Eric Garay

Solid State Drives performance really depends on the Controllers. A year ago, may SSDs has issues working with smaller blocks of data versus larger. This impacts basic benchmarks using testing software like Sisoft SANDRA. A lot of fingers pointed to the JMicron controllers which haven’t been the choice among enthusiasts.

However, last generation SSDs still out perform regular hard drives. Patriot Memory has taken a good step to alleviating these possible issues in the Fusion SSD line by adding some simple Cache improvements.

The Fusion SSD line has been specifically designed with cutting-edge technology by adding 64MB of DRAM cache in conjunction with its current equipped NAND technology. The ultimate result is an SSD that allows faster transfer rates between the controller and the host device.

“By the addition of the DRAM cache, the Fusion greatly increases the random and sequential read and write transfer rates,” according to Meng J. Choo, Patriot’s Flash Product Manager. He goes on to say, “The DRAM acts as a buffer and increases the reliability, and lessens the possibility for ‘bottlenecks’ within the data transfers.”

Hopefully, I’ll get to do some file crunching and compare it to some of the other latest SSD launches. Given their track record for improvements, it should offer blistering speeds no matter the data block sizes.

One great benefit of SSDs is that you don’t have to Defragment the drive. In fact, you shouldn’t lest you shorten the drives life span. That has to be nice not having to run the utility every three months.