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We're starting to see a shift in how high performance SSDs are marketed. We all know that these NAND flash-based drives are ridiculously fast, but they're also ultra-pricey, which relegates them to the enthusiast market. So how do you go about plucking dollars from the wallets of mainstream users? Drop the capacity and bill these speed demons as boot drives, that's how.
Corsair got the memo on how to market SSDs to mainstream consumers, and so the company went and added a trio of new capacities to its existing Force Series SSD line. Already available in 60GB, 100GB, 120GB, 200GB, and 240GB flavors, potential buyers now have access to 40GB, 80GB, and 160GB models, with Corsair billing the 40GB unit as being "perfect for a Windows 7 boot drive."
"In our testing in the Corsair Lab, we found that the new Force Series 40GB SSD outperform competitive SSDs from Intel and Kingston by a wide margin," said John Beekley, Vice President of Technical Marketing at Corsair. "With SandForce's unique DuraWrite architecture, there is almost no performance penalty when reducing the capacity of the drive."
According to Corsair's in-house ATTO Bench32 testing, the F40 pulls in 282.6MB/s maximum reads and 270.1MB/s maximum sequential writes. Both the F80 and F160 benched 285.6MB/s maximum reads, while turning in 276.7MB/s (F80) and 275.9MB/s (F160) maximum write speeds.
These new capacities will start shipping in August for $130 (F40), $230 (F80), and $450 (F160).
Image Credit: Corsair
Comments are closed on this article
Baer
July 21, 2010 at 9:47am
That is essentially what I am doing. My 100Gb Vertex 2 is used for the OS and a few applications that I always use. The other programs, most of them, go on to the V-Raptor RAID 0 drive and then I have a relitavly low cost 1 Tb drive for data. The performance is outstanding. As for price, being on or near the leading edge has always cost more. My first computer, an Apple ][ + cost almost $4000 back in 81. My first Compaq 286 with a 20 Gb HDD cost about the same in 84 and so it goes.
i7 920 DO @ 3.64, Asus Rampage II, Vertex 2 SSD boot and OS, 2 V-Raptors in RAID-0 programs, 1 Tb RE3 Data, GTX 285 OCE driving 2 24" Samsung 244T's, 12 Gb Dominator GT, 1 KW Corsair GTX, Asus Xonar D2X, Optical drives Etc.
Scootiep
July 21, 2010 at 8:41am
It really depends on what you're looking for them to do. If you want to completely replace your storage drives, then yes, for most users, SSD's are still far to expensive. But if all you're looking for is a smaller drive to slap into a desktop system and just run the OS and a few games or regularly used programs off of, many of the 40g - 80g range drives (when paired with a cheap 500g - 1tb mechanical drive) are actually very affordable. Even something as simple as a 60g OCZAgility (or comparible drive from another manufacturer) will offer drastic performance gains over a single mechanical drive. And if you're raid striping multiple mechanical drives to get somewhat close to entry level SSD's, then your already in that price range. So you might as well go for the SSD and mechanical drive option and get a little more bang for your buck.
To start press any key...ohh, where's the "Any" key. - Homer Simpson
Scootiep
July 21, 2010 at 6:36am
I'm pretty sure the Crucial C300's still have Corsair's number in performance, size, and price.
To start press any key...ohh, where's the "Any" key. - Homer Simpson
nedwards
July 21, 2010 at 1:57pm
Not, alas, in sequential write speeds, random write IOPS, or stability.
