Corsair Neutron GTX SSD Review (240GB): Link A Media Controller Tested
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 20, 2012 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
- SSDs
- Corsair
- Neutron
- Link a Media
The Neutron GTX
Corsair sent me a 240GB Neutron GTX. The non-GTX version uses ONFi NAND (Intel/Micron) while the GTX version uses Toggle NAND (Samsung/Toshiba). The controller supports capacities up to 1TB, however initial drives will be limited to 120, 240 and 480GB models when they're released later this month.
The Neutron GTX comes in a 7mm thick chassis with no outward facing screws. The PCB enclosure just snaps together.
Inside there's a smaller than normal PCB, held in place by three screws. There's a single 128MB DDR2-800 package on the back side of the PCB. Flipping it over reveals eight quad-die NAND packages, a second 128MB DDR2-800 DRAM device and the Link A Media LM87800 controller itself.
The Neutron
Brandishing a blue logo is the regular Neutron SSD, equipped with ONFi NAND:
Corsair sent along a 240GB drive, which uses 16 x 16GB Micron NAND packages and features the same 256MB of DDR2-800 as the GTX version. Spare area is identical to the GTX at 12.7% of total on-board NAND, the chassis and PCB layouts are the same as well. I tested the same 2.06 firmware on the regular Neutron as on the Neutron GTX. The only change here is the type of NAND used, everything else seems the same between these drives.
Pricing
Corsair sent us along pricing for the Neutron and Neutron GTX:
| Corsair Neutron/Neutron GTX Pricing | ||||
| 120GB | 240GB | |||
| Corsair Neutron | $119.99 | $209.99 | ||
| Corsair Neutron GTX | $139.99 | $249.99 | ||
Street pricing of SSDs can be highly volatile, but there's nothing too outrageous about these prices. The standard Neutron is priced where I'd like to see the GTX however.
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36 Comments
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wsjudd - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
Looks like there's a stray bit of punctuation in here:"The drive is the Neutron, and the controller maker? Link A Media Devices"
AnotherGuy - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
Really after so much information in the article... thats what you have to say... the Punctuation?I am afraid people wanna see some relevant thoughts and opinions about the info on the article not ur stupid comments on punctuation. These articles are about technology not your English 101 u take at school.
Really tired of the same comments on almost every article.
gmallen - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
They certainly don't want to see inane, off-topic troll-bait like your comment. If you're so distressed by these comments, don't read them or comment about them. Get a life instead.AnotherGuy - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
when he or others who post same comments see my insane comment, they might realize that they are actually annoying and stop doing it.Mr. Pedantic - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
We can only hope you will recognise the same thing and stop posting useless rubbish.seapeople - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
Not to feed the trolls, but I agree with this troll somewhat. The proposed punctuation correction wasn't even necessarily correct.Rishi100 - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
Let it be so.... attractive, that I jump on my second SSD.Bmadd89 - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
On page 1 you comment saying the DRAM in the Neutron is 256MB but in the graph its 128MBXZerg - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
I would really suggest that you keep the contenders consistent across all the benches/tests. It just feels wrong to see Product X in few benches and then missing in other, point in case OCZ products missing in the power consumption. I am sure that you have their numbers but for some reason those are skipped.mayankleoboy1 - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
with many controllers tying at ~ 500MBPS, are we reaching the theoretical speeds of NAND flash? Meaning controllers can get better, but speeds wont increase much?What are the theoretical speeds of NAND flash?