Final Words & Conclusion
It's no secret that we here at Guru3D really like SSD drives. We are a website that crave the need for performance and high-end PC components to get the best out of your PC experience. The Corsair X128 definitely fits that profile. It is among the fastest SSD drives on the planet and is nothing other than short from amazing.
Computers are constantly evolving, take for example graphics cards, processors and memory. With each year that passes we have been able to see massive performance and quality improvements. When you look back at traditional HDD drive development over the past year or three you'd likely fall asleep just like me. Sure it's performance went up here and there, but the biggest development change for traditional HDD storage units is capacity. it's from that point of view that a HDD would always win from an SSD as price per GB of storage between the two can not be compared.
At the other side of the spectrum we have SSD technology, nothing has been evolving so fast as the latest SSD proof with their flash Cache memory and superb controllers. In fact they have been improving so fast that we are now closing on the bandwidth limitation of the SATA2 port. And that's the testimony I have the make and plea with SSD drives. Pure raw and unadulterated speed.
Now on Windows XP and Vista an SSD like the X128 is massively fast already. Last weekend I was working on a Windows 7 Professional install for our test systems and it is right there where you'll be flabbergasted if the OS runs from an SSD. Shocking really, massively improved load times of all application and games, let alone the boot times will make you sick.
I was so impressed that I had to show a friend of mine what OS boot and game load times where looking like, he had his mouth open from cyber-shock, it's really that fast.
So my recommendation with a SSD like tested today is simple. Apply corresponding storage units where you need them the most. Match your requirements with the right dedicated gear.
Here's what I would do: if you are willing to spend the dough on it, install your OS on it, your main applications like say Photoshop and sure .. your games. And then in your PC add say a TB HDD for storage like MP3, ISO and videos which do not require massive performance numbers.
Just a quick point on performance degradation– the current firmware includes ‘garbage collection’ or performance-recovery. It works when the drive is idle, so performance should recover if you let the drive idle for an hour or two. A Wiper application also works. These will be posted to the Corsair site soon, but any ‘Wiper’ util will work.
Now then -- back to the opening of this conclusion, the PC has evolved a lot over the years .. HDDs hardly did the very same, as such HDD became a bottleneck. And that's what you can solve for a very large part with an SSD like shown today.
The Corsair X128 comes with a 300 EUR price tag and you'll receive a two year warranty, and we feel right now it's probably one of the best investments you can make for a PC. Though we do feel that Corsair could work on their warranty policy a little ... hmmm 5 years ?
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