Just to add a bit of meat on the bones, these are regular SSDs in 30, 45, 60GB capacities. However, the caching aspect works by using software from Nvelo, which manages the interaction of the SSD, secondary drive and OS. It uses the Accelerator as a buffer for frequently used programs, and is said to learn the users' usage patterns to make caching more effective as time goes on.

As everything is handled by the Nvelo software, the caching SSD is agnostic to the user - you won't see it as a separate drive. Unlike caching from Intel - Z68 chipset's, for example - there's no need for file management or tweaking: this is a plug-and-use drive.

The premise here, we suppose, is to increase the speed of older systems by using the Accelerator as the front-end of the storage subsystem. We reckon it makes more sense to go for a regular SSD and secondary mechanical drive if building a new system, simply because a standalone SSD, which will most likely include the operating system, will invariably be faster than a cached setup.

Corsair isn't the first to launch such an SSD cache, other companies have had solutions in the market for months already.

Would be interesting to compare this software solution to using the ssd with intel's caching mechanism.
Things looks a little bit more plug an play here. Having a separate drive for an os can be a pain as you are stuck with whatever choices you made. With a cache if you installed a game a year ago on to an HDD then start playing you would expect the necessary bits to make their way to the cache, speeding the whole thing up.

Not sure how win 8's new storage system fits in to all of this.

krazy_olie
Would be interesting to compare this software solution to using the ssd with intel's caching mechanism.

and if Silverstone ever make a SATA3 HDDBOOST then one of those too

Thanks Tarinder btw, i never watch hexus.tv vids but this…text thing… I think it may catch on!

Is this not similar to the OCZ Synapse drives

I'm in the middle of thinking if I should buy one of these or just get a 68GB SSD, which do you guys think will be a better investment?

(sorry if this kind of questions are for another section of the forum, I'm new :P)

I dont get it…cant you use a ssd for os then just partition the rest for ssd caching anyway?

Sorry, I'm new(ish) and just playing catch up, but spotted this and thought I'd answer some of the comments to try and help. I hope it's not too late.

Brewster0101
Is this not similar to the OCZ Synapse drives

The key difference is that with the Synapse 50% of the drive's capacity is locked away for over provisioning, this should help increase the longevity of the drive as SSD's have a limited number of write cycles and using an SSD as a cache drive will mean there's a lot more writing to the drive then when using a conventional drive.

NathanCollins
I'm in the middle of thinking if I should buy one of these or just get a 68GB SSD, which do you guys think will be a better investment?

(sorry if this kind of questions are for another section of the forum, I'm new :P)

I went for a 128gb Synapse, very happy with the performance and it was a great choice as I didn't want to reinstall Windows and all of the software.

tieran7890
I dont get it…cant you use a ssd for os then just partition the rest for ssd caching anyway?

No, the SSD is hidden from the user, it will only work as a cache drive or as a standard SSD, the software doesn't let you do both.

Isn't this just the same as Windows Pre-Fetch? Or have I missed the point?

Jonj1611
Isn't this just the same as Windows Pre-Fetch? Or have I missed the point?

Not really, IIRC Windows pre-fetch keeps a log of the frequently used files during startup in order to optimise performance when you boot up your PC. Dataplex creates a cache on the drive consisting of Hot data that's used at all times, this goes beyond speeding up startup times and increases read speeds of cached data from around 120mb/s to around 440mb/s so slower than an SSD running on its own but still significantly faster than pre-fetching, which is still taking data from a standard HDD.

tarinder, you're implying the z68 caching involves some kind of user file maintenance, whereas this doesn't.

I'm not aware or any such requirement for Smart Response Technology.

Brewster0101
Is this not similar to the OCZ Synapse drives

Very similar, it uses the same Nvelo software but doesn't seem to have the same level of over provisioning that Synapse drives offer which means that the Accelerators might not last as long.