Force 3 240GB SATA 2 (3Gb/s) Performance

I got my Force 3 240GB yesterday and I thought I would post up some benchmark results for anyone who is interested. I don't have SATA 3 (6Gb/s) so these numbers are bottlenecked but if anyone is in the same situation as me, these will give you an idea of what kind of performance you will see.

Corsair Force 3 240GB cloned from a Corsair X128. Installed and running as system drive for around 24 hours.

ATTO:

CrystalDiskMark:

Don't worry RAM GUY, I used Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 which supports SSDs natively and their unique alignment requirements. I also checked the alignment after the clone operation with msinfo32>components>storage>disks to be sure.

• Disk #0, Partition #0 - Partition Starting Offset: 1,048,576 (System Reserved)
  
• Disk #0, Partition #1 - Partition Starting Offset: 105,906,176 (Main Partition)
  

• 1,048,576 / 4096 = 256 (Integer = OK)
  
• 105,906,176 / 4096 = 25856 (Integer = OK)
  

Ok well my excitement and satisfaction with this drive has turned to pessimistic concern. After 72 hours of being installed, I have experienced my first BSOD and this drive disappearing. I woke up today to a BSOD, I didn't write down the particulars because I didn't immediately think about the SSD.

I hit the reset button and the computer paused on the bios screen that lists the drives detected by the motherboard. Port #0 was empty with a flashing cursor for about 10-15 seconds. I finally get a None Detected readout for Port #0 and the rest of the ports list their attached Disk Drives. The computer continues to boot and then stops when it tried to load windows with a "Please insert system disk and then hit Enter" message.

I pressed the power button and the computer turned off. I waited around 10-15 seconds and then pressed the power button again. This time the computer booted and detected the Force 3 240GB and successfully booted windows.

Normally this would not worry me but I am familiar with the many problems that Force 3 users are having. My symptoms match many reports that I have read here in these forums, Newegg product reviews, and other sites around the internet. If this was an isolated experience, I do not wish to do anything; however, I think this will turn into a recurring issue as this is how it starts for most of the support requests I have read.

I thought that these issues were isolated to the Force 3 120GB. I was led on by your public statements that "The engineers have assured us that this is isolated to the Force 3 120GB and does not effect the 240GB or Force GT Models". If this BSOD that I got and the subsequent disappearing of the Force 3 240GB drive turns out to be a one-time occurrence then I will have no bad blood with Corsair.

However, If it turns out that this drive is also effected by the same issues that Force 3 120GB users are having, my relationship with Corsair will be damaged. I am not concerned with getting a bad apple or a product line that has issues. I am an enthusiast and early-adopter; I am used to these things. The thing that hurts the most is that Corsair or entities that speak on their behalf, lied. Whether through ignorance or bad ethics, it will not matter if this issue turns out to be a recurring one for me.

I understand business and Corsair's desire to monetize products that they already have sunk costs in to research, develop, and distribute. The reason I TRUST Corsair is because they have a history of not doing this if it means they are shipping products with known issues. They stake their reputation on building better quality products than their competitors and backing up their guarantee's with excellent support.

If I come back to this thread and post another reply that I have experienced this problem again, I expect that "excellent support". I really hope SandForce has offered you some kind of guarantee to make up for the damage to your reputation.