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OCZ details Z-Drive R5 enterprise SSD, reckons it doubles speed of the R4
We've barely digested the carb-rich Z-Drive R4 and already OCZ wants to flaunt the next in its series of enterprise PCIe SSDs. The R5 sports an entirely new 'Kilimanjaro' controller platform (shown in the reference design above), developed in cahoots with Marvell and incorporated into each and every flash module that you might wish to add to the base card. These scalable controllers communicate directly with the host system, removing the need for an extra SATA RAID chip and thereby promising greater speeds -- especially as you pile on more modules. We won't get full specs until CES, but in the meantime OCZ has hinted at a doubling of the SandForce-based R4's performance, which could take us into the three million IOP realm. So long as the company also tackles the question of reliability on this new type of drive, then it'll likely be an easy sell. Check out the source link for more.
JMicron NAND flash controller could lead to significantly lower SSD prices
Truth be told, SSD prices have been declining at a noticeable tick since way back in 2007, but the reality is that the average consumer still can't afford one -- or, at least they aren't willing to pay the lofty premium for the decent increase in speed. If a bold claim from JMicron is to be believed, all that could change in the run-up to CES 2010. A new report has it that the aforesaid company will be demonstrating its new NAND flash controller next week at Computex, with the JMF612 aimed specifically at a "new generation of NAND flash chips built using smaller process geometries that will be entering the market soon." If all goes well, the cheap single-chip controller could lead to SSD prices falling by around 50 percent by Christmas, but after years of waiting for these things to really get priced for Joe Sixpack and his gaggle of siblings, we're still cautiously skeptical. Not that we wouldn't love to be proven wrong or anything.[Image courtesy of HotHardware]
