HD Overdrive: Corsair's Accelerator SSD Cache

Performance Summary: The Corsair Accelerator 60GB drive makes a dramatic difference in the day-to-day, real-world performance of a hard drive. While we very much want to see a version of the software that allows for a certain degree of user configuration, we'll be the first to say that the drive's defaults are well-balanced. Both Corsair and Nvelo take robust data protection seriously, and the software caching algorithms reflect that.

While the technical limitations are a tad frustrating, we're hopeful that the company will modify its policies in the future. Certainly it'll have to make adjustments for Windows 8 in any case.

The hassle of software validation is the only true downside to this product and for now, the hassle is worth it. What we hope is that Nvelo will sincerely reconsider its position after examining what, exactly, it thinks such headaches protect it from. Dataplex is a rare piece of software that really does require specific hardware to make it work properly and there just aren't enough SSDs lying around unused to make pirating the product useful.

We'd recommend the Corsair Accelerator to anyone looking for a low-cost way to boost I/O performance without the hassle of a full system reinstall. You won't get all the benefits of a pure SSD, but you'll get most of them -- and for a very reasonable price.