB -and this translates to a fine price-per-gigabyte of $1.84, which is
five pence less than the Plextor's cost per gigabyte.
The combination of excellent speed and
admirable value is extremely tempting. Corsair's latest SSD is among the best
performers in the majority of our benchmarks, and it's among the best value
here, with a price-per-gigabyte that's significantly better than most of this
month's drives. If you're looking for a larger SSD and don't want to compromise
on speed, this is proof that Corsair's risky approach when building this drive
has paid off - even if the Plextor isn't far behind.
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Details
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Capacity
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256GB (238GB formatted)
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Price
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$442 ($184 per Gigabyte)
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Manufacturer
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Corsair
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Website
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www.corsair.com
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