Corsair Accelerator 30GB & 60GB Caching SSD Review @ [H]

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FrgMstr

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Corsair Accelerator 30GB & 60GB Caching SSD Review - One of the hottest applications for consumer SSDs is using data caching to accelerate the performance of traditional spinning hard disks in your PC. We look at Corsairs Accelerator Series of caching SSDs to test the performance of these value-centric approaches to providing you a better computing experience.
 
I dunno, I could have seen the use for these a year ago or so, but with SSDs as cheap as they are now, at the price point of the 60GB you could almost afford one of the 2-3 120GB SSDs that go on sale every week through various sites. I've seen Kingston HyperX and Crucial M4 120GBs in the ~$85 range lately on Slickdeals. Although I do suppose if you really didn't want to reformat this would have its uses.
 
When we see caching SSDs reach $1/GB they will take off. Especially if the 30GB became $30 that would be a pretty extreme performance boost on the cheap.
 
SSD caching is really nice for larger mechanical volumes. Mechanicals are still the choice for large storage arrays. I wouldn't use a cached mechanical array as a boot drive, but again for storage, it would be nice.
 
I feel like this article needs a price/performance comparison that includes the various ways to achieve similar results as well as who specifically should be getting excited about this.

I like this as an idea to toss into a family member's pc to give them a boost while limiteing exposure time to said family members.
 
From the reviews of these drives on Newgg, these drives have quite a few reliablity and compatability issues with the Dataplex software, including freezes, mechanincal drive corruption, problems with various MB chipsets, and use of AHCI. The article does discuss the reliabilty concerns users have of SSD drives, but of the actual hardware of the drive, not the caching software that may cause the issues.
It would be interesting to see how the test system is doing in a few months. Also, I wonder what types of fixes were made in the Dataplex software revisions.
 
Is there any speed bump in adding a caching drive when you've already got a fast SSD as you boot drive? I'm guessing not? Did i miss where that was discussed in the review? I briefly looked into caching drives when I got my max 5 mobo, but the msata ones were nearly as much money as the 120 gig 2.5in SSDs.
 
Imitation said:
Is there any speed bump in adding a caching drive when you've already got a fast SSD as you boot drive? I'm guessing not? Did i miss where that was discussed in the review? I briefly looked into caching drives when I got my max 5 mobo, but the msata ones were nearly as much money as the 120 gig 2.5in SSDs.
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No, caching does not benefit SSD's at all. It is purely for mechanical volumes. There are caveats to the technology as discussed in the RST article done awhile back. I've also covered it in the ASUS P8Z77-V Premium article. Basically the caching algorithm benefits certain types of disk transactions more than others. You can get immediate write performance benefits, but read performance is what you see the most improvement with. Intel's algorithm is different than some of the others, targeting 4k and 4kQD32 writes specifically. The only downside is that anything which will see benefits has to be run first so it can get cached. On the first use it won't help you too much if at all. But run somethnig two or three times and you'll have fairly noticable increases in access performance.
 
Cloud 69 said:
How does the Dataplex stuff compare to Intel SRT?
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I was wondering the same thing. Can HardOCP redo the tests on a Z77 motherboard with an SSD as an SRT caching drive? I'm doing that today on a Maximus V Gene, it works well. I'm curious to know how this works.
 
metalsmart said:
I like this as an idea to toss into a family member's pc to give them a boost while limiteing exposure time to said family members.
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ROFL! I know that feeling, everyone thinks im free tech support. especially those that are annoying.
semiconductorslave said:
It would be interesting to see how the test system is doing in a few months. Also, I wonder what types of fixes were made in the Dataplex software revisions.
Click to expand...
That is one thing I was thinking about when it came to the issue of no CD included. At first I was thinking it was just to keep the package cheap, but really it does force users to only use current builds. This solution, and Nvelo in general, are somewhat mature now so i am sure that most kinks have been worked out.

Arch said:
I was wondering the same thing. Can HardOCP redo the tests on a Z77 motherboard with an SSD as an SRT caching drive? I'm doing that today on a Maximus V Gene, it works well. I'm curious to know how this works.
Click to expand...

This is an interesting idea, and definitely something we will consider pursuing.
 
Hmm wonder how this would work on a 3TB drive dedicated to Steam games? It would be nice to fast boot some of my games, but I believe these can only be used on boot drives correct? I need to go RTFA properly after I get back from the store. :)
 
Can you use this drive alongside the Intel software (on a Z68, etc), and thus avoid the issues noted with Dataplex? Or will the Intel software refuse to set up the drive for caching since it is not an Intel drive?
 
cageymaru said:
Hmm wonder how this would work on a 3TB drive dedicated to Steam games? It would be nice to fast boot some of my games, but I believe these can only be used on boot drives correct? I need to go RTFA properly after I get back from the store. :)
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Only 2TB volumes and smaller are supported. Also the software has DRM to throw a fit if your hardware config changes
ore than one component at a time.

I'm considering one of these...cheap and no system downtime/reinstall. No SSD can keep my OS and programs (without Steam) for less than $200USD, so this is a deal. What scares me are data corruption reports I'm seeing on Egg and Amazon.

I too would love to see the RST comparison done. I'd sooner trust Intel's RST driver, than some software company I've never heard of before-nevermind if corsair made the hardware or not. At least the Corsair warranty will be solid.
 
I'm sorry if I missed it in the read, but what what prevents me from buying a cheaper, larger SSD and running that instead of an accelerator? is there a specific chip that allows this syncing between drives?
 
I'd be interested in how well data backup solutions worked on a machine with this installed, such as Acronis' True Image product.

Also, does the cached data on the SSD still exist on the mechanical drive?

What's the file system used on the SSD? (Though I'm guessing that this may be a moot point, if the "hotblocking" statement in the article refers to a partial amount of data of the large file instead of the full file.)


BTW, great article!
 
OK, this has me scratching my head in confusion a little. The 45 and 60 GB models have same controller and I'm guessing therefore similar performance. Looking at Newegg, the 45 GB is $55 AMIR and the 60 GB is $70 AMIR. Is there a compelling reason to buy the 60 GB for $15 more than the 45 GB? Any differences short of the size? Kind of hoped the 45 GB vs. 60 GB comparo would be there. I mean, if they perform the same, why pay the extra $15?

I'm sure I'm missing something here, I'm new to these kind of drives. If anything I mentioned isn't right, please correct me. :p
 
I just got the 60GB one for $67.88 plus shipping from amazon, now after reading the comments i'm a bit nervous about the data corruption issues, to be fair only a handful of people are reporting this problem.
 
@EvilAngel ... Does it say anything about being tied to one machine and only one, aka the software. Like if you were to upgrade a few hard parts you might run into problems.
 
iTYPE said:
@EvilAngel ... Does it say anything about being tied to one machine and only one, aka the software. Like if you were to upgrade a few hard parts you might run into problems.
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To quote an Amazon review that gives the device 5 stars:

*Emphasis added is mine

Amazon review said:
In fact, this -is- the file titled LIMITATIONS.txt in the dataplex install directory (dated 05/31/2012).

1. The target drive must be the primary boot drive. Caching of a secondary drive is not supported.
2. Only MBR (Master Boot Record) partitions are supported. GPT (GUID Partition Table) partitions are not supported.
3. The Windows Reserved System Partition (100MB partition) must be on the same HDD as the Windows installation (C:\Windows folder)
4. Multiple OSes are not supported.
5. There is no support for target drives > 2TB in capacity.
6. Only one cache drive is supported in a system.
7. There cannot be two identical SSDs in the system, one of which is to be used as cache.
8. There is no support for RAID sets as the cache drive.
9. If after uninstallation of Dataplex, the system is restored to a prior state in which Dataplex was installed, Dataplex will be started in a disabled state.
10. The following configuration(s) are not supported: - NVIDIA storage controllers

And from OCZ (also uses Dataplex software) ...
Your Dataplex licensing key is only valid on one machine. Dataplex uses various components to identify a PC (memory, OS, CPU Id, BIOS, Ethernet card); if two or more components change, it is considered a different machine. If you wish to change only one component, Dataplex will automatically revalidate the license as long as there is an internet connection when the PC is rebooted. You must uninstall Dataplex to release the license prior to changing two or more components in your system. Licenses cannot be released after the system is no longer valid. Please contact tech support to reset the license if this occurs.
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http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Accel...dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I wonder how this proprietary software compares with something like window's own ready boost... I know it doesn't get much praise, but I don't think it's ever been tested with quicker drives like SSDs or USB3 flash drives
 
ready boost is really only for Windows stuff, when you install Windows 7 on an SSD, ready boost is disabled
 
I think this would be great gift maybe for lower end computers and their users. Maybe even for a media PC or something. Just 30-60gb would make it feel snappier.
 
I'm running a 60GB OCZ cache drive (which is in reality 30GB, since it's over-provisioned), which also uses the Dataplex software.

The speed boost is indeed almost "magical" and you don't have to worry about shuffling your data around manually to keep the most relevant data on the SSD. Everything that you use frequently will launch at SSD-like speeds, even with the smaller model.
 
huh i wonder how this would pair with a SSD used for the boot drive

also does it matter what drive im running software from? ie i have 3 drives stuff runs off of
or can it only target one of the drives?
 
Sorry, but while this sounds good in theory I just don't feel like I can trust it.

Too many stories of data corruption and even more posts about it having to rebuild because something went wrong and the system will not boot until it is done rebuilding. This can take hours.

While I get that things can go wrong, why wouldn't the default behavior for the cache drive be to wipe and start new if something corrupts, what sense does it make to wait hours for it to boot up so that it can be cached.

I will just wait for a 512gb SSD that I trust to finally hit a low enough price for me, which should not be long given how low they are now.
 
Too many stories of data corruption and even more posts about it having to rebuild because something went wrong and the system will not boot until it is done rebuilding. This can take hours.

While I get that things can go wrong, why wouldn't the default behavior for the cache drive be to wipe and start new if something corrupts, what sense does it make to wait hours for it to boot up so that it can be cached.
Click to expand...

This is in fact from the early builds of Dataplex, and the majority of complaints are centered around this issue. That bug has been fixed, and there no longer is an issue with the rebuilds.
 
Hugh_Briggs said:
This is in fact from the early builds of Dataplex, and the majority of complaints are centered around this issue. That bug has been fixed, and there no longer is an issue with the rebuilds.
Click to expand...

Do you have a rough idea of the cutoff for the "early builds" or when that big got patched? I'm just curious how far back to ignore random people's reviews on the internet. :)

/my local WorstBuy has the 45GB on sale for $65 or so..might have to try it.
 
Imitation said:
Is there any speed bump in adding a caching drive when you've already got a fast SSD as you boot drive? I'm guessing not? Did i miss where that was discussed in the review? I briefly looked into caching drives when I got my max 5 mobo, but the msata ones were nearly as much money as the 120 gig 2.5in SSDs.
Click to expand...

put your page file on one if not already.
 
Hugh_Briggs said:
This is in fact from the early builds of Dataplex, and the majority of complaints are centered around this issue. That bug has been fixed, and there no longer is an issue with the rebuilds.
Click to expand...


Thank you for that information.
 
I would be very interested in seeing how it performs compared to Intel's chipset based SSD caching implementation.

A review like this comparing:

HDD to Corsair Accelerator to Intel SSD Caching to standalone SSD would put this much more in perspective.
 
what about GAMES? I tried the Momentus XT hybrid which supposedly does similar. Didn't take long to notice horrid 3 sec pauses. Uninstalled soon after.
 
I ordered the drive last night from amazon after reading this article and i've been researching, while i wait for my order to arrive, about the issues that some of the reviewers report in newegg/corsair/ocz forums.

It has many limitations, some clear, some not so much, but at ~$75 shipped for a 60GB SSD or $1.25 per GB for something that can speed up all the games i play and windows, i think i might learn to live with it until i can afford a big enough SSD for most of my games and OS.

What i found out about the problems people are reporting:

1. Many posters with corruption issues don't specify the particular sata chipset/board, this makes it hard to judge how much the software sucks in general because nvidia chipsets were at some point supported but had many corruption issues and support was dropped later and apparently retroactively when they couldn't get rid of the corruption problems.

2. Some AMD chipset specific bugs also caused corruption at some point, they claim this is fixed in newer versions of the software.

3. Many posters have problems and corruption happen after Hibernate/Suspend.

I'm not sure if this is because of the software or hardware or the combination, but i had similar issues with a Lenovo laptop going into/out of suspend/hibernate with a msata SSD i added after purchase.

Random blue screens, halts, failed to recognise the drive at boot etc, until i disabled some power management settings after googling for hours and never had a problem after.

4. The DRM on the software seems to be... messy. To avoid corruption you have to uninstall the software first if you plan to remove the SSD.

Also it appears the software is attached to your whole computer configuration when you validate your key, changing major components of the computer might invalidate the key depending of how much you change, im not sure exactly what happens if the key becomes invalid.

But...why wouldn't they attach the license of the software to the SSD? Why does it matter if i use the software in another computer if im also using the SSD i purchased with the software in said computer?
 
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Good idea.
Nice article.
Sounds almost too good to be true.

Some questions.....

Lets say you have a C drive and then a larger D drive for storage......can the SSD access this D drive and make data migration quicker?

What if I buy a new MB/CPU/RAM......the whole shabang for a new computer? If I move this cache drive over is it invalid? Seems so from what I've read here. Seems like a real bullshit deal-breaker there. I realize it's only 60 bucks, but I can reuse my HDDs dozens of times with no worries.:D
 
featsdontfailme said:
Good idea.
Nice article.
Sounds almost too good to be true.

Some questions.....

Lets say you have a C drive and then a larger D drive for storage......can the SSD access this D drive and make data migration quicker?

What if I buy a new MB/CPU/RAM......the whole shabang for a new computer? If I move this cache drive over is it invalid? Seems so from what I've read here. Seems like a real bullshit deal-breaker there. I realize it's only 60 bucks, but I can reuse my HDDs dozens of times with no worries.:D
Click to expand...

One of the limitations is that you can only use it for 1 drive in your system, the boot drive.

From what i understood if you buy a new MB/CPU/RAM your current key becomes invalid.

What i don't understand is what happens next...Do i have to repurchase the software? Do i only have to revalidate the key for free? Can i boot to windows even with cache disabled if this happens? Do i lose data when the software becomes invalid? etc etc
 
I'd be interested in buying the software separately, and using it with the SSD of my choice.
 
EvilAngel said:
One of the limitations is that you can only use it for 1 drive in your system, the boot drive.

From what i understood if you buy a new MB/CPU/RAM your current key becomes invalid.

What i don't understand is what happens next...Do i have to repurchase the software? Do i only have to revalidate the key for free? Can i boot to windows even with cache disabled if this happens? Do i lose data when the software becomes invalid? etc etc
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It reads like you have to deactivate the software...install new hardware, reactivate. Failing to do that, calling Corsair and getting them to release your key.
 
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