OWC Lowers Price of PCIe SSDs

Other World Computing Inc. announced lower pricing for its Mercury Accelsior_E2, a Mac and PC-bootable, high-performance PCIe SSD card that features up to 960GB of SSD capacity, up to 820MB/s of sustained data performance and external storage expansion with two 6Gb eSATA interface ports.

Built to exceed the needs of video editing and creative professionals, it offers a combination of speed, capacity, connectivity for simultaneous internal and external storage performance and value.

OWC will be showcasing the Accelsior at CES 2014.

To Enhance and Transform Apple Mac Pro 2006-2012 and PCs
By utilizing the fastest data interface available in a Mac Pro or PC – the PCIe slot – it offers nearly 3x the performance vs. an SSD in a SATA 2.0 3Gb drive bay with beyond even 6Gb speeds of up to 820MB/s. Bootable in both a Mac or a PC, it removes bottlenecks and unleashes the performance that is already there at the ready. Users can boot faster, launch faster and enjoy an instant boost in performance with I/O-intensive apps like Photoshop, Final Cut Pro or Avid Pro Tools.

More Reliable Computing Experience
The boost in data transfer rates is only one of the benefits. With its custom LSI SandForce Driven OWC Mercury SSD blades, it enables Mac and PC users to enjoy a more responsive computing experience along with quieter and more energy efficient operation, compared to standard HDDs. These benefits don’t come at the expense of dependable use as SandForce RAISE technology provides RAID-like data redundancy protection and reliability.

Even at the original price point, reviewers described it as:

“…a very high level of performance … outstanding.”
Lloyd Chambers, DigLloyd Mac Performance Guide

“Accelsior’s performance is among the best SSDs we’ve seen…”
Ken Bartelman, Macworld

“…incredibly  .. very versatile …may be one of the best performance and storage upgrade options for Mac Pro owners.”
Tom Nelson, About.com

Upgrade as Capacity Needs Grow
With OWC factory configurations from 120GB (2 x 60GB) up to 960GB (2 x 480GB), the built-in eSATA 6Gb expansion ports and the ability to upgrade to larger SSD blades in the future, it is future-ready for growing capacity needs.

User-Friendly, Robust
As easy to install as a memory module, yet robust enough to handle the rigors of multimedia production environments, the card is a choice for pro audio and video studios producing HD-quality work. This upgrade is designed and built in the U.S. from domestic and imported parts and backed by a three-year warranty.

Pricing, Availability
The card is available for ordering in the following dual Mercury Accelsior blade SSD capacity configurations:

• 120GB (2 x 64GB for 128GB total flash) previously $349.79, now $319.00

• 240GB (2 x 128GB for 256GB total flash) previously $479.99, now $429.00

• 480GB (2 x 256GB for 512GB total flash)  previously $749.99, now $699.00

• 960GB (2 x 512GB for 1TB total flash) previously $1,329.99, now $1,199.00

The final capacity figures represent each drive’s useable capacity after the 7% over-provisioning allocation for wear-leveling and drive management. Mercury brand SSDs use over-provisioning to ensure high reliability over the life of the drive in addition to providing drive longevity and consistent, high data performance with I/O stability. Without the over-provisioning and other technologies built into OWC SSDs, other brand SSDs lose consistency and/or performance over time and/or as unused space on the drive declines.

“Upgraded in 2013 and now more competitively priced, Our Mercury Accelsior_E2 completely transforms the Mac Pro,” said Larry O’Connor, founder and CEO, OWC. “In addition to better-than- new responsiveness, it provides bootability and the overall performance boost of providing a ‘new Mac’ experience at first use, plus an external interface that’s up to 6x faster than existing Mac Pro (2006-2012 models) provide. It’s truly a remarkable, cost-effective solution that can even be used with other desktop and notebook machines that don’t offer an available PCIe slot via an expansion chassis like the Mercury Helios for Thunderbolt.”

Comprehensive SSD Line for Macs and PCs
The product joins Mercury line of SSDs for nearly every Mac and PC produced over the past decade in capacities from 44GB to 2TB starting from $54.99.