Corsair Force F40 CSSD-F40GB2 review

Can a small drive with great speed hit the SSD sweet spot?

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Corsair Force F40 CSSD-F40GB2
TechRadar's Corsair Force F40 CSSD-F40GB2 review

TechRadar Verdict

If you can live with the size, this drive will not disappoint. But 37GB won't be enough for most.

Pros

  • +

    Uber performance in all benchmarks

  • +

    Affordable for an SSD

  • +

    TRIM support

Cons

  • -

    To small for many usage scenarios

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When it comes to solid state drives, it's all about the controller chipset. Granted, the quality of the flash memory used is important, too, but it's the controller chip that makes the biggest difference to both out-of-the box performance and longevity.

For SSD buyers on a budget, that's a problem. Smaller, more affordable SSDs tend to have cheapo controllers. That's probably a false economy given that the cost of any SSD is largely swallowed up by the flash memory itself.

Enter, therefore, Corsair's latest affordable SSD, the Force F40 CSSD-F40GB2. At just 40GB, the new Force F40 is at the very limit of we would class acceptable and usable in terms of raw capacity.

As its name suggests, however, it packs arguably the finest SSD controller currently available in the SandForce SF-1200. Of course, the Sandforce controller does push the price up a little compared to competing 40GB drives. Both Intel's X25-V and Patriot's PS-100 are cheaper. What's more, at 64GB, the Patriot is larger, too.

TechRadar

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