Corsair Unveils High-Performance X256 SSD drive

Computing enthusiasts seeking for high-performance storage solutions can now look forward to Corsair’s recent SSD drive. Dubbed as the new Extreme Series X256, this SSD is the latest addition by the company to its existing SSD line. This 256GB drive is exclusively designed for users who do not wish to compromise on its overall performance.

This Corsair creation adorns the renowned Indilinx Barefoot controller and Samsung MLC NAND flash memory, this combination offers high-levels of performance to its users. Flaunting impressive read speeds of up to 240MB/s and write speeds of 170MB/s, this drive has a 2.5-inch form factor.

“Since the launch of the Corsair Extreme Series SSDs in June we’ve had a fantastic response from customers who love the high-performance and reliability, and we’ve regularly been asked for even higher capacity models.” shared Jim Carlton, VP of Marketing at Corsair. “The new 256GB Extreme Series X256 is a response to the growing popularity of high-capacity SSDs, and it joins our Performance Series P256 at the top of its range, for enthusiasts who want the fastest speeds and plenty of space available for their pictures, music, and videos.”

Joining the company’s X32, X64 and X128 SSD solutions, the novel X256 offers 64MB of cache which further boosts the performance. Also, according to the company its new series of SSDs features end-user upgradeable firmware that enables users to add new features like the imminent TRIM command for Windows 7 as well as other operating systems.

The pricing and availability of the Corsair X256 SSD drive is not yet known.

LEDs are far more better than incandescents

LEDs are by far more efficient than incandescents and even CFLs while being used as a light source, but what about over their entire life cycle? Until a recent study, there had been doubts that the technology could claim the title of "most efficient" once you factored in production.

A new study conducted by Siemens Corporate Technology Centre for Eco Innovations and released by lighting company Osram claims to put those doubts to rest. The study compared the life cycle energy use of one 25,000-hour LED lamp to that of 2.5 10,000-hour CFLs and 25 1,000-hour incandescents.

The report states that the energy needed to make, ship, install, use and then recycle LEDs was about equal to CFLs and much less than incandescents. While the report didn't go into the technical details of the study or release specific numbers, Osram says it will release all of that information in the fall with support by three independent analysts.