Corsair has a reputation among enthusiasts as makers of some of the best ram in the business. Over the years, as ram technologies change, as well as getting faster, Corsair was always out there, putting out products to meet the demands of power users.

So, is there such thing as power user secure digital ram? In a nutshell, yes. Pretty much everyone these days have a digital camera and the photos taken need to go somewhere. As camera resolution increases, so does the need for more capacity. The same can be said for other electronic devices. The 16MB (or even 8!) memory card included with many gadgets just won't cut it.

Capacity isn't the only important feature though. Just as important is the speed. Now, if your needs are basic, you probably couldn't care less what the rated speed of a secure digital (SD) card is as long as it stores data. On the otherhand, a faster SD card is good for a number of reasons. One thing for sure is the faster the card can read and write data, the more battery power you can save over time. Also, the "wait" period when taking a picture for example will be lower with a faster card which will enable you to continue taking pictures.

Today we'll be checking out Corsair's 2GB Secure Digital 133x. With 2GB of goodness (about 1.8GB usable after it is formatted), the card is capable of storing up to 800+ 5MP images. At 133x, the card is rated at 21MB/s for the read and 15.5MB/s write. Corsair offers several capacities, speed grades and memory types, but for those of you unfamiliar with SD, here's an explanation from Wikipedia:

Secure Digital (also known as SD) is a flash memory memory card format. SD cards are based on the older Multi Media Card (MMC) format, but add little-used DRM encryption features, allow for faster file transfers over the initial MMC speed, have small switch one the side that can stop the card from being overwritten, as well as being physically slightly thicker). Standard SD cards measure 32 mm by 24 mm by 2.1 mm.

Corsair's 2GB Secure Digital 133x features the lock switch as well as falling under the size specifications. Other than that, there's nothing terribly unique about the product from other SD cards in terms of appearance.

Like many other of their competitors, Corsair does boast extended battery life with the use of their SD products. We already explained some of the theory behind this due to the speed, but this does apply to almost any vendor, and not just Corsair. Corsair follows the same specifications set forth by the Secure Digital Association (the governing body for SD products) as everyone else.

Therefore, all things being equal, one 133x SD card should perform similarly and consume as much power as Corsair's.

Testing

ASUS P5WD2 Premium: Intel 3.73GHz Extreme Edition, 2 x 512MB Corsair TWIN2X PC5400, ATI Radeon X850XT, 73GB WD Raptor, Windows XP SP1.

Comparison hardware will be Kingston's Elite Pro Compact Flash, a Sandisk Extreme III SD, and a Corsair Flash Voyager. A Crucial USB 2.0 card reader will be used for all data transfers for the flash media, except for the Flash Voyager.

Testing will be broken down into several parts:

1) Read/Write a 438MB zip file. We will copy a large zip file containing various patches, and drivers from the removable media to the Raptor (read test). We will then reverse the process and copy to the media from the Raptor (write test).

2) Write small files. Same procedure as above (focussed on writes only), except there will be a lone 25MB file (ATI Cat 5.10 driver package).

Write - 438MB zip file

Lower Times are Better

No surprises here in that the Flash Voyager was going to walk away with this test, but good luck fitting that into a digital camera. :P

The Corsair SD 133x is almost twice the speed of the Kingston Elite for the write tests, and 8 seconds faster than the Sandisk Extreme III.

Read - 438MB zip file

Lower Times are Better

Scores are a lot closer between the flash cards here, but the Corsair still holds a significant lead over the Kingston, and a smaller 10 second lead over the Sandisk.

Write - 25MB File

Lower Times are Better

Dead even between the two SD cards, and both are twice as fast over the Kingston.

Final Words

We added the Flash Voyager simply as a scale to help put the numbers in perspective. Flash media (in it's current state) will never be as fast as a flash drive, so what it boils down to today is how does Corsair fare against other "hi-speed" memory cards? Overall, very well from a performance aspect. The Sandisk Extreme III gave a close fight, but generally trailed the Corsair SD 133x by a small margin. Things weren't even close for the Kingston Elite Pro, but not only was it a different "speed grade", but a different flash card format altogether.

None of the cards were able to meet their specifications for the read and write speeds, but their specs are under ideal circumstances. Real-world, the performance of the Corsair SD 133x was very good, and should be more than suitable for devices that support high speed media.

There's no real fault with the Corsair SD 133x that we can point out. Obviously, as mentioned earlier, your device should support high speed media, and to make use of the product, secure digital media. If you're in need of a high capacity SD card, we feel the Corsair 2GB Secure Digital 133x is certainly worth a look.

Pros: Excellent performance, lifetime warranty, good price for the capacity offered.

Cons: None, except it won't work in CF enabled devices (duh!).

Bottom Line: While the Corsair and Sandisk parts are close in performance, both offer lifetime warranties with their media. One edge Corsair holds over Sandisk is pricing. The review card today retails for $133 over at NewEgg, while the 1GB version of the Sandisk runs closer to $109. For about $25 more, you get an extra gig of storage on the Corsair which puts it over the Sandisk today.

If you have any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.

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