7Jun/105
Corsair 256 GB Performance Series Internal Solid State Drive CMFSSD-256GBG2D
- Perfect upgrade for a Netbook or Notebook and great for Gamers who want more speed out of their systems
- OEM qualified Samsung controller and MLC NAND for compatibility and consistent performance
- Maximum Up to 220MB/s Sequential Read, 200MB/s Sequential Write
- Large 128MB Cache Memory buffer contributes to outstanding, stutter-free performance
- 2 Year Warranty
Product Description
Corsair solid state disk drives set a new standard for reliability in desktop and notebook storage solutions. Corsair solid state disk drives utilize specially selected Samsung components to enable a life expectancy of over 100 years and OEM level compatibility and performance consistency. Unlike traditional mechanical hard disk drives, Corsair solid state disk drives have no moving parts. This results in faster system responsiveness, quieter operation and reduced overall system temperatures.... More >>
Corsair 256 GB Performance Series Internal Solid State Drive CMFSSD-256GBG2D
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June 7th, 2010 - 13:30
Background:
* I wasn’t very happy with my Sony SZ-series running on Win XP despite its “high spec”. Start up time became between 2 to 5 minutes depending on I-don’t-know-what. Shutting down took about the same time with similar “reasons”. Applications had become more and more feet dragging. Many suggest a fresh O/S reinstallation but we all know that’s a daunting task.
* Many reviewers gave thumb up to SSD upgrade. I was reading about start up/Shut down time improved to less than 30 seconds from 2 minutes +, almost instant-on application, snappy response etc, and it suppose to boost both MS and Mac systems.
* Maybe it was destined to change: I was careless enough to place my briefcase with the expensive Sony in it on my garage floor and backup my car, and did I just installed speed bump in my garage?
* So I rushed to buy an interim cheap (1/4 the price I paid for the Sony) replacement, the Acer Aspire 1810TZ, hoping that Sony is able to repair the SZ with reasonable price.
* I wasn’t expect much from the mediocre speced Acer (1.3GHz ULV CPU, Intel Graphic Chipset, 4GB of RAM being the only strength here) but the stock Acer really impressed me after months of use. Startup/shut down time was always less than 30 seconds. Battery life easily double the Sony. It is smaller & lighter overall than the Sony. While the Sony laptop itself is light, you must see its power block: almost half the volumetric size & weight of the laptop itself!).
* I am using the system mainly on office productivity stuffs, and occasionally watch movie on biz trip. The formal feels noticeably more responsive and snappy then the Sony while movie is watchable: choppy if you are trying to multitask, such as performing back up or copying large files, otherwise, no problem at all. I don’t play games but I think the Sony with dedicated GPU and VRam shall perform much better.
* I reason that all this good experience has to do with the efficient Windows 7 o/s. I was then hopeful to get my Sony back and prepared to upgrade to Win 7. The bad news: the price to replace the LCD and mother board would cost more than a new Sony Z system! Thank you Sony, I think I won’t buy any of your product the rest of my life until you change your attitude!
* I decided to keep the Acer as my only and primary system. But readers, I had numerous bad experience with sudden HDD failure so pls let the O/S do regular backup for you to an external HDD. I do it every day.
* In order to give it a little more zest, I was still itching at upgrading to SSD.
* My first choice was to try to boot Windows 7 from the build in SD drive. Not only I could benefit from fast read speed typical of flash drive, I can store data in low $/Byte HDD. Best of both world, or so I thought. But there’s 2 problems. First, I don’t know how to make the SD bootable because my system has WIndows 7 preinstalled which doesn’t come with a windows 7 install disk. The most frustrated of all however, the Bios does not support boot from SD drive!
* So I resort to the alternative: to ordered a Corsair P256 from Amazon after some research. The SSD itself is more expensive then the Acer. But add both up would still much cheaper then a new Sony Z, and I was told SSD suppose to last forever?
Now the real fun begins:
* Upon received, excited, ghost the original Acer 320GB hdd, plug in &… what? Can’t start?
* SSD bad? Tried access using external USB, no problem!
* OK, maybe the Ghost is outdated. Tried fresh installation using Acer recovery disks. Nope, the recovery won’t even start the job, despite Bios recognised the SSD.
* Maybe Bios outdated. Flash latest Bios successfully. I must give it to Acer for a job well done here. The Bios upgrade file was easy to find in [...] and reflash was very straight forward: just double click on the exe file in Windows.
* Plug in the SSD: nope, not working.
* Go to [...], trying to find support. None. They put promotional rubbish in support section.
* Googling and found OCV forum. From there I found the latest SSD firmware with Trim support, and the way to upgrade the firmware.
* In total contrast with the Acer Bios reflash, SSD firmware upgrade is a multiple steps process. You first have to download the firmware upgrade program. Then you create a Dos bootable USB drive and copy some Win 98 system files on it. Transfer the firmware upgrade program to the USB drive with proper Autoexec.bat. Shut down the system and replace the HDD with the SSD. Start the system, press F2 to change the Bios setting to boot from USB drive, & exit/save.
* Good news is the firmware upgrade was successful on first trial. Bad news is all data on SSD were all wiped out as a result.
* Didn’t want to try the Ghost route, I decided to restore the 320GB HDD windows 7 system image (my backup) from external HDD to the SSD. Bare in mind that the target drive (SSD) must be bigger in capacity than the HDD backup. Since my original HDD was 320GB, I shrunk C: to around 200GB.
* Insert the external DVD drive and boot from the recovery disk. Follow on screen instruction to recover the system image to the SSD.
* The process completed hours later. Reboot, set BIOS boot priority, and viola, I finally successfully log on to windows!
* But wait, how come the start up and shut down time is now increased to > 40 seconds?
* Go to OCZ forum again, found Tony SSD tweakings. Do exactly. Now startup and shut down time improved, to around 30 seconds. Wait a minute, this was what I got with 320 HDD!
* Maybe slow SSD write speed was the problem. Since I have 4 GB of RAM, I created a small 200MB Ram drive following “Windows 7 Ultimate Tweaks & Utilities” in OCZ forum, as storage for all the temperary files.
* The result, both start up and shut down improved to 15 – 25 seconds. Office productivity applications felt even more snappy though short of my expectation of instant turn on as being bragged by other reviewers. Can’t “feel” improvement in Video performance, probably due to slow CPU (ULV 1.3GHz) and mediocre graphics hardware. Haven’t tested battery life but the whole PC is now much cooler then before.
* My verdict:
+ If you are not a graphics intensive user (gamers, CAD, Video editing etc), the Acer 1810TZ is a gem. I am using it as my primary system with external keyboard, mouse, monitor and other accessories on my office table. It is very portable & affordable and most applications run very well on the preinstalled windows 7. It would be even better if the Bios allow it to boot from the build in SD drive.
+ By all mean, upgrade to windows 7. I strongly recommend it. The cheap (1/4 the price, slow ULV CPU, standard Intel graphic chipset) Acer with Windows 7 beat performance of highend (fast duo core CPU and discreet graphics) SZ Sony with Windows XP hands down say it all.
+ Acer has got excellent technical support and they are easy to find on [...].
+ On the other hand Corsair technical support is dissapointing. The drive come in a box without any user manual. It is not working out-of-the-box. One has to be quite computer savvy to do the firmware upgrade (if you even know it can be done, not mentioning nowhere to be found around [...]). Then the amount of tweakings (regedit, msconfig, firefox about:config, Ramdrive etc) needed to squeeze every juice out of an SSD can be overwhelming to average users.
My advice for Corsair: put every supporting documentation and software in [...], firmware upgrade to be done in windows at the same time keep all SSD data intact, and pls include system transfer software into the package.
+ In summary, I think the best upgrade of any system is Windows 7. The price of Corsair P256 does not justify that little added performance. Other reviewers see great improvement using SSD probably due to its fast read speed. But windows 7 is so efficient that read speed now becomes not too important.
Rating: 3 / 5
June 7th, 2010 - 13:44
The Corsair SSD has improved boot and operation speeds dramatically. Before the upgrade, booting from cold start took 2.5 to 3 minutes. Now, total time from power off to complete boot and all systems go is 40 seconds! All programs load quicker. iTunes, one of my slower loading programs pops up after just 1 to 2 bounces on the dock compared to 8-12 before the upgrade. MacSpeech performance is much better. Now, I never get ahead of the program and it has made MacSpeech much more appealing to use.
My MacBook Pro is an intel model version that immediately predated the revision with the permanent battery. The effort to remove the old hard drive and install the new is minimal. No more than 8 to 10 minutes total. It does require a Torx screw removal, so a set of computer tech tools is needed. These kits can be bought for less than 30 dollars.
Rating: 4 / 5
June 7th, 2010 - 15:03
I have a Lenovo X201s that came with a fast 7,200 hard drive and an Intel i7 CPU. I bought this drive because I wanted to speed up boot and shut-down times, which were very acceptable but not anywhere near Mac performance. The drive installed without a hitch and fits perfectly into the slot. It may be an easier install on new ThinkPads because they come with a BIOS that supports solid state drives.
Now my laptop boots up in less than a minute and shuts down in less than 15 seconds. The PCMark Vantage 64 benchmark test (I have Windows 7 with 64 bit) comes out at around 10,000 (9,985 exactly), fully 50% faster than before installing the drive (6,873). The drive is silent and the fan almost never runs. Battery life is better. This is now one of the fastest, most stable laptops I’ve ever seen!
Rating: 5 / 5
June 7th, 2010 - 17:11
Installed this in a 3-year old laptop and it gave it new life! Worth the price in time saved. I used to start Outlook and then have to wait a few minutes before I could do anything. Now I can send an email, check the calendar, etc. in a couple of seconds. Startup, shutdown and every program I run is much faster as well. If you need to copy your old hard drive files, use this product to do it:
Apricorn EZ-UP-UNIVERSAL EZ Upgrade Universal Notebook Hard Drive Upgrade Kit
Rating: 5 / 5
June 7th, 2010 - 18:23
Extremely fast – during a upgrade to Windows 7 on my new notebook had lots of restarts (OS, drivers, applications, etc.) – this drive made them all super fast. Internet downloads from the super faster. Installing applications was a easy as well. Drive replaced a Seagate 320gb/7200 which was no slouch btu this new SSD blew past it.
Rating: 5 / 5