G.Skill Phoenix Pro 60GB Solid State Drive Review

Final Thoughts
These new SandForce-based drives are really setting the standard for enthusiast solid state drives.  The older drives we took a look at are really becoming budget drives and these new drives are becoming standard.  These SandForce drives are really flooding the market right now.

As far as performance goes the Phoenix Pro did very well scoring 284MB/s read and 272MB/s write in ATTO Disk Benchmark, the highest score of all the SandForce-based drives we have tested.  Keep in mind that the SF-1200 chip specifications are 260MB/s read and write.  G.Skill has improved that by giving this drive speeds of 285MB/s read and 275MB/s write and the results were right on.  As far as IOPS goes they drive has some very high scores, but the OCZ Vertex 2 did score higher in that category.

Just like all other SandForce-based drives you get native TRIM garbage collection and SMART support.

It is becoming standard, but I do like that this drive does come with a mounting bracket.  Many cases still do not have mounting systems for 2.5-inch drives so it is nice that the mounting bracket is included.

As of right now the 60GB version of the Phoenix Pro (FM-25S2S-60GBP2) sells for $169 at my favorite online retailer.  This makes it $2.81 per GB which is not that bad.  The price is about $5 cheaper than the 60GB versions of the other 2 SandForce-based solid state drives that we have tested.  Overall ThinkComputers gives the G.Skill Phoenix Pro 60GB Solid State Drive a 10 out of 10 score and our Recommended Award!

rating10 10 small TC award recommended small

Pros:
– Very impressive 284MB/s read and 272MB/s write in ATTO
– Best ATTO score out of all SandForce-based drives we have tested
– Available in capacities up to 240GB
– 3-year warranty
– Included mounting bracket

Cons:
– No USB Mini-B connection

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