| ||||
Conclusion ConclusionWith SandForce-based SSDs literally invading the market like a runaway Blitzkrieg, buyers have more options than ever before but unlike with past SSD generations performance can vary quite a bit form one product to the next. The SF-1222 controller is simply one of the most flexible and praise-worthy options on the market for the heart of a modern SSD. Unfortunately, its near-perfect performance results have been tarnished by SandForce’s decision to grant preferential treatment to some (actually, ONE) of their clients while leaving others out in the cold. Luckily, some companies like G.Skill have found innovative ways around SandForce’s performance-limiting mass market firmware. In doing so, they have basically thumbed their noses at the agreement between SandForce and OCZ for the Vertex 2’s “unlocked” firmware and have released drives that perform as well or if not better than the Vertex 2. G.Skill obviously didn’t’ want to go the same route as Corsair did with their F100 which is basically shut out of firmware updates unless you are willing to lose some performance. Instead what we saw was a brute force approach to the design of the Phoenix whereby higher-end NAND was used to increase overall performance while still having access to SandForce’s future firmware updates. The result is a drive that can keep up with and in some cases beat the Vertex 2 which is impressive to say the least. Especially when you consider the Phoenix retails for about the same price as the Agility 2 or about $50 less than the newest Vertex. There are however some minor stumbling points with this drive which need to be discussed up front. The use of higher speed yet less efficient NAND means that power consumption is increased substantially over some other SF-1222 based drives. It is also quite obvious that SandForce’s controller just can’t take full advantage of the higher speed NAND which is a bit disappointing. However, one or two watts more in an enthusiast-grade system won’t end up being the straw that broke the camel’s back and the Controller Stress Test showed a negligible performance difference between the Phoenix and its competitors. The 2-year warranty is also a concern since it remains one of the shortest among the major players in the SSD market. As the old saying goes: “If you are given lemons, make lemonade” which is exactly what G.Skill has done after being given a controller with castrated performance. Throwing higher speed NAND at the problem sure isn’t the most elegant solution but it sure as heck worked like a charm. Not only does the Phoenix cost quite a bit less than the Vertex 2 and Corsair F100 but it performs equally in most cases and this to us is a praiseworthy achievement. As such, this is one of the only products to receive all three of our awards: the Dam Good Award, Dam Innovative Award and Dam Good Value. Pros: - Great performance which isn’t castrated like other SF-1222 drives - Comes with latest firmware - Price Cons: - no 2.5 to 3.5 adapter included - only 2 yr warranty | ||||
| |
| Latest Reviews in Storage | |||||||||
|
