Corsair P256 256GB SSD Review

Written by Harry Butler

June 5, 2009 | 10:13

Tags: #128mb-cache #256gb #load-times #p #p256 #performance #review #ssd #tested

Companies: #arm #corsair

FC-Test Results

Website: FC-Test

Our FC-Test benchmark is split into three parts. First is a write test involving the creation of a file pattern similar to common files such as MP3s or large video files. Once created on the drive, we then copy the file pattern from the drive back to a different folder on the same drive producing a combined read/write test. Finally we test the read speed of the drive by performing FC-Test's read test on the files copied.

For our benchmarks, we're using both the MP3 pattern, consisting of two hundred and seventy small files totalling 0.99GB, and the the ISO pattern, consisting of three large files totalling 1.6GB in size. We feel these represent the most common files people will be frequently copying to and from an drive, and can be interpreted as as close to a real world file transfer test as possible.

FC Test

Mp3 File Create on Drive

  • Intel X25-E 32GB SSD
  • Corsair P256 256GB SSD
  • OCZ Vertex 120GB v.1.1
  • Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB
  • Seagate 1TB 7200.12
  • Seagate 1.5TB Barracuda 7200.11
  • Intel X25-M 80GB SSD v8820
  • Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB
  • OCZ Apex 120GB SSD
  • G.Skill Titan 256GB SSD
  • Seagate 1TB 7200.11
  • Western Digital 150GB 10,000RPM Raptor
  • Seagate 250GB 7200.10
  • G.Skill 128GB SSD
  • Patriot Warp V.2 128GB SSD
    • 4.8
    • 6.5
    • 7.0
    • 11.4
    • 12.5
    • 12.8
    • 13.3
    • 13.5
    • 14.5
    • 14.5
    • 14.9
    • 16.9
    • 22.1
    • 27.3
    • 28.3
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Time (seconds)
  • Time (Seconds)

Thanks to the Corsair P256's towering average write speed we were expecting some serious performance here and weren't disappointed. The P256 is the fastest MLC drive we've ever tested when it comes to writing the 0.99GB MP3 file pattern, faster even than the Indilinx powered OCZ Vertex. The only drive that's quicker is the SLC based X25-E, which has something of an advantage by using single level cell NAND flash.

FC Test

Mp3 File copy to Drive

  • Intel X25-E 32GB SSD
  • Corsair P256 256GB SSD
  • OCZ Vertex 120GB v.1.1
  • Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB
  • G.Skill Titan 256GB SSD
  • Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB
  • Seagate 1.5TB Barracuda 7200.11
  • Seagate 250GB 7200.10
  • Western Digital 150GB 10,000RPM Raptor
  • Seagate 1TB 7200.12
  • Seagate 1TB 7200.11
  • OCZ Apex 120GB SSD
  • Intel X25-M 80GB SSD v8820
  • Patriot Warp V.2 128GB SSD
  • G.Skill 128GB SSD
    • 4.70
    • 5.31
    • 6.25
    • 7.61
    • 7.83
    • 8.46
    • 9.17
    • 9.30
    • 9.30
    • 9.48
    • 10.69
    • 10.90
    • 11.98
    • 18.94
    • 19.35
0
5
10
15
20
Time (seconds)
  • Time (Seconds)

When copying files the P256 is even faster than when first writing them, a feat no doubt assisted by the huge 1GB of available cache. Duplicating our 0.99GB MP3 file pattern took on average just 5.31 seconds, almost twenty percent faster than the Vertex and far faster than conventional mechanical drives.

FC Test

Mp3 File Read From Drive

  • OCZ Apex 120GB SSD
  • OCZ Vertex 120GB v.1.1
  • Corsair P256 256GB SSD
  • G.Skill Titan 256GB SSD
  • Intel X25-M 80GB SSD v8820
  • Intel X25-E 32GB SSD
  • Patriot Warp V.2 128GB SSD
  • Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB
  • Seagate 1TB 7200.12
  • G.Skill 128GB SSD
  • Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB
  • Seagate 1TB 7200.11
  • Seagate 1.5TB Barracuda 7200.11
  • Seagate 250GB 7200.10
  • Western Digital 150GB 10,000RPM Raptor
    • 3.4
    • 3.5
    • 3.5
    • 3.7
    • 4.0
    • 4.1
    • 4.6
    • 4.8
    • 5.1
    • 5.2
    • 5.7
    • 6.5
    • 6.6
    • 7.2
    • 7.9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Time (seconds)
  • Time (Seconds)

Read speeds were also excellent, with the P256 matching the speed of the OCZ Vertex by taking just 3.5 seconds to read the un-cached file pattern. The P256 certainly seems to be a real contender when it comes to small file read/writes, but can it match that performance in large file read/write speeds?
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