Corsair Performance Pro 256GB SSD Review - PAGE 11

While the Corsair Performance Pro performs differently than a drive based on the SandForce controller, we found it more consistent across the board. An example of this can be seen in our HDTune benchmark, which tests the SSD's read and write performance. Our benchmark results showed how the Marvell-based performance Pro had less of a separation between the highs and lows, meaning there was never a time when the drive's performance substantially dropped. This is usually not the case with SandForce based drives, which tend to have high peak performance, with large downward dips at random times. So, the fact that the Performance Pro didn’t suffer from this should mean the drive delivered consistent performance at all times.

The Marvell 9174 controller was also able to go toe to toe with the SandForce-based SSDs in our test bed, pretty much across the board. The Performance Pro performed well throughout our synthetic testing as well as our load time and data transferring benchmarks. All this highlights how the Marvell controller is a real challenger to the SandForce controller.

However, the price of drives using the Marvell controller is equally as high as drives using the SandFroce design. Currently both will set you back nearly $2 per gigabyte, so neither option comes cheap. Still, the Corsair Performance Pro is an excellent SSD that offers best in class performance, and proves to be a good counter weight to a market flooded with SandForce-based drives.

The 256GB model we examined in this review currently has an MSRP of $399. While this certainly isn't the cheapest drive available, we highly recommend the Corsair Performance Pro and feel the price is justified considering the price of similar SSDs.