OWC Mercury Extreme Pro-RE SSD

Many people think that PC-based products have no application with Apple Macs, but peripheral devices are universally accepted. Other World Computing is selling the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro-RE on their macsales.com website, but this SSD works well with Apple Mac computers as well as PCs (if not better because of TRIM support). Let's not forget the Linux crowd, who deserve speedy response times as much as anyone else.

For this article Benchmark Reviews is testing the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro-RE SSD, which is expected to reach speeds of 285 MB/s for sequential reads and 275 MB/s sequential writes. The SSDMXRE100 kit is built using the SandForce SF-1222 controller on the inside; on the outside OWC shows off a cool blue aluminum finish on the metal casing that gives the drive a uniquely progressive look.

The OWC Mercury Extreme Pro-RE SSD is best suited for performance-orientated notebook, and works extremely well for enthusiast-level desktop computer systems. Additionally, the Mercury Extreme Pro-RE could also be utilized for mission-critical backups or high-abuse data server systems. SandForce SF-1200 series SSDs have been designed with a focus on high-performance operational and data transfer speeds, and includes encrypted data protection and improved NAND wear-leveling through their proprietary DuraWrite technology. Although OWC Mercury Extreme Pro and Pro-RE SSDs do not offer any integrated USB Mini-B port, there are several new 2.5" SATA enclosures that utilize SuperSpeed USB-3.0 standard for high-performance portable file transfers.

Standard 2.5" drive bay mounting points are pre-drilled and threaded into the Mercury SSD chassis, which allows for quick upgrade or addition into any existing notebook or desktop system. The mounting positions matched up to the drive bracket on my notebook computer, and after only a few minutes of drive cloning I was quickly loading the Microsoft Windows-7 O/S without a hitch.

Unlike most Hard Disk Drive (HDD) storage products, SSDs are nearly impervious to impact damage and do not require (or benefit from) any kind of special vibration dampening or shock-proof enclosures. Other World Computing utilizes a standard two-piece metal enclosure for their Mercury Extreme Pro RE series, which reveals the internal components after removing four small counter-sunk Phillips-head screws located at the bottom of this SSD. OWC SSDs have a two labels attached to each side of the chassis, and removing the enclosure cover will remove consumer protection with it. Benchmark Reviews will reveal all of the internal components on our next section anyway, so just be patient and save your product warranty.

Thanks to hand-picked NAND flash memory modules paired to the SandForce SF-1222 SSD controller, the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro-RE Solid State Drive suggests transfer speeds of 285/275 MBps read/write for high-performance enthusiasts. Now that you're acquainted with the basic exterior features of this SSD, it's time to peek inside the metal enclosure and inspect the Mercury Extreme Pro RE's internal components...

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