Corsair Force 3 vs. Force GT 120 GB Solid State Drive Review

Introduction

Presently, 120 GB solid state drives offer the best compromise between price, performance and capacity. For most people, they offer enough storage space to be used on their own in a laptop or PC without needing to have a mechanical hard drive as well for storing larger files. Today we are going to look at the two latest 120 GB SSDs from Corsair to see how they compare.

Many users will still choose to combine a 120 GB solid state drive with a mechanical hard drive, though, especially if they need to store large media files. We certainly wouldn’t recommend an SSD smaller than 120 GB for use in a laptop, though, as the capacity will get used up very quickly.

Before proceeding, we highly suggest that you read our Anatomy of SSD Units tutorial which provides all the background information you need to know about SSDs. Both of the SSDs featured in this review use MLC memory chips.

Figure 1: The two SSDs on test

In the table below, we are comparing both of the units that we’re going to review. Both units use a SATA-300 interface and occupy the standard 2.5” form factor. The two drives include the same bundle, which is comprised of a 3.5” adapter for the drive and the required screws.

We researched the prices at Newegg.com on the day that we published this review. In the table below, we provide a more in-depth technical comparison between the two drives. Most chip manufacturers don’t detail the specifics of their chips on their websites, so we are only linking to those we found.