Patriot WildFire SSD Review - PAGE 9

The Patriot WildFire is the second SF-2281 driven SSD we have tested to date, but it is the first to utilize 32nm MLC NAND memory. The reasoning behind the decision to utilize more expensive memory over the 25nm NAND seen in similar SandForce driven SSDs simply comes down to performance. The Toshiba 32nm Toggle Mode NAND has a 133 megatransfers/second speed rating and an asynchronous memory design, allowing the Wildfire to perform more in line with enterprise grade SSDs.

In addition, the SandForce controller is able to support blisteringly fast speeds that exceeded 500MB/s according to Patriot, and we verified in our testing that the Wildfire can support read speeds of up to 555MB/s, write speeds of up to 520MB/s and 4k aligned random writes of 85,000 IOPs. This all adds up to the Wildfire boasting best in-class performance, not to mention making it the fastest SSD we have tested.

Along with the strong performance, the Wildfire also offers all the built-in features included with the SandForce controller. These include AES-256 and 128 data encryption, DuraClass Technology, RAISE, ECC Recovery and Native Command Queuing (NCQ) of up to 32 commands. On top of these, the SF-2281 controller also has features a real-time compression algorithm that reduces the size of transferring data, and in turn eliminates the bottleneck issue that was prominent with older SSD controllers. The WildFire also natively includes TRIM support, which is beneficial for anyone using a operating system that supports it.

All in all the WildFire is an outstanding SSD that offers top-class performance while dodging the problems of the second generation SandForce controller by using the latest 3.1.9 firmware. However, the WildFire is an expensive product with an MSRP ranging from $275 to $309 just for the 120GB model. We had little luck finding it listed at the lower-end pricing, so expect to pay a hefty premium for performance. Even with the high price, the Wildfire is a highly recommend SSD that will kick the performance of any PC or laptop to the next level.