CoreRise Comay Venus Pro 3 [F/W 5.0.4] 120GB 2.5" SATA-III MLC Synchronous Solid State Drive Review @ ModSynergy.com
By: Michael Phrakaysone

So the next generation of the Microsoft Windows Operating System is finally here, fittingly named Windows 8.  There is a buzz surrounding the release of the new OS and it's funky tile system meant for tablets and touch screen systems. With Windows 8 and its updated graphical interface, it's now more intensive than before making use of such components as the hard drive.  The hard drive is an integral part of the performance of a computer system, and if you've been keeping track of the prices of storage solutions, you might have noticed that prices have been steadily dropping at a rapid pace. Storage mediums such as the conventional spinning hard disk are finally dropping in price from the recent price hikes seen by retailers due to what they claim were the floods that affected Thailand not too long ago. 

The negative that came of out of the hard drive situation made way for the solid state drive (or SSD) to increase its awareness as manufactures took this opportunity to implement deals to place their SSD's price in line with the price of normal conventional spinning hard disks. Now you can purchase an SSD for even less than before, some models more affordable than others.  Sure the price per GB needs improving, but that will improve in time.  With the prices of SSD's being similar to normal hard drives on the market it gives an enticing argument. 

As SSDs continue to fall in price and offer incentives such as main-in-rebates to entice customers to buy their products, most customers are not sure who's product is better. Most people who know a bit about SSDs know that there are a handful of companies that offer them. The most popular brands you have out there right now are companies such as Intel, Patriot Memory, Corsair, Crucial, Kingston and maybe OCZ. But what about the companies you don't know about? Do you just turn a blind eye and not give them a chance? 

This leads me into introducing the CoreRise brand. CoreRise Electronics Corporation is a Chinese company founded in 2008 and is based in Suzhou, China. They are a manufacturer of flash based storage solutions for applications that include Enterprise Servers, Workstations, Industrial, and for general consumers that own personal computers. The CoreRise company motto is Push the Future! which I found to be a good motto to stand by. Their SSD brand name is called Comay. 

Always looking to review the products from companies that most have never heard, and also looking for the more unique products that customers might want to own, I jumped at the chance at reviewing their Venus 3S 120GB SSD not too long ago (put review link here) and was impressed with what I saw. 

Today marks my second review at another one of CoreRise's new consumer grade SATA 3 offerings, but with a twist.  The twist is that the new Comay Venus Pro 3 120GB SSD comes with enterprise level protection at a consumer level price. 

Sporting 120GB of Intel MLC Synchronous NAND flash memory, and utilizing the SandForce SF-2281 processor, read on to know more about the CoreRise Comay Venus Pro 3, and what enterprise level features it has that sets it apart from the rest of the crowd of SSDs on the market today. 

Read on to know more about the enterprise level features such as their CAP XX 5.5V 0.09F 200ohm Super Capacitor, and Overload protection, and see what it can do for an average computer user.  Let's see if people should watch out for the CoreRise Comay movement.

About CoreRise Electronics Co., Ltd

CoreRise Electronics Corporation is a Chinese company founded in 2008 and bases their R&D and production in Suzhou, China, while their sales channel operates within Shanghai. CoreRise is a manufacturer of Flash based storage solutions for applications that include Enterprise Servers, Workstations, Industrial, and for consumers that own personal computers. The CoreRise company motto is Push the Future! which I found to be a good motto to stand by. They look to devote themselves in providing the best SSD products to its customers all around the world. Their SSD brand name is called Comay. 

About SandForce

‘SandForce Flash Storage and SSD Processors are designed to provide innovative and differentiated solutions for standard NAND flash memory to reliably operate in enterprise storage environments. SandForce Flash Storage and SSD Processors with DuraClass technology provide SSDs with best-in-class reliability, performance, and power efficiency.’

‘SandForce® Flash Storage and SSD Processors use DuraClass™ technology with RAISE™ and patented and patent pending DuraWrite™ to drive ubiquitous deployment of volume flash memory into primary and I/O intensive data storage applications. SandForce Driven™ SSDs dramatically optimize mission-critical application reliability, IT infrastructure ROI, green power preservation, and everyday computing user experiences.’

Comay Venus Pro 3 MLC Synchronous SSD Product Overview

The Comay Venus Pro 3 Solid State Drives are designed to provide the best performance and reliability with the cutting-edge technology.

It is the first consumer SATA 3 Solid State Drive with "Power Loss Protection" and "Overload protection" functions devoted by Comay. 

The Comay Venus Pro 3 utilizes synchronous  MLC NAND flash and the fastest SSD processor to deliver outstanding sequential and random read/write performance.

It is the best choice to upgrade for individual, home and small business.

Products in 60GB, 120GB, 240GB  and 480GB are available to choose.

Comay Venus Pro 3 120GB MLC Synchronous SSD Product Features

• 1）Host Power Loss Protection: Comay Venus Pro 3 has an In-Drive UPS. With the protection of the super capacitor, the SSD has as long as 4 seconds to flush cached data into NAND flash when host power loss. So it can firmly assure of no data loss, as well as the firmware loss. If the firmware is lost, the SSD will become a "dead brick"

• 2) Overload Protection: When power pulse or great static occurs, what will happen to your SSD?Maybe it will be permanently destroyed. However, a Venus Pro 3 SSD will cut off the abnormal power automatically before damage to the SSD is made. It can not only protect itself, but also your DATA!

• 3) More Stable & Reliable: By utilizing best chips and fine design, Comay Venus Pro 3 SSD can run more smoothly than Common SSDs with the same capacity.

• 4) Outstanding Performance: Venus Pro 3  series product can deliver 50000 IOPS and 525MB/s sequential speed. The Venus Pro 3 can firmly pump data. 

• 5) SSD toolbox: There is a wonderful toolbox along with Venus Pro 3  SSDs. This software can restore the best performance when SSDs become slow all at once. It can also update the firmware, alignment, optimization, etc. Since SSDs will go slower with time, it is a must for performance-pursuer.

Comay Venus Pro 3 120GB MLC Synchronous SSD Product Specifications

About SandForce SF-2200/2100

‘Today’s award-winning SandForce Driven™ SSDs are well known for their performance and features. The SandForce® SF-2200/2100 - the second generation of SandForce SSD Processors - continue accelerating SSD deployment in enthusiast and mainstream client computing platforms. The SF-2200/2100 is an ideal solution for portable storage applications where power consumption, boot-up time, application performance, responsiveness, and small form factor are important.

The Client SSD Processors have integrated enhanced DuraClass™ Technology that is architected to leverage today’s densest SLC and MLC NAND flash memory. They deliver best-in-class performance, endurance, security, and power efficiency in a “DRAM-less”, single chip solution.’

Features:

• Second generation SSD Processor with enterprise-class features for cost-sensitive client environments
• 6Gb/s SATA III with NCQ support
• Best-in-class, consistent read and write performance (500MB/s, 20K Random Writes IOPS) for client applications
• Automatic double encryption (AES-256, 128), TCG OPAL and password at the drive level ensures secure data protection
• Supports the latest 3xnm & 2xnm SLC & MLC flash memory with Asynch/Toggle/ONFi2 interfaces
• DuraClass™ technology provides best-in-class endurance, performance, and low power
• Optimized, single-chip eliminates need for external memory saving cost, power and space
• High integration supports up to 512GB on a 2.5” or 1.8” drive
• Power balancing optimizes energy consumption (# active flash devices) vs. performance
• Ultra low-power mode to maximize battery life
• RAISE™ provides RAID-like protection for single SSD client systems
• Highly intelligent block management & wear leveling optimizes SSD longevity
• Complete solution provided through ASIC, FW, turnkey reference designs, tools, documentation and support

First Impressions

This marks my second look at a CoreRise Comay SSD.  I was energized going into this review because of the lasting impressions of my first CoreRise experience.   If you have not read my previous review of this SSD, please view it here.

CoreRise Comay Venus 3S 120GB SSD ModSynergy Review

The design of the box is environmentally welcoming because it's very compact and easy to discard of. Composed out of an outer paper shell, a well thought out cardboard enclosure seals the SSD out of harm's way with lots of foam padding for security. No plastic is used within the packaging meaning it's even easier to recycle. There was not even a hint of damage to the package being travelled through China to Canada. 

The actual design of the outer packaging to be truthful isn't the prettiest. One of the things I learned from art and design classes is that the color grey is one of the harder colors to work with because the odds of it turning out bland is high if not done properly. The front of the Comay SSD box essentially features a simple grey-to-white background. It's like they didn't feel like trying.

Top left is the Comay Premium SSD logo, which isn't printed very sharp, the company motto and information at the bottom left, and two stickers on the top right, one describing the Comay model name, and the other for the SandForce driven logo. 

To be honest this is probably one of the weakest design I've seen in a while for a product design package. They should have printed an image of the SSD in the front of the box where all the negative space is located, or they could have cut out a window to see the actual SSD product that is inside. 

The back of the box thankfully has more information and looks full of activity, an opposite of the lackluster front. Located is a disclaimer, barcode serial number, product features and specifications of the Comay Venus Pro 3 SSD. The sticker on the box and SSD states the Max Sequential Read (Compressible) and Max Sequential Write (Compressible) ratings of 555/525MB/s.  It'll be interesting to see what the Venus Pro 3 can actually achieve in our 2012 ModSynergy Test PC.  These numbers are just about the same as the ratings for the Venus 3S.

The sides of the box hold the company name and brief description saying: COMAY, your choice for SSD! Comay Solid-State Drives adopted the latest technology, the best NAND flash chips and strict management to deliver incredible performance, reliable quality and wonderful experience. It is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. You will be amazed by its features as follows: Sophisticated Design, Latest Technology, Fine Components, Absolutely No Noise, Fastest Speed, Standardized Test, Long Life Span, Highly Reliable & Stable.

Open the box and you will find a corrugated pack that was well thought out. This should have in some way been the main design from the beginning. The way the corrugated shell opens and closes is clever, it has a window that shows the actual SSD. The bundle is within this shell.

There's a simple bundle with the purchase of the CoreRise Comay Venus Pro 3 120GB SSD. All you really have is the actual CoreRise Comay Venus Pro 3 120GB SSD, User Guide Manual, and small SATA 3 data cable. There are no mounting screws, no 2.5" to 3.5" mounting frame bracket.  Think of it as basic as you can get since all you have is what you paid for. I can't really fault CoreRise for the reason that if the other guys don't bundle, why should CoreRise?  Though saying that, it would have been a welcome bonus to add in a 2.5" to 3.5" mounting frame bracket though.  People like extras :)

Visual Overview

I'm not going to refute that I am fond of the way the Comay Venus Pro 3 looks.  It's truthfully stunning with the brushed aluminum outer shell.  Needless to say I'm a sucker for brushed aluminum, and this  has authentic and not fake brushed aluminum.  There are some SSD's with fake plastic brushed aluminum! When you look at the solid state drive under different lighting conditions, it sparkles while you become aware of all the uniform lines from the brushed aluminum exterior. It's a style that is modern and industrial, something unusual from the standard drab exteriors of some products. The edges are rounded out to put a stop to any possible cuts when handling the SSD. There are four screw holes on the side and top of the SSD to mount the Comay Venus Pro 3 into your PC case or notebook computer.

The front of the Venus Pro 3 contains the blue printed Comay branded logo and the words Comay Premium SSD. The Venus Pro 3 holds the conventional height of 9.3mm and can be used in desktops and conventional notebook computers and netbooks. The measurements are 100.2 x 69.9 x 9.3mm in size and this SSD cannot be used with the newer ultra-thin variants that require a height of 7mm.  However, in reality you can use this on an ultra-thin, but you would have to do so without the enclosure, which most won't elect to try since that would be funny and void your warranty.  CoreRise will have some 7mm variants shortly.

The rear of the Venus Pro 3 contains a large sticker that is the same as the one on the product box, displaying information such as the manufacture, model name, the features and specifications, and the serial number located at the bottom. The SATA power and data connectors sit on top of the SSD and feature bright gold contacts for better conductivity. 

Notice around the stickers are four Philips screws that are to hold the enclosure shut. One of these screws has a warranty sticker on the top, but I will be sacrificing warranty to show you readers the internals of the CoreRise Comay Venus Pro 3 120GB SSD.

Tearing it down -- I mean opening it up :)

Please note that by opening the CoreRise Comay Venus Pro 3 SSD, you forfeit the 3-year warranty that comes along with it. Luckily I will take that burden for you by opening up the SSD to see the components that the Venus Pro 3 is comprised of. 

Have a look at the internals of the Comay Venus Pro 3 solid state drive. It's made from a predictable green color Plotech branded circuit board. You can tell it's finished on a SMD machine since all the solder and contacts are flawlessly finished with no goops or mess. There seems to be no mistakes on this board and everything looks of high quality. There are no re-works on the board, the last thing you want to see on a PCB. 

The layout of the board is spacious, and in this case, filled.  If you read my previous Venus 3S review, I noticed that particular board contained unfilled spots on the PCB meant for different components that have not been included with the Venus 3S model. However, with the Venus Pro 3 SSD, all of the empty spaces are no more, they are fully occupied this time around.  I talked about an empty space (about 9 spots) below the CoreRise logo on the backside, and lo and behold on the Venus Pro 3, that space is occupied with a CAP-XX HZ202 5.5V 0.09F 200ohm Super Capacitor.  This is basically an in-drive UPS if you can believe it!  CoreRise calls this "Host Power Loss Protection" and it's one of the more expensive enterprise level component that is meant not only to protect data integrity, but also guard the drive itself from dying.  CoreRise mentions it this way...

"Comay Venus Pro 3 has an In-Drive UPS. With the protection of the super capacitor, the SSD has as long as 4 seconds to flush cached data into NAND flash when host power loss. So it can firmly assure of no data loss, as well as the firmware loss. If the firmware is lost, the SSD will become a "dead brick".

I researched and found that the CAP-XX HZ202 Super Capacitor could be had for $21.00USD (minus shipping).  This type of component should really be standard in all level of SSD's, not just enterprise level products, and it's exciting to see CoreRise being at the forefront of doing this on a consumer model.  I wouldn't mind paying extra for such an important component. 

Here are some key benefits to such a Super Capacitor...I am mostly intrigued about the part about handling power surges, and especially the hot-swapping bit.  Thinking about this component, this would really be beneficial for portable USB hard drives, where people usually just unplug them without safely removing the device.  Or it would help under any sort of hot-swapping scenario, something I do on a frequent basis when testing at times.  The CAP-XX Super Capacitor would help protect the drive.

• Extended voltage & temperature ratings enable use in demanding environments
• Exceptional power density (~70kW/litre) and low ESR (from 28mΩ) support large peak loads
• High capacitance (up to 1.8F) sustains long power surges
• Very low leakage current to extend battery life
•  Low ESR rise rate to ensure a long operational life
• Environmentally friendly, RoHS compliant and lead-free
• Thin, prismatic packaging for space-constrained applications
• Reduce voltage drops and DC/DC requirements in consumer and industrial devices
• Extend battery life, battery run-time and stand-by time, particularly at low temperatures
• Protect against voltage transients (e.g., drop test) and short-term interruptions (e.g., last gasp, hot-swap, etc.)
• Solve the current limitations of USB, PCI, PCMCIA & CF ports, and of long-life batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, etc.

Another enterprise level feature on the Venus Pro 3 is Overload Protection.  CoreRise mentions it this way...

" When power pulse or great static occurs, what will happen to your SSD? 
Maybe it will be permanently destroyed. However, a Venus Pro 3 SSD will cut off the abnormal power automatically before damage to the SSD is made. It can not only protect itself, but also your DATA!"

One of the first things you become aware of is the SandForce SSD controller because it's very close to the gold SATA contact pins.  On this board everything is occupied to the fullest extent. This SandForce SF-2281VB1-SDC processor is  used to support features such SATA 6GB/s with Native Command Queuing support, TRIM, automatic data encryption AES-128, 48-bit LBA, APM, and has a host of algorithms that control and extend the life of the SSD with features such as Garbage Collection, read and block management for wear leveling purposes. 

16 pieces of NAND flash memory chips cover and occupy both top and bottom of the PCB, 8 on each side.  These 16 Intel 29F64G08ACME3 chips are MLC based 8GB in size each, 25nm in manufacturing process, and of the faster synchronous category.  They equal 128GB in total space, however, 8GB is reserved for SandForce firmware, provisioning, and other functions pertaining to the SandForce firmware.  They are rated for a program-erase cycle of 3000 before the wear begins to deteriorate the integrity of the data, however, that is where the SandForce SF-2281 SSD controller comes in to extend the lifecycle of the SSD with its block management and wear leveling algorithms.  Once more, you have a 3-year warranty should anything go wrong.  You should know that the Venus Pro 3 has a MTBF of 2-million hours of operation.  It'll likely be many years before the Venus Pro 3 will have issues.

Performance Benchmarks and Real-World Tests

ATTO Disk Benchmark is a trusted and established application that tests raw data in Compressible form within the drive being tested. It's demonstrated over the years to supply steady and consistent results, one of the reasons why ATTO Disk Benchmark is the preferred benchmark in order to give a baseline score of maximum throughput performance. Most SSD manufacturers' maximum sequential read/write speed claims are done with ATTO Disk Benchmark for this very reason.

The numbers you see here are the best case scenario numbers you can expect from this SSD. The default transfer size of 0.5 to 8192KB was selected to be tested along with a length of 256MB.

All remaining benchmarks used here such as AS SSD and CrystalDiskMark are testing with (for the most part) Incompressible data, which some SSD drive controllers may or may not struggle with. That is why on occasion you see the disparity between numbers that are in ATTO Disk Benchmark compared to those of other benchmarks. If the numbers are drastically different, you can draw the conclusion that the particular SSD drive controller suffers when reading/writing incompressible data.

For example, in AS SSD benchmark, the write numbers are much different than those of seen on ATTO Disk Benchmark, and the reason is because one is testing Compressible data, while the other Incompressible data.

As mentioned earlier, the sticker on the box and SSD states the Max Sequential Read (Compressible) and Max Sequential Write (Compressible) ratings of 555/525MB/s.  Without further ado, let's see what the Comay Venus Pro 3 can do in our Intel based 2012 PC build. Full specifications on our test bed can be found here.

I also found a new and interesting SSD benchmark called Anvil's Storage Utilities that I will start to use from this point on since it tests a variety of scenarios and combines many of what the other benchmarks do separately into one full fledged benchmark with more flexibility. The SSD is tested under different queue lengths for read and write testing, it reports on access times and also IOPS performance. The version I am using is RC2. More information can be found here regarding Anvil's Storage Utilities.

URL: www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?273661-Anvil-s-Storage-Utilities

Editors Note [F/W 2.54 - SandForce 5.0.4 TRIM fixed]: This is firmware 2.54 from CoreRise. The cross reference equivalent to the new SandForce firmware 5.0.4 that fixes broken TRIM functionality. This affected any SandForce SSD's that had firmware 5.02 or 5.0.3. Broken TRIM on these SSD's firmware means the SSD performance would degrade over continued normal usage without the user knowing a thing, even if it was being reported as working. The performance drop would continue the more you used the SSD, TRIM wasn't able to do what it needed to keep performance at optimum levels. The guys from TweakTown were the ones that found this issue first. It's best to read their article to know more about this issue.

TweakTown Article URL - Broken TRIM SandForce Firmware

CoreRise was contacted about this issue and responded professionally and swiftly, already having the latest SandForce 5.0.4 in their labs being validated and optimized for their SSD's. I could not express how simple it was to update the firmware using the CoreRise Comay SSD Tool.  The method is easier than the normal way of using the SandForce Field Updater software, since you have to download that separately, along with the separate specific firmware.

Updating the Firmware

Updating the firmware on the CoreRise Comay Venus Pro 3 was very straightforward. To update the firmware, you first need to download the Comay SSD Tool application on the CoreRise website. This simple application allows you to view information regarding the hard drives being used on your computer, the manufacturing date, the model, serial number, firmware version, supported features, SATA link speed, and monitoring status information.

The actual updating of the firmware is automatically completed online. Here's how to update the firmware.

1. Open up the Comay SSD Tool and verify the firmware revision. In this case, our SSD reads 2.52, which is CoreRise's numbering convention and relates to generic SandForce 5.0.2 firmware. It is advised that you back up information before attempting to upgrade the firmware.

2. Click on the Management tab. There are two radio buttons, one called Restore Perf, and the other called Update FW. Click on Update FW. A new window appears.

3. Click on the Check button. The Current version and Latest Version lines will populate with the firmware version currently on the SSD and the latest one available to download and install.

Click on Update. The tool automatically connects to the CoreRise server, downloads and flashes the firmware to the SSD automatically within a couple of seconds.

4. Once flashing of the latest firmware is complete, a new window appears and says that it is successful. Click OK. Turn off the computer, and turn back on the computer again after a couple of seconds.

5. Re-open Comay SSD Tool and head to the Properties tab with the SSD selected. Verify that the firmware revision indicates the latest firmware of version 2.54.

Comay SSD Tool information: www.corerise.com/en/tech_show.php?id=34