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Other World Computing (OWC®) http://www.macsales.com, a leading zero emissions Mac® and PC technology company, today introduced the OWC 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 further external storage expansion capability with two 6Gb/s eSATA interface ports. Built to exceed the demanding needs of video editing and creative professionals, the Mercury Accelsior_E2 offers the best combination of speed, capacity, and connectivity for simultaneous internal and external storage performance.

Speeds Up Booting, App Launches, and Processor Intensive Processes
By utilizing the fastest data interface available in a Mac Pro or PC — the PCIe slot — the Accelsior_E2 offers nearly 3x the performance vs. an SSD in a SATA 2.0 3Gb/s drive bay with well beyond even 6Gb/s speeds of up to 820MB/s. Now owners of PCs and Apple Mac Pros can stop waiting for I/O-intensive apps like Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, or Avid Pro Tools to render, capture or process; as well as experience near instantaneous booting and application launches.

Adds Faster Than Factory Interface To Mac Pros
Featuring two 6Gb/s eSATA expansion interfaces, the Accelsior_E2 offers up to 6x faster file transfers and backups—600MB/s—than the fastest Mac Pro factory offered interface of FireWire 800, which offers up to 100MB/s speed. The two eSATA ports are fully bootable, and ideal for a variety of application requirements enabling for up to 32TB or more of additional external drive capacity.

Use with Laptops Too
The Accelsior_E2 isn't just for desktop machine use. By utilizing an external PCIe expansion chassis equipped with Thunderbolt™, such as the OWC Mercury Helios, the performance benefits of the Accelsior_E2 can also be enjoyed by customers with Mac or PC laptops that feature the 10Gb/s Thunderbolt interface.

Connect Single Solutions or Create RAID Array
Fully compatible with 1.5Gb/s, 3Gb/s, and/or 6Gb/s external drives, the Accelsior_E2 offers two eSATA storage expansion interfaces. Each interface can connect to a variety of OWC and NewerTech single and dual drive RAID solutions and other brand eSATA interface equipped solutions. By using Apple Disk Utility or SoftRAID with Macs, or various software RAID applications for PCs, customers can even create a RAID array among two connected drives.

A More Efficient and Reliable Computing Experience
Massively boosting data transfer rates is only one of the benefits to the Accelsior_E2. With its custom SandForce Driven™ OWC Mercury SSD blades, the Accelsior_E2 card enables Mac and PC users to enjoy a more responsive and productive computing experience along with cooler, quieter, and more energy efficient operation compared to standard hard drives. Those benefits don't come at the expense of dependable use as SandForce RAISE™ technology provides RAID-like data redundancy protection and reliability.

Boosts Entry Level Server Applications and Gaming Too
In addition to video-editing and multimedia creation / management deployment, the Accelsior_E2 takes entry-level servers and even gaming to entirely new levels of performance. With up to 100,000 IOPS, business-critical applications like online transaction processing databases are given an instant boost. For gamers, the Mercury Accelsior_E2's extreme performance speed dramatically reduces game level-loading, object streaming, and save times for more play time and less waiting. Upgrade As Capacity Needs Grow With OWC factory configurations from 120GB (2 x 60GB) up to 960GB (2 x 480GB) and the ability to upgrade to larger Mercury Accelsior SSD blades in the future, the Mercury Accelsior_E2 is future-ready for growing capacity needs.

User-Friendly, Professionally Robust
As easy to install as a memory module, yet robust enough to handle the rigors of professional multimedia production environments, the half-height Accelsior_E2 card is the clear choice for pro audio and video studios producing HD-quality work. This game-changing, high-performance upgrade is designed and built in the U.S. from domestic and imported parts and backed by a three-year warranty.

Pricing, Availability
The Mercury Accelsior_E2 PCIe SSD card is available for immediate ordering in the following dual Mercury Accelsior blade SSD capacity configurations:

• 120GB (2 x 64GB for 128GB total flash) $319.99
• 240GB (2 x 128GB for 256GB total flash) $479.99
• 480GB (2 x 256GB for 512GB total flash) $749.99
• 960GB (2 x 512GB for 1.0TB total flash) $1,329.99

The final capacity figures represent each drive's useable capacity after the 7% over-provisioning allocation for wear-leveling and drive management. OWC Mercury brand SSDs use over-provisioning to ensure high reliability over the life of the drive, as well provide exceptional drive longevity and consistent, high data performance with I/O stability. Without this 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.

Trade-In Program For Previous Accelsior Model To Be Announced
The previous model Mercury Accelsior PCIe SSD was introduced at the 2012 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show and did not feature eSATA expansion capability. To offer owners a cost-effective upgrade path to the current Accelsior_E2, OWC will soon announce a trade-in rebate program. Along with offering costs savings on the Accelsior_E2 card itself, the original Accelsior SSD blades are 100 percent compatible with the Accelsior_E2 and are easy to install. Or, the Accelsior SSD blades can be traded in for larger capacity modules totaling up to 960GB.
"Mercury Accelsior_E2 completely redefines the concept of a storage upgrade," said Larry O'Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing. "It completely eclipses any existing internal storage upgrade for the Mac Pro and then adds an external interface that's up to 6x faster than what a Mac Pro offers. 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."

Most Comprehensive SSD Line For Macs And PCs
The Accelsior_E2 SSD joins OWC's Mercury line of performance leading, world speed record-breaking SSDs for nearly every Mac and PC produced over the past decade in capacities from 44GB to 2.0TB starting from $64.99. For more information, visit: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/