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Review: Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive |
Corsair has kindly sent us their new Flash Survivor GT 8GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive for review.
Company information:
Below is a profile of Corsair that you can also find on their website.
Corporate Information:
Products to Meet the Demands of Performance Computing
Corsair has been a leader in the design and manufacture of high-speed modules since 1994. Our focus has always been on supporting the special demands of mission-critical servers and high-end workstations, as well as the performance demands of extreme gamers. While maintaining this core focus, in recent years, we've also brought our expertise, technology leadership and legendary quality and reliability to memory and other technology products for the more mainstream consumer.
Memory That Meets The Toughest Demands
As a pioneer in high-speed module design, Corsair is a trusted supplier to many computer manufacturers. In high-density memory solutions, Corsair has always been one of the first suppliers to achieve advanced qualifications on Intel, Tyan and SuperMicro server platforms. We also work closely with other major server platform manufacturers to release product that is 100% compatible with their latest server products.
What Sets Corsair Apart?
With more high-speed experience than anyone in the industry, we know the importance of design features like tightly-controlled trace lengths, controlled impedances, clock trace design, unbroken power and ground planes, and selectively plated gold. Corsair Memory has developed an industry-wide reputation for quality, compatibility and performance.
Performance Memory For Enthusiasts
Our flagship memory products are the DOMINATOR™ line of performance memory, which is designed for the unique demands of the serious enthusiast community. Featuring patent-pending Dual-path Heat Exchange (DHX) technology, the DOMINATOR family maximizes on performance, minimizes on heat, all the while running with heighten reliability and stability. The DOMINATOR line has set world performance records and won numerous awards. Corsair’s mainstream performance memory solutions are the XMS family. The XMS family includes XMS2 DHX, featuring innovative DHX technology now in the mainstream; XMS Xpert, the first modules with real-time display of parametric data; XMS Pro Series, gaming memory with real-time activity LEDs; and XMS2, high-performance DDR2 modules with black heat spreaders. The XMS Family also includes DDR1 solutions in XMS, available in either black or platinum heat spreaders.
Our ValueSelect memory brings our quality and compatibility standards to cost-effective products for today's most popular desktops and laptops. Value Select is available in DDR1 and DDR2.
We also offer a large range of ultra-reliable server memory for mission-critical servers and high-performance clusters.
Flash Memory, Liquid Cooling and Power Supplies
Corsair has expanded beyond memory modules to offer performance liquid cooling units and blocks under our Corsair Nautilus brand and power supplies under our HX Series brand.
In addition, we offer a line of specialty Flash memory. From our ultra-rugged Flash Survivor™ family to the multi-award winning durable Flash Voyager™ family, Corsair has quickly established itself as an industry leader for USB drives. Our full range of Flash SD cards offer a reliable performance in many capacities for a wide variety of consumer electronic devices.
On the next page we will look at the Drive Features...
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Drive Features:
The specifications of the Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive were found at the Corsair website.
Features
- Encased in CNC-milled, anodized aircraft-grade aluminum
- EPDM waterproof seal up to 200M
- Molded shock-dampening collar to protect from vibrations and impact
- Plug-&-Play with any USB 2.0 certified peripheral computer port (backward compatible with USB 1.1)
- Includes the True Crypt security application (Windows Vista/XP/2000 compatible only) allowing for a virtual encrypted drive using AES-256 encryption
- Corsair 10 year Limited Warranty
What’s inside the Package?
On this page we will take a look at what the Survivor GT Drive came shipped with and take a look at the drive itself.
Front of Package
Back Of Package
Package contents
The drive was supplied with a USB extension cable (female to male) and Dog Tags.
Now it’s time to take a look at the drive itself:
Drive and Case
Test machine:
For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:
Hardware:
- Motherboard: Asus P5K Deluxe
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.7GHz
- RAM: 2x 1GB Patriot PC2-6400 DDR2
- Graphics Card: eVGA 7900GT 512 KO with Zalman vf900 @ 650/1600
- Sound: SoundMAX Digital HD Audio Onboard
- Hard disk: 2x 320GB – 1x 750GB SATA Seagate
- Television: Philips 27” 27PT6441/37
- Operating System: Windows XP Professional with SP2
System set-up:
The Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB Flash Drive was plugged into to a USB 2.0 port. Windows XP immediately recognized the drive and installed it ready to use within seconds.
Device Manager
My Computer
Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB Flash Drive Properties
Software set-up
Windows XP Professional is installed on the computer along with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP.
No drive software was required for this configuration.
We will be using the following software in this review:
- Sisoftware Sandra 2007
On the next page we will take a look at the drives performance.
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Performance:
On this page we will take a look at the drives performance compared to other High speed USB 2.0 Removable drives.
The USB capabilities of the Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB Flash Drive are as follows: High speed USB 2.0/USB 1.1 compatible.
HD Tach and Sisoftware Sandra 2007 benchmarking utilities will be used for the performance tests.
For these tests, Write caching was set to Optimize for quick removal. However it is recommended to read the safe removal notes under the options.
Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB Flash Drive write caching options
HD Tach RW:
Options selected for first HD Tach test
Sequential Read test (8Mb zones)
Burst test
Benchmark results
HD Tach results (8Mb zones)
- Random access = 1.1ms
- CPU utilization = 6% +/-2%
- Average read = 32.8 MB/s
- Burst Speed = 35.0 MB/s
Second Test
Options selected for second HD Tach test
Sequential Read test (8Mb zones)
Burst test
Benchmark results
HD Tach test 2 results (32Mb zones)
- Random access = 0.7ms
- CPU utilization = 2% +/-2%
- Average read = 32.8 MB/s
- Burst Speed = 33.9 MB/s
For comparison purposes here is a HD Tach test of a PNY Attache 1GB Drive
HD Tach results
- Random access = 1.2ms
- CPU utilization = 2% +/-2%
- Average read = 9.7 MB/s
- Burst Speed = 9.9 MB/s
Sisoftware Sandra RW:
Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB Flash Drive
Sisoftware Sandra results
- 2MB test Read 32256 kB/sec
- 2MB test Write 17374 kB/sec
- 64MB test Read 33860 kB/sec
- 64MB test Write 27307 kB/sec
PNY Attache 1GB Drive
Sisoftware Sandra results
- 2MB test Read 9353 kB/sec
- 2MB test Write 3652 kB/sec
- 64MB test Read 9830 kB/sec
- 64MB test Write 4369 kB/sec
On the next page we will take a look at the functions and use of the drive.
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Use and Functions:
On this page we will take a look at the drives use and functions.
The Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB Flash Drive is a rugged designed portable drive that is very compatible with Windows file transfer options as well as other Operating Systems; however for this review we will only delve into Windows because that is the Operating System most widely adopted/used.
Examples are as follows:
Drag and drop copy
Send To
Torture Test:
Let us take a look at how rugged this drive really is:
We ran over it with our car (don’t try this at home)
Submerged in water for 30 minutes
Now let us see if we can still use the drive!
The drive was not crushed, scratched or wet inside, works just like new
On the Next page you will find the conclusion...
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Positive:
- Virtually indestructible
- Extremely Fast
- USB Connection for universal compatibility
- High capacity portable storage
- Waterproof
- Works with Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems
- Large Blue led indicator enables user to see that the drive is in use
- No setup software required just plug in and go
Negative:
- A bit bulky to carry in your pocket for everyday use
Conclusion:
The Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB Flash Drive is well designed to survive even the most abusive user. With its aircraft aluminum casing and water proof seals the device also provides extra protection for those accidents we all have like a trip through the washing machine and you won’t have to worry about it being crushed either. Being cross compatible with three Operating System types you can use the flash on almost any system that has a USB port. 
The overall performance of this drive is simply outstanding compared to other manufacturers’ portable storage products. Finally the price as tested was $162.00 USD which makes this device a better buy than even some hard drive based USB portable drives.
To sum this drive up in one sentence… “The Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB Flash Drive is a rugged designed, large capacity, and extremely fast USB drive for anyone on the go”.
You may discuss/comment this article below or in this forum thread.
Special thanks to:
We would like to thank Corsair for providing the Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB Flash Drive used in this review. Corsair remains evolutionary in data storage technology and is one of the most recognizable names in the data storage industry.
Special thanks to Karen Thomas of Thomas PR for shipping the review sample.
