HoTWiReZ's DoMaiN

[News BoT]

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Last year Kingston introduced its HyperX line of SF-2281 based SSDs. HyperX marked the first time SandForce and Kingston ever worked together but the relationship continued. Kingston quietly introduced the SSDNow KC100, another SF-2281 based solution aimed at the corporate client. SandForce worked with Kingston to deliver a custom firmware that exposed more SMART attributes on the KC100. That drive also comes with a 5-year warranty and uses Intel's 25nm NAND with 5K p/e cycles.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Today Kingston announced its SSDNow V+200. The V-series drives have traditionally occupied the value space (relying on JMicron controllers) while the V+ drives were supposed to be a bit higher performance, but still price competitive. Kingston's V+ drives used Toshiba controllers in the past, however Toshiba is a bit late to the game in delivering a 6Gbps solution forcing Kingston to look elsewhere. The V+200 is SF-2281 based however it uses Intel's 25nm asynchronous NAND with only 3K p/e cycles. As I've mentioned before, even at 3K program/erase cycles no desktop user should be able to wear out their NAND. SandForce's realtime compression does a great job of ensuring NAND longevity as well. The move to asynchronous NAND does impact performance, making the V+200 a lot like OCZ's Agility 3. For an understanding of async vs. sync NAND I'd suggest looking at our Agility 3 review.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The MSRPs of the V+200 line are quite high, although I'm guessing street prices will be a lot lower (based on this table you can get a HyperX 120GB for less than a 120GB V+200). NAND prices vary so much from week to week that the advantage of going with async vs. sync NAND isn't always all that great. I suspect the next major dip in NAND pricing will either come from using TLC or newer 20nm MLC NAND.</p>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" width="575">
<tbody>
<tr class="tgrey">
<td align="center" colspan="8">
Kingston SSDNow V+200</td>
</tr>
<tr class="tlblue">
<td width="120">
&nbsp;</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle" width="85">
60GB</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle" width="85">
90GB</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle" width="85">
120GB</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle" width="85">
240GB</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle" width="85">
480GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey">
Part Number</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
SVP200S3/60G</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
SVP200S3/90G</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
SVP200S3/120G</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
SVP200S3/240G</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
SVP200S3/480G</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey">
Controller</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
SF-2281</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
SF-2281</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
SF-2281</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
SF-2281</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
SF-2281</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey">
Sustained Random 4K R/W</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
12K/47K IOPS</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
20K/47K IOPS</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
20K/44K IOPS</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
36K/43K IOPS</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
43K/30K IOPS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey">
Max Random 4K R/W</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
85K/60K IOPS</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
85K/57K IOPS</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
85K/55K IOPS</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
85K/43K IOPS</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
75K/34K IOPS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey">
Sequential Reads</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
Up to 535MB/s</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
Up to 535MB/s</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
Up to 535MB/s</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
Up to 535MB/s</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
Up to 535MB/s</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey">
Sequential Writes</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
Up to 460MB/s</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
Up to 480MB/s</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
Up to 480MB/s</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
Up to 480MB/s</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
Up to 480MB/s</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey">
Warranty</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
3-years</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
3-years</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
3-years</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
3-years</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
3-years</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey">
MSRP</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
$140</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
$196</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
$245</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
$479</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
$970</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tlgrey">
MSRP w/ Upgrade Kit</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
$156</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
$211</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
$260</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
$494</td>
<td align="center" valign="middle">
$985</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
<div>Gallery: Kingston's SSDNow V+200: More Affordable SandForce<div></div></div></p>
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Source: AnandTech
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