Mushkin Scorpion Deluxe PCIe SSD Review (480GB) – Wicked 2GB/s Performance at a Great Price

Imagine that you could simply plug a PCIe SSD into your PC and immediately realize performance of over 2GB/s data transfer speeds.  For the average PC user that may not seem like much, but for the media professional, or even enthusiast, being able to manipulate and move large amounts of media in seconds can save both time and money, as well as providing some pretty decent bragging rights. Our last PCIe SSD review saw the KingSpec 1TB MultiCore PCIe SSD transfer 29 HD video files in 36 seconds which is just over a second per.

Today, we’re bringing you an exclusive look at the Mushkin Scorpion Deluxe ‘LSI SandForce Driven’ PCIe SSD and not only are we going to stand it beside the KingSpec for comparison, but also, we’ve thrown in our all time favorite OCZ Revo 3×2 PCIe SSD just for kicks.  Hows this picture of all three PCIe SSDs running simultaneously look?  Here’s a bit of confirmation from the OS itself…

The reality of the PCIe world, at least at the enthusiast to small business level, is that finding an affordable, reliable and easily installed solution was next to impossible.  For the most part, the OCZ Revo 3×2 has done very well with little to know competition, it’s recent EOL designation perhaps an indication that the OCZ Vector PCIe is just about ready for prime time.  Even preliminary vector specs, however, don’t touch what the Mushkin Scorpion Deluxe is claiming today.  More than ever though, pricing is going to be a key factor as the PCIe SSD contingent grows.

MUSHKIN SCORPION DELUXE PCIE SSD

The Mushkin Scorpion Deluxe is a PCI Express x8 SSD that is available in capacities of 240, 480, 960, and 1920GB.  Sold with a three year limited warranty, performance specifications are listed at 2160MB/s read and 1960MB/s write with up to 107K IOPS at 4k aligned write disk access.  To our knowledge, these specs make this SSD the fastest single form factor SSD that can be purchased from e-tailers such as Amazon, NCIX and…that other popular internet hardware outlet.

The operating temperature is listed as being from 0-70DegC and we measured the outer casing at just over 60DegC when we were testing at steady state 4K access.  As we received an e-mail from an ecstatic new Mushkin Scorpion Deluxe owner just prior to publishing, availability should be ramping up at most major e-tailers soon enough.  Pricing could be found at $559 (240GB). $794 (480GB) and $1276 (960GB) but we couldn’t find a suggested price for the 2TB capacity.

Examination of the outer packaging reveals that the Mushkin Scorpion Deluxe is powered by quad SandForce SF-2281 processors and this is the first time we have seen this from an SSD.  Stay tuned though as we might just be digging up a similar solution for review with ‘dual quad (8) of these processors at its heart.

Here is a closer look at the card without its protective shell which is also a key element in heat dissipation from the LSI RAID controller.  If you check out the picture on your left, you will notice the thick aluminum piece of metal.  I small patch of thermally conductive rubber goes on top of that and it is pressed against the  controller to channel the heat to the exterior metal shell where it is dissipated.