January 5th, 2012 by Kevin OBrien
Samsung SSD 830 RAID Review
When we completed our review of the Samsung SSD 830 in September, we praised the SSD for being built entirely in-house, which includes key components like the NAND, processor, cache RAM and firmware. Being a home grown creation generally means to better host system compatibility and better/faster support when issues arise. But SSDs need to perform as well, and the SSD 830 definitely had some bright spots, like posting the best deep queue depth 4K reads of any 2.5" SATA client SSD we've tested. The SSD 830 also delivered excellent write latency scores and very low idle power consumption. Even better then to combine two 256GB Samsung SSD 830's to see what kind of scores the drives can post when configured for performance in RAID0.
December 29th, 2011 by Kevin OBrien
Lenovo ThinkPad USB 3.0 Secure Hard Drive Review
Lenovo has made versions of their secure external hard drives for a while, we reviewed their eSATA version about a year ago. This time we're looking at the USB 3.0 enabled hard drive, available in capacities of 500GB and 750GB. The new USB 3.0 drives are highlighted by the same security - a ten digital number pad on the front of the enclosure and 256-bit AES XTS hardware encryption running in the background. Couple the security with the fact that the drive requires no installed software and it's built with legendary ThinkPad quality and the drive looks pretty compelling.
December 29th, 2011 by Kevin OBrien
Corsair Force Series 3 Review
The Corsair Force Series 3 is one of three current generation SSDs offered by Corsair. It's nearly identical to their Force Series GT, both leverage a SATA 6Gb/s interface, SandForce SF-2281 processors and 25nm MLC NAND. The key difference is the Series 3 uses Asynchronous NAND where the GT uses Synchronous NAND. The difference gives the Series 3 a little better pricing flexibility, but that doesn't mean performance takes a big hit. The Series 3 is still listed as cranking out 550MB/s read and 520MB/s write speeds.
December 27th, 2011 by Lyle Smith
Patriot Pyro SE Review (240GB)
The Pyro SE is the latest SSD from Patriot and is a new and improved version of the Pyro, both of which are powered by SandForce's SF-2281 processor. The main difference between the two is that instead of asynchronous NAND, the Pyro SE is equipped with 25nm synchronous MLC NAND, which can deliver up to 550MB/s read and 520 MB/s write speeds and a maximum of 85,000 IOPS.
December 27th, 2011 by Kevin OBrien
OCZ Octane SSD Review (128GB)
We recently reviewed the OCZ Octane SSD in a 512GB capacity, one of the four capacity points offered by OCZ in the Octane family. For many SSD buyers though the 128GB capacity is the sweet spot, with the average consumer SSD capacity hovering near 150GB, 128GB SSDs offer a nice blend of capacity, performance and price. The 128GB Octane offers a SATA 6Gb/s interface and an Indilinx processor to drive read speeds up to 535MB/s, writes of 170 MB/s and random read 4KB IOPS of 37,000.
December 26th, 2011 by Kevin OBrien
NewerTech Power2U AC/USB Wall Outlet Review
If someone asked you how many wall chargers you have for a USB-powered device, chances are you could probably list off a few from the top of your head. Most devices sold today, including wireless hard drives and smartphones include a charging cable that terminates with a common USB plug. With its widespread compatibility, this allows users to charge their devices anywhere a computer or wall charger is located. This is where the NewerTech Power2U Ac/USB Wall Outlet comes into play, offering a cord-only charging solution for portable devices putting the charger inside the wall, never to be misplaced again.
December 22nd, 2011 by Lyle Smith
Corsair Performance Pro SSD (256GB) Review
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The Corsair Performance Pro SSD is powered by the Marvell 9174 processor, Toshiba 34nm Toggle MLC NAND and a SATA 6Gb/s interface. The Performance Pro adds to Corsair's already excellent line of SDD products that leverage perhaps the most robust set of combinations of NAND and SSD processors available with a SATA interface. In this case the Performance Pro replaces the Performance 3, Corsair's first Marvell 9174-based SSD which was announced about a year ago. A year goes a long way in the SSD world, the Performance Pro picks up a tremendous speed boost over the Performance 3, delivering read speeds of up to 515MB/s and an impressive 440MB/sec in sequential write performance, compared to 480MB/s reads and 320 MB/s writes in the first generation model.
December 6th, 2011 by Kevin OBrien
Plextor PX-M3S SSD Review
Like their recent M2P SSD, the Plextor PX-M3S uses a Marvell 9174 processor, however where the M2P used Toshiba's 32nm Toggle NAND, the M3S is using 24nm Toshiba Toggle NAND. This translates into a modest boost in the spec sheet speeds over the M2P - the M3S can drive read speeds of up to 525MB/s and writes of 445MB/s, along with 70,000 IOPS. Plextor is shipping the M3S with their True Speed technology, which provides for better drive performance over time, along with custom firmware. To polish off the offering, Plextor is including a five year warranty, the longest available in the SSD space.
December 3rd, 2011 by Charles Jefferies
Kingston HyperX SSD Review (240GB)
The HyperX SSD is Kingston's latest and greatest flagship SSD. Offering speeds up to 550MB/s read and 510MB/s write speeds, this enthusiast-level drive features a SandForce SF-2281 processor and is available in 120GB and 240GB capacities. Packed with 25nm synchronous NAND this drive is claimed to top out at 90,000 4K read IOPS and 60,000 write IOPS. making it optimal for high-performance gaming systems and workstations alike.
December 2nd, 2011 by Kevin OBrien
OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual Mini Review
The OWC Mercury Elite Dual Mini is a two-bay portable RAID enclosure that supports RAID0/1 along with span and independent drive modes. The rock-solid aluminum body is barely larger than two stacked CD jewel cases and houses two 2.5" hard drives or SSDs. The array of interface options makes the bus-powered mobile RAID accessible via FireWire 800, FireWire 400, eSATA and USB 2.0.
