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Intel SSD 520 review roundup: Intel reliability, SandForce speeds starting at $149
There's plenty of SSD options out there, but Intel's NAND drives are among the most well thought of, simply because they're so reliable. But, with the top speed of competing SSDs spiraling higher, Intel's rock-solid reputation may not be enough for some enthusiasts. Enter the SSD 520, with a performance SandForce SF-2281 controller and custom firmware (codenamed Cherryville) on board to ensure the 520 meets Chipzilla's demanding standards for stability. It's the result of a year and a half long collaboration between Intel and SandForce, and is available in both 7mm and 9.5mm thin form factors to fit any machine -- Ultrabook or otherwise. Aside from the SandForce chip, the 520 packs Intel's finest 25nm NAND Flash, a SATA 6GB/s connection and its 550MB/s reads and 520MB/s writes can be had for $149 in 60GB garb and prices escalate up to a grand for 480GB. Naturally, as this is Intel's effort to snatch back the performance market, a raft of reviews have been written about the SSD 520.So, how does the 520 stack up? Well, Intel's so confident in the 520 that it's backed the SSD with a five-year warranty. Though its performance doesn't drastically outpace its competition, Storage Review found the drive to be on par with the current speed king, OCZ's Vertex 3 in its benchmarks -- and also found performance and stability to be quite good in both enterprise use and in RAID arrays. Meanwhile, AnandTech found that the 520's peak random write speeds quite similar to its sequential reads during testing, which shows how well the optimized firmware works with the NAND. Hot Hardware thought the 520 to be comparable to other SandForce-equipped SSDs, but in terms of power consumption, Tom's Hardware found Intel's latest to be a power hog. Generally, all the reviewers were in agreement: the 520 is a speedy SSD, but you pay a hefty premium for Intel's reputation for churning out reliable drives. Only time will tell if the 520 can deliver the reliability we want, but there's plenty of performance info to be had in the reviews listed below.
Kingston HyperX SSDs now shipping, SandForce-equipped for Hyperspeed
Brace yourselves speed freaks -- Kingston Digital is now shipping its latest 2.5-inch HyperX SSD drives, equipped with 6Gb/sec SATA Rev 3.0 and everyone's favorite SandForce SF-2281 controller. You want fast? You'll get fast, alright. This SSD's read / write speeds top out at 555MB/sec and 510MB/sec, which is surely enough to keep your rig zipping through those intense gaming marathons office workloads. You'll be able to pick up the drive itself with 120GB of storage for $270 or 240GB for $520, while the install kit -- which includes such goodies as a SATA cable, desktop mount, torque screws and more -- tacks on an extra $15 and $20, respectively. That pricing is only for a limited time though, so be sure to check the PR and hyper-edited video past the break for all the details.
RunCore outs T50 6Gb/s mSATA SSD, SandForce speeds included
It's finally here: a 6Gb/s mSATA SSD, rocking those highly coveted SandForce speeds. RunCore's new T50 series offers maximum sequential reads of 550 MB/s and writes of 470 MB/s, with the help of SandForce's SF-2281 controller (formerly relegated to the big boys). The little guy's being marketed for high-end portables and offers 60GB for $198 or 120GB for $358. The outfit's also touting the new I50 line, serving up more modest 280 MB/s reads and 270 MB/s writes based on SATA 3Gb/s. The I50's targeted at tablets and laptops, and ranges from $178 for 60GB to $308 for 120GB. We'll hold our final judgement for when we see these things hit the market in late July -- until then, you can peep the full PR after the break.
Corsair Force Series 3 SSDs: SandForce speed for modest money
Solid-state storage aficionados are well-versed in the virtues of SandForce controllers, and Corsair's new Force Series 3 drives pack a fresh version of the technology. Like the firm's Force GT, Series 3 delivers data using SATA III 6Gbps connections, but uses a newfangled SandForce SF-2281 controller to shoot your info to and fro at up to 550 MBps read and 520 MBps write speeds. The SSDs also perform 85,000 IOPS, which makes the 60,000 IOPS from similarly-priced offerings from OCZ look downright dilatory in comparison. Prices are $139 for 60GB, $219 for 120GB, and $499 for the 240GB version, so they still aren't cheap, but it's a small price to pay to dodge the dangers of disk-based storage.
OCZ's consumer-grade Vertex 3 SSD gets benched, SandForce SF-2281 helps it spank competition
We thought OCZ's Vertex 3 Pro was some flaming hot stuff, but solid state storage reviewers have mind-boggling news -- the plain ol' Vertex 3 will bring the same completely ludicrous 550MB / sec read speeds (plus even faster 525MB / sec writes) at a down-to-earth price. Previews found the Vertex 3's new SandForce SF-2281 controller and Micron 25nm flash memory chips edged out even its own enterprise-grade cousin in nearly every test -- with a few anomalies here and there -- and were reportedly too fast to achieve full performance with any SATA 6Gbps controller save the one in Intel's new Cougar Point chipset. Best of all, they claim that OCZ's targeting a price of just $250 for the 120GB version, or $500 for the 240GB drive benched here. That's still a chunk of change, but considering current-gen 120GB SSDs still cost over $200 street, it sounds like OCZ and SandForce are setting a bar that will drive down prices across the board. We can't wait. Read - AnandTech Read - Hot Hardware Read - Legit Reviews Read - PC Perspective Read - Storage Review
