Corsair Neutron 120GB RAID 0 TRIM SSD Review Storage   Page 1

Reviewer: Jon Coulter Article Publish Date: 10/22/2012

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

 

 

The Neutrons are back. This time in a different capacity and once again in RAID 0 to showcase what top performance looks like on an enthusiast level. RWL was the world’s first site to bring you RAID 0 TRIM reviews and continues to be the only site to bring them to you on a regular basis. It could be said that RWL is the foremost authority when it comes to RAID 0 and TRIM. TRIM has completely changed what it means to have a performance rig. Now that we have sustained performance over time with RAID 0 TRIM if you have a performance rig then by definition it will now have to be RAID 0 powered to be considered high performance. RWL is RAID 0 headquarters and we have plenty more RAID 0 TRIM reviews on deck so be sure and check in on a regular basis to get reviews like no one else has to offer. We want to present you with benchmarks and real-world results that are accurate and in a common form that you can use yourself, not some special home brew that’s hard for readers to repeat themselves and doesn’t have enough commonality amongst readers and other reviewers to be relevant when comparing reviews.

We now do all of our RAID 0 reviews with data on array or fill testing to show how a 2 drive array will perform with various amounts of data on the array and more importantly how well TRIM functions within the array or if its functioning at all.

There are a few prerequisites for functioning RAID 0 TRIM. 1) You must be running an Intel Z77 board, processor doesn’t matter you can use any 1155 socket CPU. 2) You must have an 11 series OROM as part of your BIOS which should come already built in on any Z77 board. 3) You must be running an 11 or higher series Intel RST storage driver. The last prerequisite is your drives must have functioning TRIM which is a prerequisite of course for a single drive as well. Here is a more in-depth analysis of functioning TRIM verses non-functioning TRIM (click here).

Corsair is still the only manufacturer to utilize a Link_A_Media Devices (LAMD) SATA III 6Gb/s SSD controller the Amber LM87800 FPU. The reason for this is because Corsair has purchased exclusive usage rights to the LM87800 FPU for a period of time. How long? We don’t know but it was certainly a smart move on Corsair’s part because if you want Amber performance (and you will) then you must go through Corsair to get it. Corsair is not taking advantage of the situation both because the Neutron Series is competitively priced and backed by an industry leading 5 year warranty.

A single Neutron 120GB (click here) really brought it and was able to earn a coveted Editor’s Choice Award. Two of these drives in RAID 0 are certain to wow us as well especially with functioning TRIM and proof of it delivered right to your monitor.