Corsair Performance Pro SSD vs Intel 520 SSD

[Salamander 2]

I'm trying to compare the Corsair Performance Pro SSD and the Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSD.

Here are the links.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233227

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820167086

Does anyone know how the Corsair Performance Pro stacks up against the Intel 520 in terms of reliability?

[Zaxx]

The CPP is based on a Marvell controller which has had little to no issues afaik. The 520 is ofc is a SandForce drive. The SF22821 got off to a very bumpy start with the bsod bug and some compatibility issues. Being the powerhouse that is Intel, they spent nearly a year re-writing the fw with SF and then running it thru Intel's industry leading qualifications...Intel will not bring anything to market that might tarnish their rep for reliability. Imo the CPP and 520 are equally reliable. Fwiw, you can get the exact same drive for less...Corsair almost always carries a premium price tag.


btw...this thread is probably better suited for the storage forum vs extreme storage...

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...php?62-Storage


edit:

NewEgg....The CPP 256GB is $340!! Holy chit, it better have a gold trace pcb, sata to usb3 connector and a copy of Acronis for that kind of money...but it doesn't.

[johnw]

Of course, the better choice than either of those is the Plextor M3P, which recently went down to $300 for the 256GB model.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820249021

No one with any brains would pay more for the Corsair Performance Pro than for the Plextor M3P, since the CPP is just a rebranded Plextor M3P, except the CPP has a shorter warranty and worse firmware.

[Christopher]

Of course, the better choice than either of those is the Plextor M3P, which recently went down to $300 for the 256GB model.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820249021

No one with any brains would pay more for the Corsair Performance Pro than for the Plextor M3P, since the CPP is just a rebranded Plextor M3P, except the CPP has a shorter warranty and worse firmware.

I think the Corsair is using Plextor FW from the M2P (which is what it was, but newer models are using 24nm Toggle. No great issue in my opinion, the flash in the Plextor M3P is looking good so far). Good Toshiba flash is every bit as quality as Samsung, Intel and Micron's private stock IMHO, and I believe some of the Plextor premium is for higher quality ToshibaToggle. If you can get the M3S for significantly cheaper than the M3P, that's probably the way to go if money is an issue.

[Computurd]

interestingly enough, for all of Intels validation, they didnt catch the AES problem.

[Zaxx]

interestingly enough, for all of Intels validation, they didnt catch the AES problem.

Maybe they did but didn't come out with it until they were ready with the recall/exchange...who knows.

[canthearu]

To properly validate 256bit AES on the sandforce controller, you would have to use the controller to write to some NAND chips, then connect the NAND chips to a reader and examine the contents directly, while also doing the AES calculations on a software simulation to create a comparison value.

Probably too much work to check on a feature that appeared to be working correctly, especially when there were bigger fish to fry (power change state problems)

[johnw]

I think the Corsair is using Plextor FW from the M2P (which is what it was, but newer models are using 24nm Toggle.

Maybe, but I suspect that Corsair changed the firmware a bit when they changed to the smaller flash. Anandtech recently did a Corsair Performance Pro review, and they got one with 24nm flash. Interestingly enough, I think it is a bit faster than my CPP which I bought in early Jan 2012 and has the older flash, and probably the M2P firmware. It could be faster just due to the 24nm flash, but I think it is also different FW.

Corsair loses points from me for not providing firmware updates for the CPP. Since Corsair does not do their FW in-house, I guess they would have to pay someone for FW updates, so they are pinching pennies by not offering them.

Plextor has had several FW updates, for the M2P, M3S, and M3P. I think Plextor has done a decent job with supporting their products.

Corsair also loses points from me for making such a large change (smaller generation of flash, possibly FW changes) without adding a "2" of "F24" or whatever to the model name. If the newer CPPs do indeed have higher performance than the older ones, then it makes it almost impossible for a customer to know what they are getting when they buy a CPP.

I bought one Corsair Performance Pro, but I will not buy another. I'll take Plextor over Corsair for certain.

[Zaxx]

I feel the exact same re: Corsair's product support...with SSDs anyway (I'll spare everyone my Corsair support forumt rant..lol). What fw revisions they do offer are the MP fw releases from the controller makers with zero extra effort to try and set their SSDs apart from the zillion other companies, a lot of which churn out nothing but reference design drives. I've been a fan of Corsair for years...great memory, great PSUs and now decent yet affordable water cooling. Too bad they've went 'bare minimum' re: their SSDs...last thing I woulda expected from a company with such a respected rep. and a huge loyal following. I remember the first Corsair memory I ever bought was the legendary (at the time) BH-5 dimms that sported hella-tight 2-2-2-5 timings back when overclocking the crap out of the P4 2.4C northwoods with a big chunk of copper was all the rage...along with the ATI 9800 Pro.

Those were teh dayz...

[UranusFX]

The details of in jp CORSAIR's distributor is described as that Toshiba 32nm toggle NAND.
Because I do not have, either do not know.
In terms of hardware but it will be the same with this and M2P.
It is also little bit price difference between Corsair and Plextor already...

http://www.links.co.jp/item/cssd-p256gbp-bk/

[Christopher]

I have a couple M3Ps, and they certainly earn a gold star in my book. Remember, before the M2P there was the M2S, and it's Corsair-branded Performance 3 sibling.

[Zaxx]

The details of in jp CORSAIR's distributor is described as that Toshiba 32nm toggle NAND.

http://www.links.co.jp/item/cssd-p256gbp-bk/

32nm toggle would help explain Corsair's CPPs high price...I just assumed they were using type A 24nm tosh toggle.

[Christopher]

Recent review units have been cropping up with 24nm and 32nm Toggle. Anandtech's Kristien Vatto had a 24nm unit but he never made note of it.

[kaktus1907]

I wonder if corsair changes nands again without notice, will they continue selling it under same name when liteon(plextor) M5S is out..

EDIT: differencies between old and new i tried explaining here and there

[Zaxx]

Recent review units have been cropping up with 24nm and 32nm Toggle. Anandtech's Kristien Vatto had a 24nm unit but he never made note of it.

So much for Corsair passing on the savings from the cheaper 24nm chips...