Patriot Pyro SE 240GB SSD Review

Patriot Memory has a proud tradition of providing solid state drives with their own special blend of cutting edge performance and reasonable pricing. The latest addition, the Patriot Pyro SE 240GB, aims to fill a conspicuous gap in the middle of their current line of SSDs. While Patriot have had entry level (Pyro) and enthusiast models (Wildfire) ready to go since the SandForce SF2281 controller hit the scene, their mid-tier solution is a bit late to the party.


Until now, Patriot fans have had to choose between stretching their budget and getting a more expensive high performance model or sacrificing performance and stepping down to a more entry-level drive. Many consumers simply chose option three and purchased different companies’ mid-tier SSDs. In order to stop this loss of sales, the Pyro SE is designed, marketed, and priced to appeal to enthusiasts who want good performance at an affordable price point.


On the surface, the new Patriot Pyro SE looks very similar to a standard Patriot Pyro. Both drives have comparable all-metal chasses and even use the same color scheme. It is not until you crack open the case and peek inside that you see what differentiates one model from the other: the NAND.


As expected, the interior architecture is very similar to that of nearly every SandForce SF2281-based drive that relies on ONFi (as opposed to Toggle Mode) NAND we have looked at to date. There are 16 NAND chips populating the PCB’s 16 integrated circuit (IC) slots and one SF2281 controller present.


Unlike with the Patriot Pyro, the NAND ICs housed inside the case are not ONFi 1 asynchronous NAND but rather ONFi 2 synchronous NAND. These are basically the same NAND chips you would find inside most mid-tier SF2281 devices. Considering that all SSDs based on the SF2281 controller—with the exception of Intel’s 520—use the same stock firmware, this makes the Patriot Pyro SE a direct competitor to the OCZ Vertex 3, and both should have the same fundamental performance. With a recently reduced MSRP of $280, the Pyro SE 240GB may be a late bloomer, but it’s one that has the potential to catch the eye of value-oriented enthusiasts.