Super Talent Technology has announced a range of 2.5-inch SSDs (solid state drives) touted as “substantially faster than existing SSDs.” The MasterDrive OX and PX series include SATA II interfaces, have 0.1ms access times, and offer sequential read speeds of up to 170MB/sec., the company… says.

(Click here for a larger view of Super Talent's MasterDrive OX)

Super Talent's new SSDs have a metal housing and a 2.5-inch form factor, designed to slot into existing laptop-sized hard drive bays. Based respectively on MLC (multi-level cell) or SLC (single-level cell) NAND flash technology, the MasterDrive OX and PX devices have the following common features, according to the company:

• 0.1ms access time (read latency)
  
• MTBF greater than 1 million hours
  
• 0 to 70 deg. C operating temperature range
  
• Integrated wear leveling, bad-bit management algorithms, and ECC (error correcting code)
  
• Shock tolerance of up to 1500G while operating

The MasterDrive OX products use MLC flash, and are available in capacities of 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB. According to Super Talent, these models boast sequential read speeds of up to 150MB/sec., and write speeds of up to 100MB/sec. Meanwhile, they have endurance ratings ranging from 8.8 years (16GB model) to 70.2 years (128GB model), given a write/erase workload of 50GB per day.

The Masterdrive PX products use SLC flash, and are available in capacities of 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. They're faster, Super Talent says, with sequential read speeds of up to 170MB/sec., and write speeds of up to 130MB/sec. Claimed endurance is better, too, ranging from 87.7 years on the 16GB model, to 350.7 years on the 64GB version.

Joe James, Super Talent marketing director, says, “In this, our third generation of SATA SSDs, we've taken performance to incredible new heights, with sustained read and write speeds that will leave any hard disk drive in the dust. At the same time, our MasterDrive SSDs are among the most cost-effective solid state storage solutions available.”

Super Talent's devices might seem to have been upstaged by Intel's new X-25M, a 2.5-inch SSD that was launched in August and goes on sale later this year. The X-25M has 0.085ms read latency, sustained read rates of 240MB/sec., and 70MB/sec. write speeds.

As the figures quoted earlier show, Super Talent's comparable MasterDrive OX is slower than the Intel product overall, though it does have a faster write speed rating. However, it is available now, at a “street price” of $420 for the 128GB model, according to Super Talent. Intel's smaller 80GB X-25M, not yet shipping, will have a suggested price in 1,000-unit batches of $600, though of course street prices may be lower.

More information may be available on the Super Talent website, here.

 
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