The OWC Mercury Extreme Pro series of SSDs leverage the SandForce SF-1200 controller and are firmly entrenched in the performance SSD category. Aside from blazing 285MB/s read speeds in capacities up to 480GB, the Mercury Extreme Pro features a nifty all-metal blue-painted case and a claim of reduced power consumption (compared to other leading SSDs) that’s sure to excite notebook users.
The OWC Mercury Extreme Pro series of SSDs leverage the SandForce SF-1200 controller and are firmly entrenched in the performance SSD category. Aside from blazing 285MB/s read speeds in capacities up to 480GB, the Mercury Extreme Pro features a nifty all-metal blue-painted case and a claim of reduced power consumption (compared to other leading SSDs) that’s sure to excite notebook users.
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/owc_top.jpg)
- SandForce Processor with full SF1200 Series 7% Over Provisioning firmware set
- 120GB Capacity (111.79GB Formatted)
- Sustained Sequential Read: up to 285MB/s
- Sustained Sequential Write: up to 275MB/s
- Random 4KB: Up to 50,000 IOPS
- Tier 1/Grade A Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND Flash Memory
- 2,000,000 hours Mean Time to Failure (MTTF)
- Chip Based Data Encryption: 128-bit AES-compliant
- Active: 2200mW (2.2W) Typical, up to 2500mW (2.5W)
- Inactive (DIPM): 90mW (.09W) Typical
- Weight: 80 grams +/- 2 grams
- Drive Dimensions: 100.12mm x 70.06mm x 9.45mm
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/owc_bot.jpg)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/owc_side.jpg)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/owc_front.jpg)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/owc_apart.jpg)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/owc_controller.jpg)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/owc_pcb_top_s.jpg)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/owc_pcb_bot_s.jpg)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_2mb_sequentialtransfer2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_2mb_sequentialtransfer_4k2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_2mb_randomtransfer2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_2mb_randomtransfer_4k2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_4k_randomtransfer_mb2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_4k_randomtransfer_iops2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_4k_randomtransfer_mb_4k2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_4k_randomtransfer_iops_4k2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_write_latency2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_write_latency_4k2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_crystaldiskmark_500mbtest_fast2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_iops_database2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_iops_database_4k2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_iops_workstation3.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_iops_workstation_4k3.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_iops_webserver2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_iops_webserver_4k2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_iops_fileserver2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_iops_fileserver_4k2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_storagemark2010_htpc2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_storagemark2010_productivity2.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/owc_mercuryextremepro_120gb_storagemark2010_gaming.png)
![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sandforce_power_values2.png)
- Takes the top spot in 2 of our 3 real world benchmarks (among comparable drives)
- Consumed very little power
- 30-day return policy offers a nice safety net
- Lagged other drives in the gaming test
- Since distribution is limited to OWC’s site, you won’t see competitive pricing, sales or rebates very often