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Sandisk shows off 2.5'' 32GB SSD
Author: Tim SmalleyPublished: 15th March 2007
Sandisk claims its latest SSD is capable of reading and writing 100GB of data every day for five years.
The drive uses a SATA interface and uses 16 NAND flash chips to reach its 32GB capacity. It also boasts read speeds in excess of 65MB/sec, according to the firm - this is higher than we've seen from previous SSDs we've seen.
The benefits of solid state are massive, especially in the notebook market. It takes durability into another dimension because there are no moving parts in the device. In addition, the lack of moving parts means that seek time is instantanious and battery life is also improved too.
However, while this is an exciting progression in the solid state market, there is unfortunately a downside: cost.
Currently, Sandisk is expecting the drive to hit the market at around £200 (inc VAT) for the 32GB model. For comparison, you can pick up a 40GB 2.5" drive for as little as £30 (inc VAT).
Obviously, it's going to take some time for the cost of SSDs to drop down to the same level as their mechanical equivalents, but there are plenty of benefits for those that do fancy making the jump.
For those worried about the longevity of data on solid state drives, Sandisk claims that the drive is capable of reading and writing around 100GB of data every day for five years - that should be more than enough for even the most extravagant users. To back up this claim, the company will sell the drive with a five year warranty. We don't have any details on when it's due to hit the market just yet - we'll let you know as soon as we find out.
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Comments (15)
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Bit-Tech needs to do some benchmarks with one of these, please!
This is exactly the type of revolutionary hardware the PC industry needs - we've been using magnetic/mechanical storage for far too long.
I mean, sure; an external HDD of the normal variety would make sure you wouldn't lose too much data as long as you made a backup every evening, but there are gonna be times when the loss of even a few hours work is going to be a headache of enormous proportions...
Eh, I probably worry too much. :)
Still, it's good news. Might drive prices down all around when this becomes more mainstream. :D
As far as I know though, SSD drives obtain uber-MTBF's due to the fact that they perform wear-levelling in firmware, eliminating the worry.
I don't think I'd be trusting my valuable data on one still, but I'd be quite happy to run my OS from one! I'd love to see how they bench, too.
Your mission, Mr. Smalley, should you choose to accept it... ;)
And I will seriously considering buying one for my laptop if there is a good performance benefit - not to mention battery life advantage.
Wouldnt it be more relevant to compare with a 5400rpm as thats what most laptops would have normally?
It certainly is what I would be replacing.
I'd say if these drives hit 128-256GB and cost around £500 a few enthusiasts would use them as their primary system hard drive. For this reason it is important to see how the current crop and onwards perform against desktop hard drives. Hopefully in the not too distant future it won't be unreasonable to compare a 150GB WD Raptor and a 128GB SSD.
Tis the most common the 5400, but a trend of desktop like preformance is coveted to us enthusiasts.
I read some more about this thing and it touted a 30 second Vista load compared to a 45 second load using 5400rpm drive.