Corsair sails into SSD market

The 2.5in Corsair S128 SSD offers sequential read/write speeds of 90MB/s and 70MB/s respectively

Hardware maker Corsair is moving ahead with plans to push into the solid state drive (SSD) market with a 128GB model.

Until recently, SSDs were considered too expensive to gain much popularity. But as prices have started to fall, 2009 seems ripe for an SSD market boom, of which Corsair looks set to be a part.

The 2.5in Corsair S128 SSD weighs 72 grams, and offers claimed sequential read and write speeds of 90MB/s and 70MB/s respectively. Power consumption rates are reported to be between 0.46W and 0.48W.

It is not yet known whether Corsair plans to bring out SSDs in any other capacities later this year, when it is expected to release a second generation of higher performance SSDs. These increased performance devices are expected to be based on existing Intel SSDs with read and write speeds of over 200MB/s.

Corsair, however, may not content itself with simply matching Intel's current capabilities, and may try to push for SSDs able to reach speeds of up to 400MB/s, according to reports.

Online retailers NCIX and Scan are already taking pre-orders for the Corsair S128 SSD. NCIX quotes the price at $335.74 (£237.77), whiles Scan is offering them for £326.54.

Corsair's Flash memory products are held in high regard by many in the industry, and the firm has achieved an excellent performance history.