14 DAY TRIAL // The SandForce controller has shown up in the majority of solid state drives unleashed over the past several months, not because of marketing deals or company preferences, but because it genuinely enables a very high level of performance. As such, it is no surprise to hear that a new batch of SF-powered SSDs has emerged, especially from a company known to go to great lengths when it comes to its products' quality.
It is Corsair that developed the latest three SSDs to join the SandForce bandwagon. As part of the aptly named Force series, the newcomers, known as F60, F120, and F240, do not only deliver good read and write speeds, but they are well prepared in the area of data security as well.
The F60, F120, and F240 Force Series SSDs all read and write at 285MB/s and 275MB/s, respectively. This is especially noteworthy because throughput usually falls along with drive capacity. Normally, the 60GB F60 would be slower. Nevertheless, it is not, which is why it can be seen as one of the most intriguing boot drives on the market.
4K Random write performance is also high, at 4K (180MB/s), according to the ATTO benchmark, which means that 15K IOPs can be generated. This significantly enhances system responsiveness.
“We have had excellent feedback on our Force Series F100 and F200 from both reviewers and customers, and we are excited about expanding our Sandforce-based offerings,” Jim Carlton, VP of marketing at Corsair, stated. “These solid-state drives are an excellent option for any enthusiast looking to build their system using the best storage system performance that is currently available.”
The 2.5-inch Force Series trio operate on the SATA 3.0Gbps interface and are constructed with MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory chips (MTBF of one million hours). They should start shipping next month, backed by a two-year warranty. Prices, unfortunately, are undisclosed.