Corsair 64 GB Performance Series SSD SATA II Solid State Drive (SSD) CMFSSD-64GBG2D

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Price: $199.39    

Product Feature

• Perfect upgrade to Compliment Windows 7 or any Netbook or Laptop and it is great for Gamers who want more speed out of their systems
• Compatible ? The Extreme Series uses the proven Indilinx Barefoot controller, found on SSDs installed in tens of thousands of systems worldwide
• Stutter-free ? The sophisticated Samsung controller combined with onboard cache ensures smooth performance, unlike that of cheaper SSDs
• 2 Year Warranty Backed by Corsair ? A respected name with a passion for great service and support
• Maximum sequential read 220 MB/s Maximum sequential write 120 MB/s

Product Description

The ideal ultra-performance storage solution - Replacing your hard disk drive with the Corsair P64 SSD will revolutionize your computing experience. Games launch quicker, your computer starts faster, multiple applications run much smoother, all while running cool and silent. Corsair's P64 SSD is the optimum SSD for your mobile or desktop computing needs. Its 220 MB/s read speed and 120 MB/s write speed provide outstanding performance, while the ultra-large 64 GB drive capacity provides ample storage for lots of applications, music, pictures and video. Proven Samsung technology guarantees out of the box performance and stability without the need to adjust complex system-level settings or update firmware. The speed, capacity, and compatibility of the P64 are supported by the inherent reliability of solid state technology, resulting in a truly optimum solution for your mass storage requirements.

Corsair 64 GB Performance Series SSD SATA II Solid State Drive (SSD) CMFSSD-64GBG2D Review

I purchased this Corsair P64 SSD to upgrade my system disk (previously a 10k rpm 300gb Raptor). With advertised read/write speed of Sequential read = 200mb/second and sequential write = 150mb/sec, I expected to gain a significant speed increase over my previous system disk. After doing a clean install of Windows 7 64-bit, I ran benchmarks using Crystal Disk on both the Corsair P64 and my old raptor. Here are the results:

Raptor Benchmark:

Sequential Read : 122.090 MB/s
Sequential Write : 121.013 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 59.636 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 88.060 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 1.008 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 2.839 MB/s
Test Size : 100 MB

Corsair P64 Benchmark:

Sequential Read : 137.993 MB/s
Sequential Write : 99.864 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 116.219 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 98.126 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 28.385 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 8.757 MB/s
Test Size : 100 MB

As you can see, the increase in performance was negligible, and I actually got a LOWER write speed from the P64 than the Raptor for sequential writes. I also go nowhere close to the stated 200mb/sec read and 150mb/write advertised by Corsair.

Thinking that it was quite possible I had made a mistake in setting up the SSD, I got on the Corsair support forums and found out that the most recent firmware for this drive (Firmware Build 1819) has lots of problems that have been reported by quite a few people on that forum. Corsair's response has been to provide a downgrade option to firmware build 1571 which for some users fixes the performance issues. It appears the current firmware (1819) can cause performance issues that are not solvable by any means yet identified. The problem with reverting to firmware 1571 is that is has a problem that will not allow it to execute TRIM commands from Windows 7. A separate program (C Wiper) must be downloaded and run occasionally to clear "garbage" files from the Drive. This isn't the end of the world, but it would be much simpler to have a fully functional firmware that offers both the performance of firmware 1571 and the TRIM command support of firmware 1819. The suggest running C-wiper to restore drive performance, which I did, with the following benchmark showing it DID NOT fix the problem:

Corsair P64 benchmark (After running C-wiper)

Sequential Read : 137.744 MB/s
Sequential Write : 100.679 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 115.703 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 95.199 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 28.309 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 8.245 MB/s
Test Size : 100 MB

There is hope that a new firmware will be released soon:

"With regards to some status updates, we are working with Indilinx on a firmware update to address performance degradation experienced by some users when they updated to the 1819 firmware. We have been promised a version to test next week. Our testing process will take approximately two weeks. We will post back with updates as we get them."

(Quoted from the Corsair support web page).

So for the time being, purchasers of the P64 must choose between performance and no TRIM, or TRIM with possible (and seemingly frequent) performance issues. Hopefully Corsair gets their act together and release a new firmware pronto that will restore the P64's performance back to something close to what they've stated this drive is capable of! I'm holding out for the new firmware rather than going back to 1571 because going back to the old firmware is a destructive process for your current data (all data erased) and requires a new installation of an OS (as well as any programs and files).

If the next firmware release doesn't bring this drive's performance back up to something reasonably close to the stated specs, I'll be returning it and getting a different drive (probably OCZ--while they're more expensive, the support provided is wort it in my opinion).

The jury is still out on this drive. If Corsair is able to offer a solid firmware that allows the drive to function at stated specs, it's an excellent choice for the price. If not, you might as well buy the much cheaper Kingston SSDs for about half the price, or spend a bit more and get a drive from OCZ or Patriot that meets or even EXCEEDS stated read/write speeds.

I intended to update this review as I continue to use the P64. Feel free to leave me questions in the comments section and I'll do my best to answer them for you.

*************UPDATE 12-8-2009*******************

I went ahead and did a destructive Firmware downgrade to 1571 and reinstalled Windows 7 Professional. Test results show a MARKED improvement from previous tests:

Sequential Read : 161.717 MB/s
Sequential Write : 86.102 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 132.334 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 90.626 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 29.918 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 8.037 MB/s
Test Size : 100 MB

It appears that Firmware 1819 is not stable and causes disk read/write speed errors. I really hope the new firmware fixes these issues. I'll update later when they release the new firmware and I try it out on the drive.

*************UPDATE 01-24-2010*******************

I updated the drive to the newest firmware: 1916

Here are my results from CrystalMark:

Sequential Read : 182.708 MB/s
Sequential Write : 98.105 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 156.686 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 92.944 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 29.863 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 8.929 MB/s
Test Size : 100 MB

As you can see, the newest firmware speeds up the read times about 20% and brings the drive very close to Corsair's stated performance. In real world testing, the drive is now operating faster than before (4-5 seconds faster on boot-up). I'm very pleased that Corsair released a firmware that fixes all the issues of 1819 and gets this drive up to speed.

*************Update 08/12/2010*************

I've been using this SSD as my main boot drive for almost a year now with no issues once updated to firmware 1916. The drive performs well all of the time and never needs me to manually cut garbage with the clean-up tool since Windows 7's trim support works fantastically.

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