Several months ago SanDisk launched their first ever consumer client TLC (Triple Level Cell) NAND based SSD, the SanDisk Ultra II, and now SanDisk is bringing the same technology (and its benefits) to business/enterprise users as well.

As expected for the new drive, the SanDisk X300 will be using SanDisk’s latest second generation 19nm (1Ynm) TLC (Triple Level Cell) Toggle Mode NAND, which SanDisk is now referring to as “X3″ NAND. In addition, the X300 will also get SanDisk’s new second generation nCache tiered caching technology, nCache 2.0. nCache 2.0 converts a portion of the slower TLC NAND into a fast SLC cache to help improve SSD endurance, efficiency, and performance.

“The SanDisk X300 SSD is our first X-series drive to incorporate the use of our nCache 2.0 tiered caching architecture and X3, three bit-per-cell technology, to deliver a highly optimized and reliable solution for both CIOs and their employees,” said Kevin Conley, senior vice president and general manager, client storage solutions at SanDisk. “This mainstream corporate drive not only provides the reliability and performance companies need today, but also helps CIOs reduce total cost of ownership and shorten the time to return on investment.”

The SanDisk X300 will also feature support for SanDisk’s SSD Dashboard which was launched with the SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD earlier this year. The SanDisk SSD Dashboard gives users the tools to monitor drive performance, update firmware, drive cloning, etc. in an easy to use software utility.

The SanDisk X300 will be available in capacities of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB (2.5″ only) in various form factors such as 7mm 2.5″, mSATA, and M.2 2280. SanDisk expects the drive to be available sometime this month although we’re not quite sure what pricing will look like at this point. That said, if the SanDisk Ultra II is any indication, pricing should be very competitive.

More information about the SanDisk X300 can be found in the datasheet here.

Source: SanDisk

SanDisk Launches X300 SSD Using X3 TLC NAND - Custom PC Review

Toshiba’s Unicorn

Last year, we were lucky enough to be one of the first to receive the opportunity to review the Toshiba Q Series Pro SSD. At the time, we never really heard much about Toshiba SSDs since Toshiba does most of their business with OEMs/SIs and up until then, we were never really familiar with any of their SSDs. This is why it came as such as surprise to us when we discovered that the Q Series Pro not only offered great performance, top tier reliability, and class leading power efficiency, but also low pricing as well.

Following up on the Q Series Pro, Toshiba also revealed a new SSD earlier this year, the Toshiba HG6 SSD. The Toshiba HG6 is a performance SSD updated to utilize Toshiba’s latest second generation 19nm (1Ynm) Toggle Mode MLC NAND.

Toshiba HG6 Specifications

The Toshiba HG6 is available in capacities ranging from 60GB to 512GB in a variety of form factors such as 7mm 2.5″, 9mm 2.5″, mSATA, M.2 2260, and M.2 2280.

Unlike most SSDs on the market, the Toshiba HG6 is manufactured completely in-house using Toshiba’s A19nm MLC Toggle NAND coupled with Toshiba’s own TC358790XBG controller. This makes Toshiba a 100% vertically integrated SSD manufacturer – a luxury enjoyed only by a handful of competitors.

Warranty on the Toshiba HG6 is a very typical 3 years. Toshiba doesn’t specify an endurance rating, but we’re confident enough in Toshiba’s A19nm MLC to say that the drive’s endurance should be more than enough for typical client use.

Let’s take a closer look at the Toshiba HG6 512GB!

Review: Toshiba HG6 512GB SSD (THNSNJ512GCSU) - Custom PC Review

As reported several weeks ago, a number of users (including yours truly) were experiencing slow read performance issues with their Samsung 840 EVO SSD. At the time, the issue was just discovered by various Samsung 840 EVO owners and Samsung was still working on a fix to the issue. As of yesterday, Samsung provided us with an early firmware update that appears to help fix the issue.

Here we can see performance figures from the drives before and after. Before the fix (left), performance was slow and inconsistent. After the fix, performance is back up to normal. Of course, it does take some time before the performance issue pops up, but the results seem positive so far. We’ll be further testing these drives in the weeks to come.

The performance fix is expected to be available sometime tomorrow and we’ll be sure to update this article with where you can download it.

Samsung SSD 840 EVO Performance Restoration

Samsung’s utility for fixing the 840 EVO is aptly named Samsung 840 EVO Performance Restoration. It’s actually a separate utility from the Samsung Magician software and is specifically designed as a performance fix for the Samsung 840 EVO.

The utility works in two steps.

In the first step, the utility updates the firmware on the drive to firmware EXT0CB6Q.

Then in the second step, the utility appears to rewrite all the data on the drive using a new algorithm. This step will take a substantial amount of time depending on how full the drive is, so definitely set aside some time for this fix. Although this fix shouldn’t be destructive, I’d definitely advise backing everything up prior to updating.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Samsung also provided us with answers to some frequently asked questions regarding the issue and the performance fix.

What is the problem?  How does this “fix” resolve the problem?

• Because of an error in the flash management software algorithm in the 840 EVO, a drop in performance occurs on data stored for a long period of time AND has been written only once. SSDs usually calibrate changes in the statuses of cells over time via the flash management software algorithm. Due to the error in the software algorithm, the 840 EVO performed read-retry processes aggressively, resulting in a drop in overall read performance. This only occurs if the data was kept in its initial cell without changing, and there are no symptoms of reduced read performance if the data was subsequently migrated from those cells or overwritten. In other words, as the SSD is used more and more over time, the performance decrease disappears naturally.  For those who want to solve the issue quickly, this software restores the read performance by rewriting the old data. The time taken to complete the procedure depends on the amount of data stored.

Is my data at risk?

• The error only results in a drop in read performance, and there are no issues related to data loss or drive reliability.

Is the “fix” a firmware fix?  If yes, why isn’t it being managed through the traditional SSD Magician firmware management process?

• Resolving the performance issue requires both a firmware fix and performance restoration process, which Samsung has provided a special tool.  This tool will execute the performance restoration process and upgrade to the latest firmware (EXT0CB6Q).  Future firmware releases will continue to be supported through Samsung SSD Magician.

Does the problem affect all versions of the firmware?  EXT0BB6Q? EXTOAB0Q?  EXTOBB0Q?

• Yes

Is Samsung recommending all consumers perform this “fix” or only consumers that are experiencing a problem?

• Samsung recommends users perform the upgrade only if they’re experience a problem.

What was changed about the newly shipping drives to prevent this from happening in the future?  What date did the “fix” get implemented for newly shipping drives?

• New production units have the latest firmware (EXT0CB6Q) which will not experience the performance slowdown.  In addition, all new drives experience additional performance qualification prior to shipping.  All product shipped from the factory after October 1st contains the latest firmware (EXT0CB6Q).

Because the problem only occurs on “old” data, will this “fix” need to be run periodically?  If not, why not?

• Once the old data is moved via the performance restoration process, the cell status is stabilized and consequently, no future calibration is required.

Does it affect the 840 EVO mSATA?  If yes, will this “fix” work on the 840 EVO mSATA?

• Yes. The performance restoration software covers the mSATA models also.

Does this problem affect the 840? 830?  840 PRO?

• No.  The problem only occurs on the 840 EVO.

Update 10/15/2014

The Samsung 840 EVO Performance Restoration software is now available at the Samsung website here. The update is currently available to Windows users only, but a Dos version for MAC and Linux users is expected to be available at the end of the month.

Samsung 840 EVO Performance Fix Available Tomorrow - Custom PC Review

Following Samsung’s introduction of the world’s first 32-layer 3-bit MLC (TLC) 3D V-NAND for SSDs at Flash Memory Summit earlier this year, Samsung recently announced that they’ve begun mass production of their new 32-layer 3-bit MLC 3D V-NAND as well.

Samsung’s new 32-layer 3-bit MLC 3D V-NAND is an evolution of the 32-layer 2-bit MLC 3D V-NAND which was introduced with the launch of the Samsung 850 PRO in June. Like the 32-layer 2-bit MLC 3D V-NAND, Samsung’s 32-layer 3-bit MLC 3D V-NAND will provide capacities up to 128Gb per die.

“With the addition of a whole new line of high density SSDs that is both performance- and value-driven, we believe the 3-bit V-NAND will accelerate the transition of data storage devices from hard disk drives to SSDs,” said Jaesoo Han, Senior Vice President, Memory Sales & Marketing, Samsung Electronics. “The wider variety of SSDs will increase our product competitiveness as we further expand our rapidly growing SSD business.”

While no new SSD announcements have officially been made, a 32-layer 3-bit MLC 3D V-NAND based SSD has been confirmed to be in the works for quite some time. With Samsung now announcing mass production of the new NAND, the launch of a new SSD for the upcoming holiday season could be imminent.

Currently Samsung is the only player in the 3D NAND market with competitors unlikely to launch competing 3D NAND solutions until next year.

Samsung Begins Mass Production of 3-bit MLC 3D V-NAND - Custom PC Review

If you’re looking for a new high end 4K monitor or SSD and you’re looking forward to purchasing Assassin’s Creed Unity when it launches next month, Samsung may have just the perfect bundle for you.

According to a new press release, Samsung will be bundling Assassin’s Creed Unity with the purchase of a new Samsung U28D590D (UD590) 28″ 4K monitor or a 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB Samsung 850 PRO SSD.

“Our monitors create a one-of-a-kind, immersive gaming experience and our SSDs ensure quick load times and robust performance for drastically improved gameplay,” said Ron Gazzola, vice president of marketing at Samsung Electronics America. “The UD590 premiere monitor and the 850 PRO SSD will bring Assassin’s Creed Unity to life and allow players to experience the game in a completely new way. We’re happy to be providing this extremely popular offering to our customers.”

Considering Assassin’s Creed Unity carries a $59.99 MSRP, this is a pretty good value, especially for those in the market for a new Samsung 850 PRO. The Samsung Assassin’s Creed Unity bundle is expected to be available starting now at participating retailers.

Samsung Announces Assassin’s Creed Unity Bundle - Custom PC Review

Last week, Intel held their annual investor meeting and Intel VP Rob Crooke took the stage for a few minutes to give investors some insight into Intel’s memory business. During his presentation, Crooke revealed some specifics on Intel’s upcoming 3D NAND product, which up to this point has been kept a secret.

According to Crooke, Intel’s first 3D NAND offering will be a 32-layer MLC (2-bits per cell) 3D NAND product with a die capacity of 256Gb. This will then be followed by a TLC (3-bits per cell) 3D NAND product with a die capacity of 384Gb. Crooke claims that because Intel’s 3D NAND will offer twice the number of bits per die compared to everyone else in the industry, they will achieve breakthrough levels of cost. As you may expect, this of course leads to either breakthrough levels of profit or better yet, lower SSD prices.

Currently the only NAND vendor on the market known to be mass producing 3D NAND is Samsung. Samsung is shipping their 24-layer MLC 3D V-NAND, 32-layer MLC 3D V-NAND, and, most recently, 32-layer TLC 3D V-NAND as well. What’ll be interesting is to see how Intel’s 3D NAND product actually compares to Samsung’s 3D V-NAND in terms of cost, performance, and endurance. While capacity per die is an important metric of cost, the size of the die and process node is also important as well. It’s fantastic that a given die is twice the capacity, but if it’s double the size of a competitor’s product as well, then it’s not going to be much of a breakthrough in cost not to mention the loss of parallelism for smaller capacity SSDs. This is the same reason why we saw Samsung move to 86Gbit dies with their 32-layer 3D V-NAND rather than increase die capacity to say 256Gb, which I’m sure is likely well within Samsung’s technological capabilities.

Intel expects to ship their first 3D NAND products sometime in mid-2015 and is very confident that they will meet the deadline. More information about Intel’s 3D NAND should trickle out during CES, so be sure to check back soon!

Source: Intel

Intel Reveals 32-Layer 3D NAND Plans, Expects to Ship 2H2015 - Custom PC Review

16nm MLC, Now for OEMs and SIs

Over the years, we generally haven’t had much opportunity to check out very many Micron products. As Micron’s core business is with partners or OEMs rather than consumers, their products are generally never seen or heard of by most consumers so we don’t always have the time and resources to cover them despite the fact that they sometimes include some pretty cool features unavailable to their retail counterparts.

That said, today we’ll be reviewing one of those OEM only products with cool new features and that product is Micron’s new M600 client SSD, which is Micron’s latest client SSD designed to be the successor to the Micron M550. With the Micron M600, Micron is aiming to continue the trend of being the go to cost effective, yet reliable SSD we all know and love.

Micron M600 Specifications

The Micron M600 will be available in capacities ranging from 128GB to 1TB in a variety of form factors such as 2.5″ 7mm, mSATA, M.2 2260 and M.2 2280. The Micron M600 will utilize the Marvell 88SS9189 controller paired with some in house 128Gb Micron 16nm Synchonous MLC NAND. This is a similar to the component configuration we saw in the Crucial MX100 we reviewed several months back.

Warranty on the Micron M600 is 3 years, but the endurance rating is variable depending on the capacity of the drive. Whereas the 128GB capacity gets a 100TB rating, the 256GB gets 200TB, the 512GB gets 300TB and the 1TB gets 400TB. Aside from the 128GB capacity, the rest of the capacities enjoy endurance ratings that are actually higher than most enthusiast drives on the market, which is likely to be a great selling point for OEMs and SIs considering the Micron M600 for their products.

Dynamic Write Acceleration

One key feature of the Micron M600 that’s currently an exclusive for the product is Dynamic Write Acceleration, which is a new technology which takes advantage of unused NAND on the drive and dynamically converts it into faster SLC NAND for caching to improve performance. As far as I know, this is significantly more robust than solutions in the past where SSDs such as the Samsung 840 EVO for example would have a specific amount of NAND set aside specifically for caching purposes. This allows for a larger SLC cache when the drive is relatively empty and will still allow users to use up the full capacity of the drive if needed.

Interestingly enough, Micron is only making this technology available to specific capacities of the drive, and in the 2.5″ 7mm form factor, only the 128GB and 256GB capacities will have the technology. This is likely due to the fact that there simply aren’t enough 128Gb NAND dies to take full advantage of the parallelism available to the controller at lower capacities and Micron is using Dynamic Write Acceleration as a means of compensating for the performance hit.

Running a quick 128K random write trace, we can see Dynamic Write Acceleration in action, providing the drive with high performance until the drive is filled approximately 46% capacity. Then the drive begins writing data to MLC until the drive is approximately at 58% capacity. Finally, the SLC cache begins its transition to MLC at the same time data is being written to MLC. Without dynamic write acceleration, perforamnce would be in the performance state where data is written to MLC only, which in our testing with the M600 256GB is just over ~300MB/s.

Awesome! Now let’s take a closer look at the drive.

Review: Micron M600 256GB SSD - Custom PC Review

3D V-NAND, Now Going Mainstream

Several months ago, I attended the Samsung Global SSD Summit where I was first introduced to the Samsung 850 PRO along with its new 2nd generation 2-bit per cell MLC 3D V-NAND technology. At the time, 3D V-NAND had already been in testing internally at Samsung for almost a year and its introduction was quite revolutionary as it promised double the performance, double the endurance, and significantly better power efficiency than previous generation 2D planar NAND. Additionally, given the fact that 2D planar NAND physically hits its limits in terms of further die shrinks past the 1xnm lithography, the transition to 3D NAND was inevitable and not just for Samsung, but for the industry as a whole. For more in depth information on 3D V-NAND, be sure to check out our review on the Samsung 850 PRO here.

That said, in addition to announcing the 2-bit MLC 3D V-NAND during the SSD Global Summit, Samsung also announced that 3-bit per cell MLC (TLC) 3D V-NAND was technologically viable and that it was on its way although no further details were shared at the time. Shortly after, Samsung further discussed their TLC 3D V-NAND technology at Flash Memory Summit (FMS) and told attendees at the conference that a drive was already in the works and a launch would be coming shortly. While we expected the drive to launch sometime in October or early November to take advantage of the holiday shopping season, Samsung instead notified us that the launch would be happening in early December, which is a fairly strange time to be introducing a product this huge. Better late 2014 than 2015 I suppose.

Samsung 850 EVO Specifications

Today we have the opportunity to be among the first to review what Samsung calls the Samsung 850 EVO, which as you may expect is Samsung’s successor to the Samsung 840 EVO launched last year. As most of us familiar with Samsung SSDs have come to expect, the Samsung EVO SSDs are designed for the mainstream SSD market so they’re going to be very cost competitive at the expense of performance and endurance. However as you’ll see in this review, this isn’t necessarily the case.

The Samsung 850 EVO is expected to be available in capacities ranging from 120GB to 1TB and will only be offered in the 2.5″ 7mm form factor. This is similar to the launch lineup for the Samsung 840 EVO although the Samsung 850 EVO is losing the 750GB capacity most likely due to lower sales. Samsung will also launch M.2 and mSATA versions of the Samsung 850 EVO sometime next year as well although no specific timeframe was provided. As for internal components, the Samsung 850 EVO will be using either the new Samsung MGX controller or the older Samsung MEX controller along with Samsung’s latest TLC (3-bit per cell MLC) 3D V-NAND. We’ll be discussing that further when we take a closer look at the drive.

Warranty on the Samsung 850 EVO is expected to be a class leading 5 years with an endurance rating of 75TB for the 120 and 250GB drives, and 150TB for the 500GB and 1TB drives. This is the first mainstream SSD product from any SSD vendor with a 5 year warranty, which reflects highly on Samsung’s confidence in their 3D V-NAND product at least for the rated endurance. Additionally, a 150TB endurance rating is also the highest we’ve seen for any mainstream SSD as most competitors drives in this segment generally carries a 72TB endurance rating or less.

Let’s go ahead take a closer look at the Samsung 850 EVO!

Review: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD - Custom PC Review

According to a recent article by DigiTimes, Western Digital is projecting that the global storage market will reach $42 billion, up from $38 billion this year and $36 billion in 2013 thanks to significant demand for storage by the growing cloud computing, IoT (Internet of Things), personal, mobile and PC storage segments. Furthermore, Western Digital projects that overall storage demand will increase to a staggering 44ZB (44 billion TB), up from 4.4ZB in 2013 representing a CAGR of 40%.

Currently, the PC and personal storage markets account for almost half of the global storage market, but Western Digital believes that demand from the enterprise will pick up in the near future. By 2016, Western Digital expects enterprise storage demand to surpass the storage demand by the PC market and by 2020, Western Digital expects the enterprise market to account for almost half of total storage consumption.

Source: DigiTimes

WD Expects $42 Billion Global Storage Market in 2015 - Custom PC Review

Building on the success of the Black², Western Digital recently showed off a prototype of a new hybrid drive at Storage Visions 2015.

Designed for desktop and gaming applications, the still unnamed drive uses a next generation SATA Express connector, and combines 128GB of solid state storage along with 4TB of traditional hard drive storage in a single 3.5″ enclosure.

No additional information has been shared at this time.

Storage Visions 2015: Western Digital 4TB Hybrid - Custom PC Review

At Storage Visions 2015, SanDisk showed off two new client SSDs aimed at the entry-level market.

The first is the SanDisk SSD Plus which will be replacing the SanDisk SSD Series as SanDisk’s new entry level SSD. Compared to the SanDisk SSD series, SanDisk SSD Plus will bring a boost in read performance up to 510MB/s compared to 475MB/s on the SanDisk SSD. The SanDisk SSD Plus will be using SanDisk MLC NAND and an undisclosed controller.

SanDisk is also looking to bring the recently introduced SanDisk Ultra II to entry level ultra-portable devices by introducing the Ultra II SSD in mSATA form factor. The mSATA Ultra II will be capable of achieving up to 550MB/s reads and will be in capacities up to 512GB.

Both the SanDisk SSD Plus and SanDisk Ultra II mSATA will carry a 3-year warranty and will be available in Q1 2015. The SanDisk SSD Plus will be available in capacities of 120GB ($69.99) and 240GB ($109.99).  The SanDisk Ultra II mSATA SSD will be available in capacities of 128GB ($73.99), 256GB ($115.99) and 512GB ($220.99).

Storage Visions 2015: SanDisk SSD Plus, mSATA Ultra II SSDs - Custom PC Review

With Samsung completing the 850 series lineup with the launch of the Samsung 850 EVO last month, Samsung is now moving into the portable SSD arena with their first USB 3.0 powered portable SSD, the Samsung Portable SSD T1.

Designed for content creators, enthusiasts, and business professionals who constantly need to move large amounts of data, the Samsung Portable SSD T1 utilizes Samsung’s latest 3-bit per cell 3D MLC NAND to deliver performance up to 450MB/s sequential reads/writes, and random reads/writes up to 8,000/21,000 IOPS respectively. True to its name it’s quite portable as well, weighing in at just under an ounce and measuring in at just 2.80″ tall, 2.09″ wide, and 0.36″ thick.

As an added bonus, Samsung is also bundling encryption software directly onto the T1 to leverage the hardware encryption capabilities of the controller. Samsung tells us that enabling drive encryption allow users to keep their data safe in the event the drive is physically compromised without any impact on drive performance.

The Samsung Portable SSD T1 is expected to be available later this month in capacities of 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB with prices starting at $179.99.

CES 2015: Samsung Portable SSD T1 - Custom PC Review

At Storage Visions 2015, Lite-On showcased an array of client and enterprise SSDs.

First up is the EP1 Series SSD which is Lite-On’s latest top of the line enterprise storage solution. Available in the M.2 2280 (480GB) and M.2 22110 (960GB) form-factors, the EP1 Series aims to provide compact, power-efficient operation with reliable high performance. Lite-On promises 4KB random read and write speeds of up to 120,000 IOPS and 40,000 IOPS respectively. According to Lite-On representatives, the EP1 will be built with an unnamed Marvell controller and Toshiba MLC NAND.

The EP1 series will be released in Q1 of 2015. No word on pricing at this time.
For enterprise users looking for a more budget oriented solution, Lite-On will offer the N9S series 2.5″ SSDs. Their capacities range between 60GB to 2TB. The N9S series is capable of up to 75,000 IOPS in 4KB random read, and  54,000 IOPS in 4K random writes. These drives are capable of handling 1 Drive Write Per Day, and have muti-layer data protection measures built in.

The N9S series is also available in 1.8″ form-factor for space-conservative operation environments such as mobile workstations.
The L9M series SSD is oriented towards the client level. It’s available in the mSATA form-factor and comes in capacities between 32GB to 512GB. According to Lite-On, the L9M Series will be able to achieve up to 94,000/79,000 IOPS in 4K random read and write speeds respectively. The MTBF is an impressive 1.5 Million hours.

Finally, the L9G Series is basically just the L9M Series built on the M.2 2280 form factor. They offer the same level of performance and reliability.

Storage Visions 2015: Lite-On E1P M.2, N9S, L9M mSATA, L9G M.2 - Custom PC Review

First revealed at the Samsung SSD Summit back in July, Samsung recently announced that the SM951 M.2 PCIe SSD is now officially going into mass production.

For those unfamiliar with the drive, the Samsung SM951 is a M.2 PCIe SSD designed for notebooks and workstations. It will be the successor to the Samsung XP941 M.2 PCIe SSD and like its predecessor, it will likely only be available to OEMs/System Integrators.

Previously when we covered the SM951 back in July, the performance was rated at up to 1,600/1,000 MB/s sequential reads/writes and 130K/100K IOPS 4K random reads/writes; however, according to the recent press release, Samsung seems to have tweaked the specs of the SM951 slightly and it will now be capable of performance up to 1,600/1,350MB/s sequential reads/writes and 130K/85K IOPS 4K random reads/writes on PCIe 2.0. Furthermore, the SM951 also appears to have support for PCIe 3.0 which will boost performance up to 2,150/1,550MB/s sequential reads/writes. The SM951 will also be available with either AHCI or NVMe interfaces.

No word on pricing or availability at this time.

Samsung Mass Producing SM951 M.2 PCIe SSD - Custom PC Review

For CES 2015, Crucial is unveiling two new SSDs aimed directly at the entry level and mainstream markets.

Crucial MX200

First up is the Crucial MX200, which is the successor to the Crucial MX100 unveiled back at Computex 2014. The Crucial MX200 is mostly similar to the the Crucial MX100 in that it’ll be using a combination of Marvell’s 88SS9189 controller paired with Micron’s latest 16nm 128Gb NAND; however, Crucial is adding Dynamic Write Acceleration (DWA) in the MX200, which is a dynamic write caching feature Micron first introduced with the Micron M600 SSD.

Performance wise, the Crucial MX200 will be capable of up to 555/500 MB/s sequential reads/writes and 100K/87K 4K random read/write IOPS across the board. In order to ensure performance parity, Crucial dropped the 120GB capacity drive to ensure adequate NAND parallelism using 128Gb NAND dies. As usual it’ll also have all the features we’ve come to expect from Crucial SSDs such as partial power loss protection, RAIN, TCG Opal 2.0, etc.

The Crucial MX200 will be offered in capacities of 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB in the 2.5″ 7mm, mSATA, and M.2 form factors. They will carry a warranty period of 3 years, and thanks to improvements in manufacturing at the 16nm node, the MX200 will carry an endurance rating of 80 TBW, 160 TBW and 320 TBW for the 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB drvies respectively. Pricing is expected to be $139.99 for the 256GB model ($0.55/GB), $249.99 for the 500GB model ($0.50/GB), and $469.99 for the 1TB model ($0.47/GB). The Crucial MX200 is expected to be available 1Q2015.

Crucial BX100

Next up is Crucial’s BX100, which is an all new SSD for Crucial aimed at the entry level/first time SSD buyer market. For the first time ever, Crucial will be using a Silicon Motion 2246EN controller paired with Micron’s latest 16nm 128Gb NAND.

Since the Crucial BX100 is an entry level drive, performance is rated at up to 535/450 MB/s sequential reads/writes and up to 90K/70K IOPS 4K random reads/writes for the 500GB/1TB capacities and even lower performance for the smaller capacity drives. The BX100 will also drop several key features available to the MX series or higher SSDs such as partial power loss protection, TCG Opal 2.0, RAIN, etc.

The Crucial BX100 will be offered in capacities of 120GB, 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB in only the 2.5″ 7mm form factor. It’ll carry a warranty of 3 years and an endurance rating of 72 TBW across the board. MSRP is very competitive at $69.99 for the 120GB model ($0.58/GB), $109.99 for the 250GB model ($0.44/GB), $199.99 for the 500GB model ($0.40/GB), and $399.99 for the 1TB model ($0.40/GB). The Crucial BX100 is expected to be available 1Q2015.

Crucial Storage Executive

Along with the two new SSDs, Crucial is also unveiling Crucial Storage Executive which is a new software suite designed for users with the Crucial M500, M550, MX100, MX200, BX100 SSD, or newer. The software suite will start with several features such as SSD health check, firmware update, PSID revert, SSD sanitize, SMART data check, etc. but we were told that Crucial will be looking into adding more features down the road.

Those with a Crucial M500, M550, or MX100 and a Windows OS can go ahead and download the software via Crucial’s website here.

CES 2015: Crucial Unveils MX200, BX100 Entry Level SSDs, Crucial Storage Executive Software Suite - Custom PC Review

For CES 2015, Kingston showed off several new SSDs including the Marvell Altaplus powered HyperX Predator M.2 PCIe SSD, which we first covered back at Computex last year.

Spec wise, the HyperX Predator SSD hasn’t really changed much. It’s still based on the Marvell 88SS9293 Altaplus controller, it’ll use Toshiba’s 2nd generation 19nm toggle mode MLC, and it’s still very very fast. Performance is expected to clock in at ~1,400/~1,000 MB/s sequential reads/writes and ~100K+/~100K+ 4K random read/write IOPS via PCIe Gen 2 x4, but Kingston says they’re still working on tuning the drive for better performance. Currently the drive is only available in the AHCI interface with no plans for NVMe support.

Kingston also showed off their sleek new blacked out HHHL adapter which will be an optional accessory with the HyperX Predator when it becomes available in the near future. The adapter is a PCIe Gen 2 x4 PCIe adapter and appears to support both M.2 2280 (22mm x 80mm) and M.2 22110 (22mm x 110mm). It’s likely that the 960GB HyperX Predator SSD will use the M.2 22110 form factor given the limited amount of space available on the M.2 2280 form factor.

The Kingston HyperX Predator M.2 SSD will be available in capacities of 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB. Kingston expects to ship the 240GB and 480GB models as soon as next month with the 960GB model following sometime in 1H2015. Pricing is still unavailable at this time.

In addition to the HyperX Predator SSD, Kingston also revealed the replacement for the Kingston HyperX 3K SSD, the HyperX Savage. With the SandForce SF-2200 series controller now about five years old, Kingston is making the jump to Phison with their upcoming Savage SSD. As such, the Savage will be powered by Phison’s latest PS3110-S10 8 channel, quad core controller. Performance on the drive is expected to reach 560/540 MB/s sequential reads/writes.

The Kingston HyperX Savage will be available in capacities of 120GB, 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB in 1H2015. Pricing is currently unavailable at this time.

CES 2015: Kingston’s HyperX Predator M.2 PCIe SSD, HyperX Savage SATA SSD - Custom PC Review

As one of the pioneers in the consumer M.2 PCIe SSD arena with the M6e M.2 PCIe SSD, Plextor is planning to continue pushing the boundaries of SSD performance with a new Marvell Altaplus powered Plextor M7e PCIe M.2 SSD which was on display at their suite at CES 2015.

In terms of onboard hardware, the Plextor M7e will be based on Marvell’s 88SS9293 Altaplus controller paired with Toshiba A19nm toggle mode MLC NAND. Performance wise, Plextor demonstrated the M7e to be capable of up to ~1,400/~1,000 MB/s sequential reads/writes via a PCIe Gen 2 x4 AHCI interface. In a demo at their CES suite, Plextor displayed Crystal Disk Mark results for the Plextor M7e (left) against the Samsung XP941 (right).

The Plextor M7e is expected to launch sometime in the 2H2015 and pricing is still unknown at this time.

CES 2015: Plextor’s M7e M.2 PCIe SSD Pushes 1,400MB/s - Custom PC Review

In addition to the Plextor M7e, Plextor also revealed their new Plextor M6e Black Edition, which improves on the currently available Plextor M6e M.2 PCIe SSD.

In terms of hardware, the drive uses the same Marvell 88SS9183 controller paired with the same Toshiba A19nm toggle mode MLC NAND used in the vanilla M6e, but it receives small firmware tweaks pushing 4K random read/write performance up to 105K/100K IOPS. Sequential read/write performance remains unchanged with the drive capable of up to 770/625 MB/s over a PCIe Gen 2 x2 AHCI interface.

Plextor will also offer users a new and improved M.2 to PCIe Gen 2 x4 HHHL adapter card as well which will house the Plextor M6e Black Edition SSD. The new adapter features a beautiful black and red heatsink along with numerous LED lights to indicate when the drive is being accessed.

The biggest feature for the Plextor M6e Black Edition however is that it’ll support Plextor’s latest PlexTurbo 2.0 caching software which uses memory caching to seamlessly improve storage performance. The first iteration of this memory caching software was introduced with the Plextor M6 Pro SSD back at Computex 2014. Currently only Plextor and Samsung have seamlessly integrated memory caching software to help improve storage subsystem performance.

The Plextor M6e Black Edition is expected to be available in capacities of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB later this month. Pricing is still unavailable at this time.

CES 2015: Plextor’s M6e Black Edition Packs PlexTurbo 2.0 Caching - Custom PC Review

Without a doubt, CES 2015 has been a huge show for SSD companies as practically everybody had something interesting to show. One of those companies is OCZ Storage Solutions who was quite excited to reveal their upcoming JetExpress SSD controller, which according to the company had been in the works for several years.

The biggest feature for the new JetExpress controller is that it’s going to be very versatile. With a physical footprint that can fit into a 22mm wide M.2 form factor, the JetExpress controller will natively support both PCIe Gen 3 x4 and SATA along with AHCI and NVMe. This will allow both future consumer and enterprise SATA and PCIe SSDs to utilize the same controller albeit a different firmware configuration.

Additionally, the JetExpress controller will get all the features you’d expect from a modern SSD controller such as low power states and DevSleep for mobile applications, TCG Opal 2.0/IEEE-1667 support for advanced hardware encryption, and LDPC error correction support to help greatly improve NAND endurance.

Speaking of LDPC error correction (ECC), JetExpress will actually support both the simpler BCH ECC that’s fairly common today and the more advanced LDPC ECC algorithms that everyone has been transitioning to thanks to the proliferation of lower endurance TLC NAND. OCZ tells us that depending on the application, the JetExpress controller can actually be set to use BCH ECC, LDPC ECC, or a hybrid ECC mode. For applications where most performance is most needed, BCH ECC will be used throughout the SSD’s life while applications that need the longest endurance will use LDPC ECC throughout its life. OCZ will also offer a hybrid ECC mode that uses faster BCH ECC in the beginning of the SSD’s lifetime and switches to slower LDPC ECC as the drive ages, but this adds a bit of unpredictability in drive performance down the line which may be undesirable for enterprise applications.

In terms of the architecture, JetExpress will use a multi-core design and will carry over the same Aragon co-processor first introduced with the Barefoot 3 controller. While we weren’t told exactly how many cores would be available in JetExpress, we were told that it’d be quite a bit more than what you’d find in the Barefoot 3. The JetExpress controller can also support up to 10-channels in parallel, but the number of channels that will actually be utilized will depend on the application. SATA consumer drives for example can use 8 channels while select PCIe enterprise drives could use 10 channels.

Native support for PCIe Gen 3 x4 and an improved memory controller with support for up to 32GB of DRAM will give the JetExpress controller plenty of room to push the boundaries of performance and capacities down the road. PCIe Gen 3 x4 has a maximum theoretical bandwidth of up to 32Gb/s (~4GB/s) and speaking with OCZ representatives, the JetExpress controller can easily support 2TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB or larger SSDs – the biggest limiting factor being the amount of NAND that can be crammed onto a physical drive.

OCZ expects to begin shipping JetExpress in the 1H2015 to enterprise customers  while a rollout to consumer drives is expected to begin in 2H2015.

CES 2015: OCZ Reveals New JetExpress SSD Controller, Expects to Ship 1H2015 - Custom PC Review

A federal court in Northern California recently granted a preliminary injunction stopping the sale of SSD controllers sold by Canadian chipmaker, Diablo Technologies. The Diablo Technologies’ SSD controllers in question are most notably used in SanDisk’s ULLtraDIMM SSDs and IBM’s eXFlash modules. These SSDs exploit the much faster DRAM interface to achieve higher performance and lower latency than traditional non-volatile storage interfaces such as SATA, SAS, or PCIe.

The injunction was filed against Diablo Technologies by Netlist, a Southern California company who produces non-volatile memory modules similar to SanDisk’s ULLtraDIMM SSDs. The federal court found that Diablo Technologies misused “… the technology that Diablo had been given in confidence under the Supply Agreement [with Netlist]…” and by doing so, “…Diablo gained an advantage it would not have otherwise had…”

In addition to stopping the sale and manufacture of the Diablo Technologies SSD controllers in question, the preliminary injunction will also stop the sale and manufacture of any product currently using the controller as well. SanDisk requested a motion of reconsideration to sell their remaining inventory of ULLtraDIMM SSDs; however, the motion was denied with the federal court noting that SanDisk and Smart Storage, a SSD company SanDisk acquired in 2013, “are ‘persons who are in active concert with’ Diablo.” Several OEMs that have previously announced plans to incorporate ULLtraDIMMs into their server offerings include Supermicro, Lenovo and Huawei.

“We are very pleased with the court’s decision”, said C.K. Hong, Netlist’s Chief Executive Officer. “We believe this extraordinary legal ruling is a validation of what we’ve said from the beginning about Diablo’s flagrant actions. The ruling serves as a major step towards establishing the rightful ownership of the intellectual property contained in the ULLtraDIMM, and clears the path for Netlist products based on our proprietary memory interface technology. We look forward to the opportunity to present all of the evidence to a jury, particularly given the court’s assessment of our likelihood of prevailing.”

The preliminary injunction will be followed by a trial date on March 9, 2015. A permanent injunction may be issued after the trial if Diablo Technologies is found guilty of Netlist’s allegations.

Source: PR Newswire

Preliminary Injunction Halts Sale of SanDisk ULLtraDIMM SSDs, IBM eXFlash Modules - Custom PC Review