Protect your memories with tough storage devices like SanDisk’s 32GB microSDHC card. According to SanDisk, this memory card can withstand up to 72 hours in 1m-deep salt or fresh water. Even if your gadget doesn’t live to see the end
of the downpour, the data stored inside its memory card will.
SanDisk 16 GB Class 2 microSDHC Flash Memory Card SDSDQ-016G
Tags: External Storage, Server Storage
Besides having no moving parts that can break and blazing throughput speeds, SSDs also have incredibly low access times. How low? In our tests, the hella-fast 10,000rpm 300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor had a random-access time of 7.24ms, while the original Intel X25-M SSD had an access time of 0.12ms. A typical 1.5TB 7,200rpm drive sits at 15ms. Since booting Windows doesn’t involve reading one fat contiguous file on the disk, but rather picking out thousands of small files, random access is assumed to be key for booting an OS.
To see how much of a difference an SSD makes over an HDD, we replaced the 160GB Intel X25-M SSD in our test platform with a Seagate 1.5TB 7200.11 Barracuda HDD, installed Windows 7 Ultimate, installed the same drivers, and configured the machine exactly as we had previously. The Intel SSD hits in excess of 210MB/s reads, while the 7200.11 tops out at 100MB/s over the entire platter but reaches into the 130MB/s range for the fi rst 200GB or so.
While our SSD-based install took 15 seconds once the board handed off control, the hard drive took 30 seconds. That’s a 100 percent improvement with the SSD. But is it worth the price premium? To many folks, probably not. Keep in mind, however, that the SSD not only improves boot time, it will give you optimum overall system responsiveness and performance throughout its capacity. Mechanical drives decline in performance as they get full and fragmented. On the other hand, a 1.5TB drive offers almost 10 times the storage of a 160GB SSD.
At what capacity point are enthusiasts ready to make the crossover from magnetic storage to solid state?
For some, that mark is a quarter-terabyte. If that sounds like you, Patriot’s new Torqx 256GB , featuring the hot Indilinx controller, could be the SSD you’re after. We pitted the 256GB Torqx against the 128GB Torqx and Intel’s second-gen 160GB X25-M SSD to find out which would be the new SSD king.
On our new Core i5 test bed, the Torqx 256GB SSD significantly outperformed both its smaller sibling and Intel’s X25-M, at least in sustained reads and writes.
For the first time, we found a drive with average sustained reads and writes above 200MB/s, on the same platform, the 128GB Torqx averaged 178MB/s reads and 168MB/s writes, while the X25-M achieved 185MB/s and 94MB/s, respectively. These aren’t quite the numbers we saw when we originally tested the 128GB Torqx or the X25-M, a difference we chalked up to the new test bed. Regardless, the 256GB Torqx surpassed both other drives in average sustained reads and writes, though Intel’s drive is still the champion in random-write access times, as well as in our Premiere Pro and PCMark Vantage tests, where the 256GB Torqx lagged far behind. Strangely, the smaller-capacity Torqx also outperformed the 256GB in the latter two tests.
Tags: Disk, USB Storage
Samsung Demos Awesome 24-SSD RAID
You’d have to be crazy to build a 24-drive RAID array. Crazy like a fox, as Samsung showed us when the company strung together 24 SSDs to create 6TB of solid state storage, with a theoretical throughput of 2GB/s.
The video of the escapade got more than 2.6 million views, and even though the drives weren’t all technically on the same controller (two RAID controllers along with all of the motherboard’s onboard ports were used), it proved that SSDs are serious business.
Patriot Torqx SSD 128GB MLC SSD is the top of the line, thanks in large part to its excellent Indilinx Barefoot controller, which powers the Torqx series, OCZ’s Vertex series, and G.Skill’s Falcon series of SSDs. The Indilinx controller enables the Torqx’s 200MB/s-plus sustained reads and unparalleled 175MB/s sustained writes. Intel’s X-25M still reigns supreme in random-write speeds, but can’t come close to the Torqx’s sustained writes. And both beat the pants off any magnetic hard drive out there. The Torqx also includes support for the new slowdown-preventing TRIM command,something few SSDs, Indilinxpowered or otherwise, can claim yet.
Click for more details: Patriot Torqx SSD 128GB
Source: www.patriotmemory.com
OCZ clearly hopes the perceived rarity of its Limited Edition Vertex drive will increase desire for the product. A limited run of 5,000 is one way to do that. But if you’ve got a drive with performance this good, wouldn’t you want everyone to buy one?
Like the OWC Mercury Extreme Enterprise, the OCZ Vertex Limited Edition is a 100GB drive built on the SandForce SF-1500 controller. It’s the same architecture as OCZ’s cancelled Vertex 2 Pro, and when the 5,000 Limited Edition drives run out, there will doubtless be a successor waiting.
The OCZ Vertex LE offers performance near-identical to the OWC Mercury: 197.5MB/s average sustained reads, with write speeds over 220MB/s, and 4KB random read and write IOPS in the 5,000 range. Its minimum read speeds were slightly higher in our tests; the Mercury dipped to a still-excellent 135MB/s minimum sustained read, while the Vertex’ slowest sustained reads were more than 170MB/s. These speeds would have been unheard of a little more than a year ago, we’re pleased as punch at how far SSDs have come.
We’re not going to tell you to run out and grab a Vertex Limited Edition as fast as you can, just because they’re awesome and fast and have TRIM and availability is limited. But you certainly won’t regret getting one. And at street prices already under $400, if you can fi nd one, snatch it up. Or wait until OCZ’s next SandForce-toting drive comes out. It’ll likely be just as awesome.
Click for more:
OCZ Vertex
Tags: USB Storage, External Storage
The SSD market is a meritocracy. Controller companies live and die on the strength of their products. Who had heard of Barefoot before its Indilinx controller pushed SSD speeds to new heights? SandForce is another promising young company whose controllers have started appearing in drives, including this month’s OCZ Vertex LE and the OWC Mercury Extreme Enterprise.
OWC markets mainly to Mac users, but don’t hold that against its SSD. It’s a modern, SandForce SF-1500-powered drive that supports TRIM. And given that OS X doesn’t support TRIM, well, we don’t even think that platform deserves performance this good.
The Mercury’s average sustained read speeds don’t quite hit the level of Indilinx powered drives like our Best of the Best Patriot Torqx, but 191MB/s average, with bursts of more than 200MB/s, is certainly nothing to sneeze at. And the Mercury really excels at writes, with average sustained writes of more than 220MB/s. 4KB random reads and writes are reasonable, at around 5,000 IOPS (input/output operations per second), and it Premiere Pro and PCMark Vantage HDD sub scores are competitive. And the OWC Mercury does this all without cache, the SandForce controller doesn’t need it.
So why get the Mercury over, say, the OCZ Vertex LE? Well, OWC doesn’t seem to be limiting the number of Mercury drives produced. And it’s a prettier color. Other than that, it’s your call.
Tags: hard disk, Portable Disk
We’re not mad. We’re just disappointed. When Plextor announced in February that it, too, was entering the SSD market, we were cautiously optimistic. After all, more competition is always a good thing, and Plextor wouldn’t put out a subpar-product just to try to capitalize on a trend, would it?
The Plextor PX-128M1S Solid State Drive is the first drive being tested that is built on the Marvell 88SS8014-BHP2 “Da Vinci” controller and if its performance is indicative of the platform as a whole, we hope it’s the last. Although read speeds were respectable for a last-gen drive at 135MB/s average sustained reads, average sustained writes were a sub-mediocre 50MB/s. And though the controller has its own garbage-collection and wear-leveling algorithms, it doesn’t support the TRIM command.
We like that the Plextor drive ships with a copy of Acronis True Image to facilitate upgrades, but that hardly makes it unique, and the drive just can’t compete with modern SSDs. Given that the 128GB PX-128M1S doesn’t off er top-tier performance, we were surprised by Plextor’s decision to charge $400 for it. The price dropped to $335 within a few weeks, which makes it slightly more reasonable, but not enough so. You can get the 128GB Torqx for just $30 more, and get much better performance and TRIM support, to boot.
Click for more: Plextor PX-128M1S Solid State Drive
Tags: Hard Drive, External Storage
Product Description
PQI 2.5 inch SATA interface Solid State Disk (SSD) is compatible with mainstream modern day PCs/laptops. SSDs are shock proof and provide faster/write speeds over traditional hard disks…. More >>
PQI S525 – Solid state drive – 128 GB – internal – 2.5″ – SATA-300
Tags: Cheap Storage, External Storage
Product Description
Model Name: Intel X25-M Mainstream SATA Solid-State Drive 2.5-Inch Form Factors Capacity: 80GB Hard Drive Intel NAND flash memory multi-level cell (MLC) components Read and Write IOPS Specifications:(iometer* Queue Depth 32) — Random 4 KB Reads: up to 35 K IOPS — Random 4 KB Writes: 80GB — up to 6.6K IOPS Bandwidth Performance Specifications: — Sustained Sequential Read: up to 250 MB/s — Sustained Sequential Write: up to 70 MB/s Latency Specifications: — Read: 65 μ — Write: 85 µ Compatibility:– Intel Matrix storage manager– SATA revision2.6 compliant, compatible With SATA 1.5 GB/s and 3 GB/s interface — ATA/ATAPI-7 Compliant — SSD enhanced S.M.A.R.T. ATA feature set — Native Command Queuing (NCQ) … More >>
Intel 80 GB 34NM Mainstream SATA Solid State Drive SSDSA2MH080G201
Tags: Online Storage, Portable Disk