You know, when we heard that the Corsair P128 was based on a Samsung controller, we instantly knew it would be a great SSD. Currently there are three major players in the controller market for SSD storage units. JMicron based SSDs are all about value, very little cache makes them a bit problematic for operating systems and hefty usage. But as a spare drive for say, some of your applications and games .. these things still do rock.

Then two names remain in the performance and enthusiast range: Indilinx, like used in the OCZ Vertex, Patriot Torqx and G.Skill falcon; which are very fine SSDs. And then the last name is of course Samsung. From what we have seen overall performance is certainly a bit slower here and there compared to Indilinx based SSDs ... but on the long term it is said that overall performance of the Samsung controllers will remain a little better. So it's a bit of a tradeoff really. We do feel though that even over time the Indilinx based product would remain slightly faster as well, they are the faster SSDs.

Fact is, both controllers are extremely good and belong in the best of the best of current SSD technology. We where impressed by Corsairs offering for sure, blazing speeds, stunning access times and a nice big phat cache making the SSD very suitable for any operating system. While we have tested on Windows Vista 64-bit, a couple of days ago I did give this SSD a little test spin with Windows 7. And dang, the future is looking bright for Windows 7 and SSD drives, that OS is very optimized for Solid State Disk technology. I for one can't wait on that OS to become final.

So then, there's very little more to say about the P128, the performance levels are top notch and as such it is an incredibly sexy little piece of technology. And whenever I use the word sexy in a review, that almost always means it's pricy as well. Expect a sales price of 350 USD for the 128GB model.  That's expensive, sure, but with a cache this size and the overall read/write performance at this level you will get one of the meanest and fastest performing SSD drives currently available on the market.

The only thing you'll dislike it putting down that money on the counter, but after that ... you'll have quickly forgotten about the price and from there on it's pure pleasure my man. One of the bigger bottlenecks inside a PC anno 2009 is the traditional HDD ... and here's your solution to that dilemma my friend.

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