Corsair has launched the Force GS, a new line of SSDs with a SATA 6 Gbps interface. The new drives use the familiar SandForce SF-2281 controller, but should perform better than the regular Force and Force GT models thanks to faster MLC memory chips. Like the Force GT, Corsair has opted for a red finish on the drive's casing.
Corsair claims that the new SSDs are capable of reaching up to 90.000 IOPS. The maximum speed is close to the limits of the SATA 6 Gbps interface; the attached ATTO benchmarks show that a single 240 GB Force GS SSD has peak performances of 560 MB/s while reading and 533 MB/s while writing data. A RAID0 setup of two such 240 GB drives allows for speeds of up to 1.1 GB/s (read) and 1.05 GB/s (write). Corsair's own benchmarks show that a single Force GS 240 GB SSD scores 77166 in PCMark Vantage's HDD benchmark. In IOmeter, the claimed 90.000 IOPS was achieved with a single drive. In RAID0, the number increased to 141.000 IOPS.
The 240 GB model of the Force GS drive will be available right away, with 180 GB, 360 GB and 480 GB models to follow shortly. A 2.5" to 3.5" bracket comes bundled with the SSDs, which naturally offer TRIM support. Techpowerup states that the recommended price of the new drives are as follows:
- 180 GB: $189.99 (£122)
- 240 GB: $239.99 (£155)
- 360 GB: $349.99 (£225)
- 480 GB: $489.99 (£315)
Corsair launches Force GS SSDs, based on the SF-2281 controller
Force GS 240 GB (tested by Corsair)
2x Force GS 240 GB in RAID0 (tested by Corsair)
