Corsair Force LS (240GB) Review
by Kristian Vättö on September 25, 2013 12:00 AM ESTAnandTech Storage Bench 2011—Light Workload
Our light workload actually has more write operations than read operations. The split is as follows: 372,630 reads and 459,709 writes. The relatively close read/write ratio does better mimic a typical light workload (although even lighter workloads would be far more read centric). The I/O breakdown is similar to the heavy workload at small IOs, however you'll notice that there are far fewer large IO transfers:
| AnandTech Storage Bench 2011—Light Workload IO Breakdown | ||||
| IO Size | % of Total | |||
| 4KB | 27% | |||
| 16KB | 8% | |||
| 32KB | 6% | |||
| 64KB | 5% | |||
As with the Heavy 2011 Workload, the Light testing again puts the Force LS in the bottom third of our charts. While that may look bad in comparison to the faster SSDs, we're still looking at a massive speedup relative to hard drives and even HDD + SSD caching solutions, and that's the target market for budget SSDs.
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Runamok81 - Wednesday, September 25, 2013 - link
Looks like we have a shrinking middle-class withh SSDs as well. Does this mean manufactuers should focus on one extreme of the performance/value slider or else risk consumers purchasing leftover stock from last years tech?MrSpadge - Wednesday, September 25, 2013 - link
The problem with budget and middle class SSDs is that the bulk of the cost goes into the flash - which you have to buy anyway. The controller does cost a bit, but you can't save much by making an SSD slower. That's why it's not really worth it for customers to spend a little less for a significantly slower SSD. Exception: Samsung 840/840 Evo. they've still got the excellent controller and at least decent performance, yet they mostly cost significantly less than others.ericbentley - Monday, September 30, 2013 - link
Samsung 840/840 Evo can afford to use a good controller yet still be budget oriented because they use TLC flash, while the Corsair LS here still uses MLC. While MLC is better in terms of longevity, most people still want the benefits of speed from the controller and MLC vs TLC is a back-burner issue for themI'm wondering if Corsair had tried TLC before and had some reason for not using it for a drive like this, seems like a no brainer to me, unless they couldn't secure a large enough supply
Kristian Vättö - Wednesday, September 25, 2013 - link
I think we are starting to get to a similar point as where DRAM is now. For an average user, the difference between a low-end and high-end SSDs is becoming negligible because even the low-end SSDs are pretty good now (e.g. the Force LS). That means the middle-class no longer serves a purpose because the average users will mostly go with the cheaper options and enthusiasts only want the fastest.vol7ron - Wednesday, September 25, 2013 - link
The big thing still out there, that hasn't been answered is lots of flash for cheap. When buying an SSD many customers look for the fastest, since the cost is marginal between what's available. However, the one area of the market that is still "expensive" is in the mass-flash +1TB (or even +512GB). Even with a slower controller/NAND, I think Corsair could slide into this space. Look at Apple and what they're shipping their new Mac with - what's it called? Fusion? - essentially a hybrid drive, rebranded. I'm sure a company that focuses on the best balance of quality vs cost, wouldn't do that if SSD costs were lower. --- There's still the niche market for high capacity flash, the ultimate HDD terminator.Spoony - Sunday, September 29, 2013 - link
Apple is shipping a 128GB SSD alongside a normal platter drive in 1TB or 2TB configurations. Fusion Drive is just the name for a logical volume manager with block migration. They are not re-branding a hybrid drive like a Momentus XT. It is a custom solution which merges two discrete devices in software. For better or worse.I definitely agree with you. 1-2TB SSDs at $0.40/MB rather than the current $0.95/MB would be very compelling. I would buy if it was reliable, even if it wasn't blazing fast.
Spoony - Sunday, September 29, 2013 - link
1TB or 3TB configs. Not 2TB. Sorry.Also, edit functionality would be convenient.
Cumulus7 - Wednesday, September 25, 2013 - link
Since you recommend the Samsung EVO over the Crucial M500: aren't yout concerned that the EVO may not last as long as the M500?I prefer the M500 at the moment since i expect its NAND to last a lot longer. But i may be wrong...
fokka - Wednesday, September 25, 2013 - link
of course mlc should theoretically last longer, but that doesn't mean tlc doesn't last more than long enough, as you can read here:http://www.anandtech.com/show/7173/samsung-ssd-840...
MrSpadge - Wednesday, September 25, 2013 - link
I'd choose and recommend the Evo as well, for all typical users. People write much less on average than they fear they might. It's only a different story for power users, servers etc.