http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/index.htmlTrack SSD Flash Disk Drive Price Performance BenchmarksenMacGizmoGuyCopyright MacGizmoGuy2010-06-14T18:58:59-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:16:46 -0600MacGizmoGuyfast ssdfastest ssd2010-06-14T18:58:59-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/vertex-2-ultra-fast-ssd.html#unique-entry-id-31http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/vertex-2-ultra-fast-ssd.html#unique-entry-id-31
Well maybe it's all worth putting up with, cuz advancements in the OCZ Vertex 2 Series
and it's performance should make any speed freak geek happy. Max Read: up to 285MB/s, Max Write: up to 275MB/s, Sustained Write: up to 250MB/s. Take that Intel!

Of note is the change of DRIVE CAPACITY. With the Vertex 2 line, they're now in 50GB, 100GB, 200GB sizes. Lets assume OCZ is setting some room aside on the flash disk to make sure these drives to maintain peak performance over their lifetime. ]]>MacGizmoGuySSD Hardware2010-04-14T09:05:22-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/solid-state-hard-drives-2010.html#unique-entry-id-30http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/solid-state-hard-drives-2010.html#unique-entry-id-30
1. "Me Too" performance. Most SSD's are based on a very few drive and NAND flash controller chipsets available to OEMS. Some SSDs are simply rebranded OEM reference designs - and that puts many of them in the same ballpark of performance.

2. Incremental speed gains thru minor Firmware tweaks, cache size options and flash memory clock speed timing is what differentiates many drives in benchmark tests. But these performance differences may become less apparent to end users.

3. The emergence of SATA III - 6Gbps interface SSD drives. The new Serial ATA 3 spec provides the potential to DOUBLE SSD performance - in theory. As more personal computers begin to include SATA III controllers, solid-state drives will take advantage of the increased bandwidth.

4. 3.5" form-factor solid-state drives will become more common. Consumers want a drop-in drive replacement option and would rather not fuss with SSD adapters and brackets and whatnot.

5. The return of more SSD drives with USB mini ports built-in. JMicron's revised SSD controller chipset supports this very convenient USB transfer option. Many 2nd tier SSD suppliers will rebrand JMicron based drives and compete heavily in the cheap SSD 'value' end of the market.

6. JMicron 612 controller based SSDs won't suffer from the bad reputation of slow writes and 'stuttering' that plagued thier 1st and 2nd generaiton JMF 602 based SSDs. The JMF612 supports much larger DRAM cache sizes and works with a wider variety of NAND flash chips: Toshiba, Intel, and Micron - in addition to Samsung flash.

7. Intel's in-house design fab will continue to push the efficient and optimized SSD performance envelope. Intel will continue to be the SSD to beat.

8. Product branding and SSD naming conventions will continue to confuse buyers in the consumer market. What's the difference between an OCZ Summit - Vertex - Apex - Turbo - EX - Solid - Solid v2 and Solid 2 series SSD? Or... a SuperTalent LE - ME - GX - GX2 - DX drive? Deep analysis of the variants by cross-referencing spec sheets and Read/Write numbers will still be needed.

9. The arrival USB 3.0 SuperSpeed peripherals in 2010 will open up opportunites for SSD's to be used as external backup drives - Largely only for those who can afford the large capacities most people want in a back-up disk.

10. SSD price competition will likely be heaviest in the 128Gb drive market. It seems to be the sweet spot of SSD affordabillity with enough capacity to meet most users needs. Price pressure - and endless rebate promos will likely pull these down from around $400 closer to $300 by the end of 2010.

]]>MacGizmoGuyBest SSD Models2009-10-12T01:15:05-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/2009-top-performing-ssd-disks.html#unique-entry-id-29http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/2009-top-performing-ssd-disks.html#unique-entry-id-29
The best value lies in these few drives: An OCZ Agility, A Super Talent UltraDrive ME, The Patriot Torqx or Warp V3 Series, and an OCZ Vertex & Summit -- or perhaps a RAID 0 Apex. The rest of the chart below - from BenchMarkReviews.com - was cropped out - It just wasn't worth bothering with - altho Corsair's latest Samsung/Indilinx models probably should have had a spot on the list, as the still highly respectable Intel SSD G1 and G2 drives.

In the OCZ Vertex drive variants and Firmware Revs shown below - the performance differences may matter only to the incremental Tweaky-Geeks who live by a stop-watch or have bleeding-edge wallets. The designs, controller chips, clock-speed of the flash memory chips used - are all leveling out to a basic commodity used in most of the drives these days. Any of the handful of SSD's above will deliver GREAT performance far, far exceeding your original SATA hard drive.


]]>MacGizmoGuyPatriot SSD2009-07-12T13:33:36-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/new-generation-ssd-torqx.html#unique-entry-id-28http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/new-generation-ssd-torqx.html#unique-entry-id-28Patriot Torqx solid-state drives using the same 'Barefoot' Indilinx controller for comparable performance to OCZ's highly respected Vertex lineup.

As this consolidation in the flash memory drive market continues - and as OEM components used in the marjority of drives becomes more common -- Price, and not 'me too' performance will differentiate variosu brands of drives. Performance will flatline somewhat because they're using basically the same hardware, so a leveling of the playing field will characterize the SSD drive market in late 2009. Several companies are now using the Indilinx or Samsung controller chipset - and regardless of brand - you'll love the smooth performance!

On the low-end, JMicron is revising it's somewhat dissapointing controller chip with a redesign and larger cache. Should help with occasional SSD Write issues and noticeably improve SSD performance on the value end of the market.

]]>MacGizmoGuyOCZ SSD2009-06-08T22:32:21-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/colossus-3.5-form-factor-ssd-drive#unique-entry-id-26http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/colossus-3.5-form-factor-ssd-drive#unique-entry-id-26
Coming later this year: At Computex, OCZ pre-announced its OCZ Colossus and Cascade SSD line - which will feature dual Indilinx controllers and a JMicron RAID chipset to deliver huge storage capacity, stunning performance, and the drop-in ease of a standard 3.5" form factor for desktop systems.

For those of us with more meager budgets and smaller needs - OCZ has revamped it's mid to 'low-end' lineup with an affordable MLC drive: Check out these prices on OCZ Agility Series SSD drives. This 'value' drive is nothing-to-sneeze-at with an improved controller chip and decent cache. Peak read performance reaches 220Mpbs altho it's write speeds are more modest - just under the Apex SSD line. The Agility series is likey to make a phase-out of the Core and Solid SSD lines highly likely as technology marches on.]]>MacGizmoGuyOCZ SSD2009-05-20T17:17:15-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ocz-summit-ssds-real-soon-now.html#unique-entry-id-25http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ocz-summit-ssds-real-soon-now.html#unique-entry-id-25
Coming down the pipe: OCZ's latest SSD iteration, the OCZ Summit Series SSD pushes MLC solid state technology to the next level with a larger 128mb buffer size and using Samsung's state of the art controller chipset and NAND flash modules (vs 64mb buffer and Infilinx controller used in the already admirably performing Vertex series.)

As we've seen before in OCZ's lineup: The larger 120GB and 250GB SSD's have different, better, faster peak Write specs than the smaller 60GB model. (200Mbps writes for the larger drives vs. 125Mbps for the 60GB) -- tho all claim 220Mbps Reads. These larger size drives aren't shipping yet at Amazon.com, but the 60GB version is listed as 1-3 day shipping.
]]>MacGizmoGuyNew SSD Drives2009-05-05T10:17:03-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/patriot-fusion-ssd-larger-cache.html#unique-entry-id-23http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/patriot-fusion-ssd-larger-cache.html#unique-entry-id-2364MB of DRAM cache is the next in their lineup. As with other new models of solid-state disk drives arriving for Summer 2009 --upping the amount of the onboard DRAM cache buffer is giving SSD manufacturers an easy way to increase overall write performance and data transfer rates.

Much as with traditional spinning platter drives - and the use of cache in general when it comes to computers - cache behaves rather predictably: A little cache helps ALOT, a bit more helps a bit more incrementally -- but at some point the performance curve tends to flatten out very quickly.

Part Number	Description	UPC
PFZ256GS25SSDR	Patriot Fusion 256GB SSD	0879699008242
PFZ128GS25SSDR	Patriot Fusion 128GB SSD	0879699008211
PFZ64GS25SSDR	Patriot Fusion 64GB SSD	0879699008204

]]>MacGizmoGuyPCI SSDeSATA SSDUSB SSD2009-04-27T16:17:56-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-raid-cards-usb-esata-support.html#unique-entry-id-22http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-raid-cards-usb-esata-support.html#unique-entry-id-22


PQI has announced a rather interesting line of upcoming solid-state storage products an Express Card SSD for laptops with pop-out optional USB connector, and an external SSD drive with both flip out external eSATA and USB for maximum versatility.
]]>MacGizmoGuySSD Hardware2009-04-20T12:37:56-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/gskill-falcon-controller-speed-improvements.html#unique-entry-id-21http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/gskill-falcon-controller-speed-improvements.html#unique-entry-id-21
G.Skill Falcon FM-25S2S-128GBF1

All things being relatively equal, we'll rapidly hit a point in the SSD market where given tiers of SSD's will start seeing rather predictable performance. As SSD's commoditize, PRICE, WARRANTY, TECH SUPPORT and the perceived value of the BRAND in the consumer market to become the differentiators as the raw numbers start to equalize.]]>MacGizmoGuyDisk Benchmarks2009-04-10T15:28:38-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-benchmark-nerds-need-to-get-a-life.html#unique-entry-id-20http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-benchmark-nerds-need-to-get-a-life.html#unique-entry-id-20

But leave it to the TWEAK-GEEKS to overanalyze this exploding SSD market to death. These guys - and they ARE guys - you'd think they were re-living their teenage dream-car, hot-rod rods by jamming the disk-bashing benchmark rulers are far into their pubic bones as possible to get to the TRUTH about what solid-state drives are packin'.

Let's keep it simple: SSD's start your computer faster than you knew possible, your applications open in a literal 'flash' of high-speed memory cells, and most will realize what a sluggish bottle-neck their old, spinning-platter hard drive really was. We'll be glad we upgraded to an SSD and then the rest of us simply get back to running our biz and personal lives, managing our correspondence and entertainment with satisfying responsiveness.

Here at www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com the point is to simply point out that SSD storage is here, it's performance is already great and getting better, it's easy to find an exceptional deal on one - and is a worthwhile, AFFORDABLE upgrade to an aging computer. Hard drives die from mechanical failure at an alarming rate - and if your's starts to croak or gives you the dreaded CLICKS OF DEATH - consider an SSD. The solid-state drive market has really come together in 2009 and has a long, long future ahead of it.]]>MacGizmoGuyMac SSD2009-04-08T17:56:46-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/apple-mac-ssd-drive-from-ocz.html#unique-entry-id-19http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/apple-mac-ssd-drive-from-ocz.html#unique-entry-id-19
As of Spring 2009, the Vertex solid-state drive is OCZ's top performing MLC SSD drive. A next-generation controller chip coupled with 64mb of onboard cache gives this SATA II solid-state disk superlative Read - and most importantly - equally impressive Write performance. The OCZ Vertex line delivers a VERY, very fast SSD to rival the one to beat: the Intel X25-M 80GB MLC drive -- but the Vertex delivers 120GB of capacity for about the same amount of money.

Today, OCZ announced a "Mac Edition" model of the Vertex supposedly certified by Apple. Whether there's special Firmware tweaks involved to optimize performance on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or 10.5 Leopard was unknown till a day or two later: Supposedly the Mac version's quoted speeds are throttled back a bit to better match OSX's drivers. This isn't THAT big of a deal, OCZ did the same detuning to the Apex Firmware to make it perform better OVERALL rather than appease the flat-out fastest of the benchmarking NERDS who are out to shave precious micro-seconds off their trivial geeked-out lives. Regardless, the Vertex is faster than snot, affordable - and most importantly -- it's nice to have OCZ recognize the value in speaking to Apple Computer's ever-growing market share.]]>MacGizmoGuySSD Hardware2009-03-31T23:27:00-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/oem-ssd-vs-brand-name-solid-state-disks.html#unique-entry-id-18http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/oem-ssd-vs-brand-name-solid-state-disks.html#unique-entry-id-18
There was a time in the traditional hard disk drive industry when there were many players: Kalok, Quantum, Maxtor, Micropolis to name but a forgotten few that vanished, were acquired, or simply became a leveraged brand name. Spinning platter drive companies have been basically reduced down to the Big Four: Hitachi, Western Digital, Seagate and Samsung.

In the Solid-State Drive market you have very different players: the few MEMORY and CONTROLLER CHIP manufacturers around the globe where the guts of what's inside SSD are spec'd by a hanful of companies Intel, Micron, Samsung, and Indilinx. In exemplum, Samsung seems happy to OEM to lesser but recognizable brands. Intel SSD's are being rebranded by Kingston Memory and A-Data - but it's moot if they don't have a lower street price than Intel's. So what's the point there?

There'll be ruthless fallout and consolidation to come, great SSD's, mediocre performing SSD's, grey-box generic SSDs with the same guts as 'The Brands You Know - And Trust". And the difference between the OEM SSD and the Popular brands may only be in the packaging, marketing, and depth and length of warranty. The solid-state disk market is like it's hard platter drive counterpart - SOLID-STATE STORAGE ALREADY IS AND WILL BE A MASSIVE COMMODITY MARKET - that will inevitably have razor-thin margins but become a billion-ssd-drives-per-year industry where there's plenty of razor-thin slices of pie to go around.]]>MacGizmoGuyCheap SSD Drives2009-03-15T23:45:40-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/cheap-ssd-solid-state-drives-via-rebate.html#unique-entry-id-17http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/cheap-ssd-solid-state-drives-via-rebate.html#unique-entry-id-17www.solid-state-drives.com will be tracking SSD prices and new and ongoing SSD rebates a bit more clearly on the main page. Rebates are a great way to buy the best performing SDD's at the lowest cost per gigabyte.

These days SSD rebates are often very short lived, have a narrow range of purchase dates that may be limited to a singe week, and must be mailed in and postmarked rather shortly after purchase as well. And many rebates and their forms are Retailer specific. They're literally 'banking on' and hoping you WON'T submit your rebate properly, won't provide the right form and proofs of purchase, and won't do it within specified time limits. So beat 'em at their own game, read the fine print, and double-check everything before mailing it in.

Currently, rebates on SSD disks are ranging from $10 on 30gb/32gb SSDs up to $50 on the latest high-capacity 256gb SSDs. The savings can lower your solid-state drive cost from 15%-20% per gigabyte with good timing. Middle of the pack performing MLC-type SSD's are now easily had for about $2/gig with careful rebate shopping and timing. Higher performing and higher-capacity MLC SSD disks are still in the $3-$6/gb range. And the top Read/Write benchmarks you can only achieve with single-layer SLC SSD's still command $10 or more per gigabyte.





]]>MacGizmoGuyApple SSD2009-03-13T23:57:08-05:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/g5-imac-ssd-disk-swap-replacement.html#unique-entry-id-16http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/g5-imac-ssd-disk-swap-replacement.html#unique-entry-id-16
These early generation G5 iMacs are a breeze to upgrade. 3 screws and pop off the back lid. A few more to remove and swap the SATA drive takes mere minutes. Finding an ICY DOCK MB882SP-1S 2.5" to 3.5" SSD & SATA Hard Drive Converter to fit the 3.5" drive bay was easy enough, and barely cost $25 shipped using competitive priced 3rd-party sellers at Amazon

Taking advantage of OCZ's current SSD rebates - I found a dirt-cheap low-cost OCZ 30gig Solid Series SATA 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive that cost $75 after rebate.

Granted, 30GB isn't much drive space these days, and the "Value priced" Solid Series from OCZ is only a respectable middle-of-the-road performer for an MLC SSD in 2009: 150mbps peak Reads, 90mbps Writes. For this backup Mac I keep on-hand, truly bleeding edge SSD speed doesn't matter. And is well matched to the SATA I controller chip of those iMacs anyways.

A clean OS X 10.4 Tiger install on an SSD takes much less disk space than 10.5 Leopard, and all I really need from this system is occasional access to web, email and Microsoft Office. It's also used a test-bench Mac for starting up other G3-G5 Macs in an emergency using FireWire target mode, remotely running disk diagnostics and system updates. An SSD and it's high read speeds is PERFECT for quickly running installers and applying updates.

Long story short, this cheap little bargain SSD drive UTTERLY REVITALIZED an aging Mac: Startup speed, app launching, and switching programs feels nothing short of amazing. It's still easy to push the old single G5 processor to 100% CPU utilization on some tasks, but at least now the drive is no longer the sluggish bottleneck it once was. Total project cost: About $100 - and well worth it.


]]>MacGizmoGuySSD RAID2009-03-01T11:24:51-06:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/hardware-raid-in-Apex-drive.html#unique-entry-id-15http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/hardware-raid-in-Apex-drive.html#unique-entry-id-15
To get to the next level of performance in its SSD disk line-up; the new Apex series SSD is using two JMicron JMF602 Flash controller chips along with a JMB390 RAID chip. The Apex series is effectively a pair SSDs in RAID 0 "Stripe" configuration across the 2 banks of MLC flash RAM. At the top end you’ll see that the RAID setup helps the OCZ OCZSSD2-1APX120G 120GB SATA 2 Apex Series Solid State Drive and 250GB models attain a Write speed of "up to 160MB/s". But note in fine print the 60GB model has a Write speed of "up to 110MB/s" so there's a bit of an overall performance ding with the low-end, most affordable Apex model.]]>MacGizmoGuyApple SSD2009-02-10T06:08:38-06:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/a9f916ade173463c7bf974c04001715e-11.html#unique-entry-id-11http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/a9f916ade173463c7bf974c04001715e-11.html#unique-entry-id-11
SOME MACS ARE EASY TO SSD UPGRADE SOME NOT:

EASIEST APPLE SSD DRIVE SWAPS:
G5 Mac Tower or Mac Pro Intel: Slide in 3.5" adapter mounted SATA drives.
G5 Early iMacs: 3 Screws to remove back panel, fairly easy SATA to SSD swap with 3.5" adapter.
G4 Towers: Use ATA SSD's - Usually swapable with 5 screws or so.
Classic White Intel MacBook: 3 Screws under battery to access 2.5" SATA drive.
New Aluminum MacBook and MacBook Pro SSD Upgrade : EASY access under battery cover.

SLIGHTLY DIFFICULT:
Titanium PowerBook: 7 Torx screws on bottom plate, reasonable ATA 2.5" SSD swap
Mac Minis: G4's use ATA, Intel models use SATA. Tricky to pop the case, tight bit of work

ONLY FOR BENCH TECHS
Early Aluminum PowerBooks whether G4 or Intel, Nerve-wracking a bazillion micro-screws
G3 and G4 iBooks: Major dissassembly often required, let a PRO do it.
Intel G5 iMacs with foil-wrapped sheilding and innards, pain in the ass

These latter Mac's are a daunting dissassembly task - not for the casual consumer to try to attempt.

]]>MacGizmoGuySSD Hardware2009-01-14T15:16:18-06:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ocz-vertex-apex-solid-series-drives.html#unique-entry-id-10http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ocz-vertex-apex-solid-series-drives.html#unique-entry-id-10
CONFUSED YET? -- Keeping up with SSD products and drive developments isn't easy. OCZ is kind of complicating things with it's SSD product line and naming scheme.

It would be nice if SSD manufacturers could establish some sort of benchmark standard - and name drives accordingly. Sometimes part numbers containing an 'S' or an 'M' give a clue as to whether top-performing SLC memory is used vs. more affordable MLC memory. Or perhaps drives could be numbered by their max Read speed benchmarks: i.e. We need something like the 150 Series for up to 150mbps reads, the 200-Series for 200mbps, etc. But no. Intel ain't doing too bad with it's simply divided product line: XM - MLC 'Mainstream' series or XE - SLC 'Enhanced'. Pelican SSD's are broken into the value MLC 'Pelican' models and the high-flying SLC 'Eagle' Series.

OCZ is kind of complicating things with it's SSD product line and naming scheme. We started with the Core Series then the Core Series V2 - then to the Solid Series then the Vertex Series and now to the Apex Series. But what do these names MEAN?!?

Core: 155 Read - 90 Write
Solid: 170 Read - 98 Write
Vertex : 200 Read 170 Write - 64Mb Cache Onboard
Apex: 230 Read 160 Write** (Write speeds revised LOWER to 120 in shipping firmware. OCZ opted to reduce peak Writes to minimize intermittent 'stuttering' problems exhibited in the JMicron controller chips.)

OCZ OCZSSD2-1VTX30G 30GB SATA 2 Vertex Series Solid State Drive Touts 200MB/sec Read, 170MB/sec Writes... so in a way it is their current best OVERALL performer using an Indilinx controller.


60GB Apex Series Solid State Drive will debut just under $300 The Apex line oddly NOT the peak of performance compared to the Vertex: It still uses a less-than-optimal JMicron controller - but compensates with 2 banks of MLC NAND flash in an internal RAID 0 config to get the most performance at a lower-cost.]]>MacGizmoGuySSD Adapter2009-01-02T23:41:11-06:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/a-data-sata-raid-3.5-enclosure#unique-entry-id-8http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/a-data-sata-raid-3.5-enclosure#unique-entry-id-82-drive SSD adapter-enclosure RAID product from A-Data - slip 2 2.5" solid-state drives into this to have a standard 3.5" form-factor module to install into a desktop PC. It's innovation is an external hardware sitch to choose between JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, Span, SAFE33, SAFE50, or GUI modes. Nice!]]>MacGizmoGuySSD Hardware2008-12-30T22:01:27-06:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-icy-dock-sata-drive-adapter.html#unique-entry-id-7http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-icy-dock-sata-drive-adapter.html#unique-entry-id-7Convert your 2.5 SSD to standard 3.5" mounts w/an ICY DOCK ADAPTER CASE

]]>MacGizmoGuySSD Hardware2008-12-10T12:21:33-06:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/25889a7ae1b45b86318141024df62d92-6.html#unique-entry-id-6http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/25889a7ae1b45b86318141024df62d92-6.html#unique-entry-id-6
SSD drive manufacturers TALK first - SHIP product in quantity LATER. So there's a lag between technological developments and when it reaches the consumer marketplace. It makes it hard to commit to an SSD drive purchase when something bigger, better gets announced every week.

Today - OCZ Technology Group announced a successor to their CORE Series - The VERTEX SSD product line with their newest architecture and controller design complete with 64MB of cache to offer faster transfers and superior overall system response. The Vertex Series promises performance and reliability of SSDs at less price per gigabyte than other high speed offerings currently on the market and offers the latest breakthroughs in MLC SSD technology:New architecture and controller design, 200MB/sec read and 160MB/sec write speeds. Yowza! Won't be long and even a SATA II 300mbps drive bus will be saturated by data flying out the SSD. I feel a new SATA III 600mbps spec coming on, don't you?]]>MacGizmoGuySSD TechnologySSD Speed2008-11-17T08:12:27-06:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/intel-ssd-x25-max-performance-drive.html#unique-entry-id-4http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/intel-ssd-x25-max-performance-drive.html#unique-entry-id-4
Intel Mainstream SATA SSDs deliver higher input/output per second and throughput performance than other SSDs on the market today - and drastically outperform traditional hard disk drives: Claiming Up to 250MB/s Read Speeds - Up to 170MB/s Write Speeds with 85 microsecond latency. These drives also feature low write amplification and a unique wear-leveling design for higher reliability - delivering SSD's that not only perform better - but last longer. Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) commands supported. The cost? Currently about $370 for an 80GB drive.

There's two models in the X25 line: The Intel SSDSA2MH080G1C5 X25-M 80GB MLC 2.5-Inch 9.5mm Solid State Drive with SLIGHTLY SLOWER WRITE speeds at a lower cost. And the X25-E - Extreme SLC - single-layer construction that will have FASTER WRITE speeds at a much higher cost. Initally introduced with 32 and 80gb models a higher-capacity X25-M 160GB SATA 2.5-Inch MLC Solid State Drive is now available.

]]>MacGizmoGuySSD Benchmarks2008-11-16T03:44:19-06:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-benchmarks-speed-transfer-mpbs.html#unique-entry-id-3http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-benchmarks-speed-transfer-mpbs.html#unique-entry-id-3
The first months of the year, SSD read-speeds hovered around 100mbs and initially 32GB and 64GB SSDs started shipping. Towards years end, top-performing SSD's with mind-blowing benchmarks are now approaching 200 mbps as capacities are pushing well beyond 120 gigabyte drives - or pushing prices down into the DOWNRIGHT CHEAP SSD range for drives now nominally in the 30-60gb range.

What makes the latter interesting is YOU CAN AFFORD AN SSD to test, replace, DIY upgrade for yourself to explore Solid-State disk technology and performance on your own system for well under $200. It doesn't have to be a break the bank proposition anymore.]]>MacGizmoGuySSD HardwareSSD Interfaces2008-11-15T03:39:15-06:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-sata-ata-pata-zif-interface-drives.html#unique-entry-id-2http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-sata-ata-pata-zif-interface-drives.html#unique-entry-id-2Transcend ATA interface 2.5" 64GB drive -for retrofitting in somewhat older computers before the SATA standard superceded it. Still a huge market out there for ATA interface solid-state drives - tho the latest NAND-Flash technology can now exceed the data transfer rates of an ATA interface.]]>MacGizmoGuySSD Hardware2008-11-13T03:33:49-06:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-drive-adapter-mounting-brackets.html#unique-entry-id-1http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-drive-adapter-mounting-brackets.html#unique-entry-id-1
There are adaptors and brackets to mount these smaller portable size drives in a 3.5" or even 5.25" drive case/mounts. Most notably ADDONICS which has long been a great source of adapters for many years.]]>MacGizmoGuySSD Technology2008-11-13T01:44:07-06:00http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-drives-cheap-fast-available.html#unique-entry-id-0http://www.ssd-solid-state-drives.com/ssd-drive-blog/files/ssd-drives-cheap-fast-available.html#unique-entry-id-0