Yesterday OCZ introduced an updated version of their Vertex 3: The Vertex 3.20. The name derives from the fact that the new Vertex 3.20 uses 20nm IMFT MLC NAND, whereas the original Vertex 3 used 25nm IMFT NAND. OCZ did the same with Vertex 2 and it's a common practice to move to smaller lithography NAND when it becomes cost-effective. At first the new lithography NAND may be more expensive and limited in availability but once the process matures, prices start to fall and eventually will overtake the old process node. Fortunately OCZ has learned from their mistakes and now the Vertex 3 with new NAND is easily distinguishable from the original Vertex 3, unlike with the Vertex 2 when OCZ silently switched to...
The Full Intel SSD 525 Review: 30GB, 60GB, 120GB, 180GB & 240GB Tested
Last week we published a teaser look at Intel's latest mSATA SSD: the Intel SSD 525. At the time we only presented performance for a single 240GB drive, however...
25 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/3/2013Intel SSD 525 Review (240GB)
The mSATA SSD space has been heating up over the past year as Ultrabooks and other small form factor devices like Intel’s NUC have continued to grow in popularity...
21 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 1/30/2013Intel's SSD 525: Bringing iSandForce to mSATA
Today Intel is officially announcing what we've had in house since the end of last year: the Intel SSD 525. Based on SandForce's SF-2281 controller but using a special...
18 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 1/28/2013Transcend SSD320 & SSD720 (256GB) Review
Transcend is a Taiwanese company specializing in memory and flash storage solutions. While Transcend may not be the first company that comes to mind about NAND flash, they have...
35 by Kristian Vättö on 1/25/2013MyDigitalSSD SMART & BP3 mSATA SSD Review
Every now and then we receive a request from a smaller SSD manufacturer to review their products. We rarely say no to such a request and we try to...
47 by Kristian Vättö on 1/22/2013Mushkin's High Performance Ventura Ultra SF-2281 USB 3.0 Stick
All of the memory makers seem to have embraced the selling of flash memory devices--be they USB sticks, SSDs, SD flash for cameras, etc. Typically, USB sticks have settled...
9 by Jarred Walton on 1/9/2013Mushkin Announces First 480GB mSATA SSD
We're seeing a true shift in the mobile market to including SSDs in more of the market spectrum. What was once the domain of $1500+ laptops is now being...
27 by Jarred Walton on 12/6/2012SandForce TRIM Issue & Corsair Force Series GS (240GB) Review
SandForce and TRIM—that has always been a tricky combination. SandForce SSDs have always behaved a bit differently when tortured and TRIM'ed due to their internal design. When a non-SandForce...
56 by Kristian Vättö on 11/22/2012Intel SSD 335 (240GB) Review
Back in February, Intel released its first SandForce based SSD: the Intel SSD 520. Since then Intel's SSD lineup has evolved. A couple of months after the 520's release...
70 by Kristian Vättö on 10/29/2012The Intel SSD 330 Review (60GB, 120GB, 180GB)
Earlier this year Intel introduced its second SandForce based SSD: the Intel SSD 330. While Intel had previously reserved the 5xx line for 3rd party controllers, the 330 marks...
64 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 8/1/2012OWC Releases 960GB Mercury Electra MAX 3G SSD
OWC has released a 960GB version of their Mercury Electra 3G SSD series. The drive uses two SandForce SF-2181 controllers, configured in RAID 0 using Silicon Image's RAID controller...
20 by Kristian Vättö on 6/25/2012Intel Discovers SandForce SF-2281 Controller Can't Do AES-256 Encryption, Offers Return Program
Although SandForce's SF-2281 controller has been shipping for well over a year at this point, it took Intel to discover a bug in the controller that prevents it from...
45 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/11/2012SandForce Demos 19nm Toshiba & 20nm IMFT NAND Flash
SandForce's controllers have fairly broad compatibility with NAND available on the market today. It shouldn't be a surprise that the first demo we saw of Toshiba's 19nm and Intel/Micron's...
20 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/8/2012ADATA XPG SX900 (128GB) Review: Maximizing SandForce Capacity
SandForce sets aside more NAND capacity than most controllers for spare area. While Intel, Marvell, Samsung and others default to ~7% of total NAND capacity for spare area, SandForce...
58 by Kristian Vättö on 6/8/2012OCZ Releases Low Profile Version of Vertex 3
OCZ has added a low profile version of the Vertex 3 to their SSD portfolio. The drive has a height of 7mm, which is 2.5mm slimmer than most 2.5"...
28 by Kristian Vättö on 5/18/2012Intel SSD 330 Officially Announced: Affordable SandForce
We reported on Intel's SSD 330 weeks ago, but today is the official announcement of the drive and its availability in the channel. Unlike previous 300 series drives, the...
75 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/16/2012Kingston HyperX 3K (240GB) SSD Review
With OCZ intent on moving as much volume to its in-house Indilinx controllers as possible, SandForce (now LSI) needed to expand to additional partners. OCZ has strong control over...
41 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/10/2012LSI's Nytro MegaRAID Brings SSD Caching to SAS RAID Cards
At the beginning of the year LSI completed the acquisition of SandForce, the SSD controller maker we've been covering extensively since its arrival on the scene in late 2009...
4 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/2/2012ADATA Releases Three SSDs - Maximizing The Capacity of SandForce Drives
ADATA has released three new SSD lineups: XPG SX900, Premier Pro SP900, and Premier SP800. XPG is ADATA's high-end brand aimed at gamers and enthusiasts and SX900 is the...
32 by Kristian Vättö on 2/25/2012

















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