SSDs

Samsung Electronics has started mass production of its 9th generation of V-NAND memory. The first dies based on their latest NAND tech come in a 1 Tb capacity using a triple-level cell (TLC) architecture, with data transfer rates as high as 3.2 GT/s. The new 3D TLC NAND memory will initially be used to build high-capacity and high-performance SSDs, which will help to solidify Samsung's position in the storage market. Diving right in, Samsung is conspicuously avoiding to list the number of layers in their latest generation NAND, which is the principle driving factor in increasing capacity generation-on-generation. The company's current 8th gen V-NAND is 236 layers – similar to its major competitors – and word on the street is that 9th gen V-NAND ups...

Plextor M5M (256GB) mSATA Review

Plextor has been increasing their presence in the SSD market month by month. It's not a coincidence, we have been very pleased with all Plextor's drives that we have...

36 by Kristian Vättö on 4/17/2013

Plextor M5 Pro (128GB) SSD Giveaway

Plextor has been making a name for itself in the SSD space lately with its M-series of drives. The M3 and M5 lines are well received and remarkably competitive...

1842 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/15/2013

Hardware Accelerated BitLocker Encryption: Microsoft Windows 8 eDrive Investigated with Crucial M500

Most modern SSDs come with some form of hardware encryption. On these drives with hardware encryption, it’s usually permanently turned on - all data written to the NAND is...

46 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/10/2013

The Crucial/Micron M500 Review (960GB, 480GB, 240GB, 120GB)

This is probably the most excited I've been about any SSD launch in quite a while. At CES this year, Crucial announced its M500 SSD - the world's first...

111 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/9/2013

MyDigitalSSD BP4 2.5" & mSATA (240GB) Review

When I reviewed MyDigitalSSD's BP3, I have to say I was positively surprised. A relatively unknown manufacturer combined with a Phison controller is not the most promising mix. With...

35 by Kristian Vättö on 4/3/2013

Inside AnandTech 2013: All-SSD Architecture

When it comes to server hardware failures, I've seen them all with our own infrastructure. With the exception of CPUs, I've seen virtually every other component that could fail...

57 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 3/12/2013

Seagate to Discontinue 7200rpm 2.5" Drives Later This Year

Earlier today X-bit Labs reported that Seagate will stop the production of their 7200RPM 2.5" drives by the end of this year and I just got a confirmation from...

57 by Kristian Vättö on 3/1/2013

An Update on Intel's SSD 525 Power Consumption

Intel's SSD 525 is the mSATA version of last year's SF-2281 based Intel SSD 520. The drive isn't just physically smaller, but it also features a new version of...

8 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/20/2013

OCZ Releases Vertex 3.20 with 20nm IMFT NAND

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...

27 by Kristian Vättö on 2/20/2013

Microsoft Surface Pro mSATA SSD Upgrade: Dangerous but Successful

Unlike current ARM or Atom based tablets, Microsoft's Surface Pro integrates a full blown mSATA SSD. My review sample included a 128GB Micron C400, while I've seen reports of...

35 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/17/2013

Microsoft Surface Pro Teardown: mSATA SSD Inside

After we published our Surface Pro review I went back and updated it to confirm that the SSD inside was indeed of the mSATA variety. My particular review sample...

12 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/13/2013

Micron P400m Review (200GB)

Micron has remained one of the more stable players in the SSD space over the past few years. Although not typically at the top of our charts, Micron (and...

24 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/13/2013

Apple Is Now Using SanDisk SSDs in the Retina MacBook Pro As Well

There has always been some level of lottery involved when buying an SSD-equipped Mac. The first Mac to start the lottery was the 2010 MacBook Air, which initially used...

31 by Kristian Vättö on 2/5/2013

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...

26 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 2/3/2013

Intel Releases 180GB SSD 335

Intel released the SSD 335 in October last year but the initial launch included only the 240GB version. Today Intel is adding a 180GB model to the SSD 335...

14 by Kristian Vättö on 2/1/2013

Intel 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 1/30/2013

Intel'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 1/28/2013

Transcend 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 1/25/2013

MyDigitalSSD 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...

49 by Kristian Vättö on 1/22/2013

A Month with Apple's Fusion Drive

Apple has the luxury of not competing at lower price points for its Macs, which makes dropping hard drives an easier thing to accomplish. Even so, out of the...

127 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 1/18/2013

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