Why purchasing two Corsair Force Series SSDs might be smarter than one

Above is a comparison of the Force Series™ F60 in RAID 0 vs. a single SSD.

Today enthusiasts are looking for ways to boost the performance of their machines; one way is by upgrading to an SSD. Solid-state drives offer several benefits, including cutting down load times for operating systems, applications, and games. To take this idea a step further, a RAID 0 array can be created using two identical SSDs, which can almost double performance speeds.

What is RAID 0? RAID 0 increases performance and storage space by splitting data evenly between the raided drives sharing I/O operations into equal-blocks. It increase storage amount by adding the drives lowest amount across each drive. Setting up a RAID 0 is very easy task to accomplish, but if this is your first time doing so see the link below:

Configuring RAID-0 Arrays With solid-state drives — Intel ICH and PCH Controllers

Example:

Part # CSSD-F60GB2-BRKT (60GB) X2 in RAID 0

60GB + 60GB = 120GB storage space

The two 60GB Force drives add together creating 120GB storage space.

Test Setup :

Test system consists of using brand new SSDs as a secondary drive. Each test was performed in the same order with no changes made to the system. Results might vary depending on the system used.

• CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-920
• Memory: Corsair Dominator® DDR3 memory— CMP6GX3M3A1600C8
• Motherboard: Asus P6X58D Premium
• Video Card: ATI Radeon™ HD 4870
• OS: Windows 7 64-Bit

ATTO Disk Benchmark: 1MB

Force Series F120 image on left and Force Series F60 X2 RAID 0 on right.

In the above image you can see in Read performance at a 1MB transfer rate you have more 102% performance gain.

PCMark Vantage

Force Series F120 image on left and Force Series F60 X2 RAID 0 on right.

Overall Score shows about a 63 % performance increase from using two SSDs vs. one

Performance Test 7.0

Force Series F120 image on left and Force Series F60 X2 RAID 0 on right.

Overall Score shows about a 83% performance increase from using two SSDs vs. one.

IO Meter Alignment 4k 100% Write 100% 4K Random

Force Series F120 image on left and Force Series F60 X2 RAID 0 on right.

IOPS is a common benchmark for hard disks, solid-state drives , and any other type of storage device. Total IOPS based off total number of I/O operations per second (when performing a mix of read and write tests). Total IOPs shows about a 90% performance increase from using two SSDs vs. one.

Price in Dollar Amount

Priced based off Amazon.

The price in cost if you purchased two CSSD-F60GB2-BRKT would be $272.98 making a $37.99 cost difference if purchasing one (prices may vary depending on where you shop).

Conclusion

Whether you are a gamer, enthusiast or just an average user, you will see a performance gain when upgrading to a Solid-State Drive. Prices are now better than ever on SSDs and there has never been a better time to upgrade. For even greater performance, you can get two or more SSDs and run them in a RAID 0 configuration. By purchasing two smaller SSDs for about the same price as one large, you can get the performance benefits from RAID 0 with little to no added costs.