Corsair Force Series 120GB SSD review - PAGE 9

Without any doubt, the Corsair Force 120GB based on the SandForce SF-1200 controller is the best performer here at Neoseeker's labs. It simply crushed the previous king, the Patriot Torqx. It prevailed in eight out of the ten benchmarks, some of them by a very convincing margin, especially AS SSD, ATTO and PCMark Vantage.

Another great thing is that the Force 120GB does not suffer a write performance loss over time, thanks to some special algorithms from SandForce which allow for a write amplification factor below one. Compared to some drives based on other controllers, this one does not need a utility to be run on it to get its initial performance restored. It just shows that the technology has really matured. Today's subject just is not comparable to the first generation of consumer SSDs, which suffered from high write performance degradation over time, did not even support TRIM, and could not even get their initial performance restored via a utility. The technology has now reached the point where a drive can be installed in a system without ulterior interventions; it now provides an absolute peace of mind.

With such refinements, it is a bit disheartening to see that the Force 120GB's warranty is only three years, when other drives such as the Torqx are covered for ten years. Three years is not too bad though, considering that the warranties for most mechanical hard drives and many other SSDs are in the same ballpark.

Overall, at $309, the Corsair Force 120GB is definitely a drive to consider when shopping for an SSD of this capacity. Only a few drives are cheaper than that, and not by much. There are also the 60GB and 240GB versions selling for $156 and $609 respectively, which offer the same performance level.