Corsair Releases 256 GB SSD
Yesterday afternoon Corsair announced the 256 GB edition of its Storage Solutions SSDs. Entitled the P256, Corsair has implemented Samsung's multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory and Controller IC technologies in addition to 128 MB of cache memory and Native Command Queuing (NCQ) support. As a result, the overall package is capable of read speeds up to 200 MB/sec, and write speeds up to 200 MB/sec.
Thanks to inherent SSD technologies, users can expect both speed, durability, and efficiency. SSD users can receive roughly 25 percent more battery life when using the P256 in a laptop, said Corsair. With no moving parts, the drive will not only have a quicker response time (doesn't access a moving disk), it will last longer than the standard hard drive; 114+ years (1 million hours) according to the company.
“The Corsair Storage Solutions P256 delivers the best computing experience of any single storage drive available today,” said John Beekley, VP of Applications Engineering at Corsair, “Using the P256 results in immediate and dramatic improvements in system startup and shutdown, game level loading, application startup, and many other everyday tasks. Additionally, the P256 is more durable and reliable than hard disk drives, and has been shown in the Corsair Labs to provide up to 25% longer battery life in portable computers.”
The primary issue with SSDs is its performance-over-time, and how badly it becomes affected from white-space fragmentation. Additionally, the controller a manufacturer uses makes a huge impact on the drive's real-world performance. SSDs using JMicron controllers for example, should be avoided. Telltale signs of a JMicron drives are their prices--you get what you pay for. Judging that a 160 GB Intel X25-M costs twice as much as Corsair's 256 GB drive, one should approach with caution.
The Corsair Storage Solutions P256 SSD--along with the 128 GB and 64 GB versions--is currently available at resellers and authorized dealers (newegg.com) for $669.00.
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SSD is the future... Pity it comes at such a high premium
aka ripoff
I can't see my self paying that much for a hard drive. I will wait to buy a SSD until they are more affordable.
It would be a very nice upgrade for almost any laptop, except for the fact that it costs about 1/2 to 3/4 the cost of many laptops out there lol
hasn't this drive been out for several weeks, or even months? I've seen it on various sites in stock and shipping since before the new samsung drive it's self was announced on tom's.
It would be a very nice upgrade for almost any laptop, except for the fact that it costs about 1/2 to 3/4 the cost of many laptops out there lol
Or even whole laptops, or two netbooks.
These look pretty good but still rather expensive even when compared to other 256GB SSDs
i hope everyone above me realizes that the x25-m 80gb was about $700 last year october, and not even a year later is half-price.
The suckers that are buying this are bringing the price down for the rest of us. This will be down to a great price in a year, I'm sure of it. SSD FTW
Again, a year or two back, this was the price of a 30GB SSD... so I think this is a good indicator of the direction that SSDs are going.
yeah, i paid 600 for my lappy. Article looked interesting til I got to the "$669.00" part.
"SSDs using JMicron controllers for example, should be avoided. Telltale signs of a JMicron drives are their prices--you get what you pay for. Judging that a 160 GB Intel X25-M costs twice as much as Corsair's 256 GB drive, one should approach with caution." Are you implying that intel ssds are better than corsair's (aka samsung's) because they cost more? didnt you just review the samsung drive and give it a lot of praise? i would rewrite that so you dont sound like an idiot
i do not believe 1 million hours. i am an EE working for a semiconductor company. no chips in silicon last that long, even mil spec. you are looking at 10 years (87.6k hours) or 20 years for very robust processes (2 micron or bigger)
Where are the 64GB and 128GB versions on newegg???
What kind of noob would buy an SSD in today's polarized SSD market with some SSDs being exceptional while others being utter crap without knowing exactly what kind of controller these Corsair SSDs use and if these SSDs can get a firmware update without having to RMA them.
*?
SSD is the future... Pity it comes at such a high premium
True, its to the point I try not to even bother reading anything SSD related, at least for another year(why am I here?). That and they're telling me to be cautious on spending $670 on a drive that may not be up to snuff? Funny how a change in price would be considered more exciting news over the technology itself.
All it does is reading @200MB/s and delay the write. That's why the 128MB of ram.
Do some intensive small block R&W, unplug the power and you could lose upto 128MB of data. It's definitely no industrial standard therefor should not deserve an industrial pricetag!
$400 is more than enough for this drive!
SSD is the FUTURE, and i plan to wait for it to come.
Is it just me, or does that sound really condescending?
SSD is the future... Pity it comes at such a high premium
Don't worry. It will get cheaper, faster, and higher capacity. Just got to be patient and wait awhile.
Ryan
Denver
I can't remember whether MLC or SLC is faster?
I can't remember whether MLC or SLC is faster?
SLC
rockerrb, SLC is faster than MLC.
I haven't heard anyone address the expectation that next revision of SATA will be in production before year-end. 'SATA revision 3' is 6 Gbit/s, whereas SATA-II is 3 Gbit/s (250 MB/s net read speed). With the ONFI drivers, you can saturate the bandwidth and be throttled back due to the SATA-II limitations -- and i'm not talking about in the future, I'm talking about RAID0ing some fast SSDs that are available today.
so for now, raid0ing four identical sata-ii (7200rpm or faster) drives should get you a very good price/performance ratio... Until the sata 6gb/s drives come out, or ssd slc/mlc prices drop.
my prophesy is that a nice fast 160gb slc ssd will eventually even out at a consumer price-point of US$200