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Speed may be a relative thing, but whatever you choose to compare Micron’s new RealSSD P320h series to, you’ll probably find them pretty competitive. Coming in 350GB and 700GB capacities, these PCI Express solid state drives can process data at a rate of 3GB per second and write it at a no less impressive 2GBps. If you’re more interested in input / output operations per second, the P320h clocks in at 750,000 IOPS when running Linux or 650,000 with Windows Server as the OS. You don’t need us to tell you that both numbers represent screaming-fast performance. Such mighty feats are achieved with the use of 34nm SLC NAND flash memory and Micron’s own controller chip. Samples of the P320h are trickling out now and mass production is coming in the third quarter of 2011, and while no pricing info has been offered yet, it’s safe to say you’ll be needing your company CFO’s blessing before making any P320h purchases. Video and full PR after the break.

Continue reading Micron RealSSD P320h can read 3GBps, write 2GBps, impress millions of geeks per second

Micron RealSSD P320h can read 3GBps, write 2GBps, impress millions of geeks per second originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 03:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Popping up in everything from tablets to servers, plain old solid-state drives are becoming as mundane as floppy disks were in the ’90s, so it’s about time someone got a little creative with the soldering iron. OCZ‘s RevoDrive Hybrid takes a HDD and puts it where it doesn’t belong — on top of an SSD. But unlike that deep fried Oreo you really shouldn’t have “tasted” at the state fair, this pairing has potential to keep the juices flowing, caching reads and writes for both drives on a single PCIe card. Shipping in July, the $350 base Hybrid is expected to include a 500GB HDD and 60GB SSD, with a premium model doubling both capacities (and we assume price). With OCZ out of the memory game, we hope to see the now strictly SSD company bring innovative, affordable flash-based goodies to market, and it looks like we’re off to a decent start.

RevoDrive Hybrid pairs HDD with SSD on PCIe originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gigabyte has decided to simplify matters for those who want the power of an SSD in their desktop, but don’t want to deal with the hassle of buying and connecting one. The company’s new Z68XP-UD3-iSSD (catchy, no?) motherboard comes with a 20GB Intel SSD 311 mounted right on it. It’s not clear if you can simply dump files on it like a normal drive — what it can do, however, is use Intel’s Smart Response tech to cache frequently accessed data, like your OS, to improve performance. Essentially, it turns any hard disk you connect to the system into a hybrid drive with a much larger reserve of flash storage, which should sound somewhat familiar. The board also features the ability to switch between discrete and built-in graphics thanks to Lucid Logix’s Virtu. The rest of the features are pretty standard fare: USB 3.0, a pair of 16x PCI-E slots, and 6GB SATA connections. The latest Z68 board from Gigabyte will go on sale early in June and, while we don’t have a price, we’ve done a little (PR) embedding of our own after the break.

Continue reading Gigabyte bolts an SSD to a motherboard (so you don’t have to)

Gigabyte bolts an SSD to a motherboard (so you don’t have to) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 May 2011 15:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are SSDs and then there are SSDs — the Texas Memory Systems (TMS) RamSan-70 is definitely the latter, packing 900GB of high-speed SLC NAND flash onto a single half-length PCIe card. Boasting an incredible 2GB-per-second sustained external throughput, this near-terabyte solid state drive is clearly overkill for most of us, considering that it’s guaranteed to have a sky-high price (once details are released). Instead, the “900GB Gorilla,” as it’s come to be known around TMS HQ, is destined for high-end servers — though we certainly wouldn’t object to clearing out a slot in our desktop, if by some miracle we can afford this monster when it starts shipping in four to eight weeks.

Continue reading TMS RamSan-70 SSD packs 2GB-per-second throughput, up to 900GB capacity

TMS RamSan-70 SSD packs 2GB-per-second throughput, up to 900GB capacity originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 May 2011 08:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember Intel’s Larsen Creek SSD? It’s not alone. By the end of the year, it looks like Intel expects to ship five new solid state storage series in total — some of them even speedier than its current SSD 510 Series flagship. We managed to obtain this leaked roadmap listing the potential additions, and we’re afraid to ask how much the new kings of the hill might cost — the “Ramsdale” SSD 720 Series uses up to 400GB of SLC NAND in a PCI Express card form factor, and the “Lyndonville” SSD 710 series with a similar quantity of enterprise-grade MLC flash. There’s also a direct successor to the current top-of-the-line in the “Cherryville” SSD 520 Series, which will stretch all the way up to 480GB and down to 64GB in Q4 of this year, as well as Paint Creek, which seems destined for boot drives with only 80GB and 40GB capacities to choose from. Still, the most intriguing addition might be Larsen Creek after all, which sounds like it’s been purpose-built for caching data from your existing rotational storage. It’s slated to come in both 2.5-inch SATA and mSATA configurations in Q3 and uses SLC NAND, which suggests it won’t run cheap despite the tiny capacity here. We can’t wait to find out for sure.

Intel SSD 720, 710 and 520 Series leak out, Larsen Creek and Paint Creek bring up rear guard originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 05:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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