"If I were to look back at the most common questions that I have addressed in the various forums, the top two are that of how an SSD can benefit the consumer and installation worries. The third is easily the question of compressible vs incompressible data and it usually comes in the form of “Why do my tests not match manufacturers specifications?” This is the bi-product, for the most part, of a SSD purchase where the manufacturer is using a LSI SandForce Flash Storage Processor (FSP) and not understanding that performance specifications have been arrived at through use of compressible of ‘o Fill’ data.
Understanding the difference between compressible and incompressible data then becomes key in the consumers SSD choice. Compressed data is representative of typical computer operating systems and applications, whereas incompressible data is representative of files such as photographs, videos and music. For the average user, either choice would be fine and one could not physically tell the difference between the two in typical system use, however, when it comes to incompressible data, things change just a bit.
For a gamer, the quick and almost instant loading of very complex scenes is vital in tournament play and especially with online competition. For a photographer, the ability to transfer tens of thousands of pictures a week quickly with a drive that does well with incompressible data saves time and increases productivity significantly. The same results can be drawn of those that create music and video’s in their daily duties as the swift transfer and manipulation of highly incompressible files is paramount."
