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Zalman to enter SSD market

Published on 3rd November 2010 by Gareth Halfacree

The Zalman S Series is said to feature JMicron controllers, while the N Series will switch out to SandForce.

Zalman, a company more commonly associated with cooling systems and power supplies, has confirmed its intentions to enter the increasingly crowded SSD market with two new product ranges: the Zalman S Series and N Series.

The S Series is reported by Tom's Hardware to be Zalman's consumer-grade SSD entry, based on a 2.5in SATA form factor and featuring a smart brushed aluminium housing. At launch, three capacities will be available - a base 32GB model, a mid-range 64GB, and a 128GB premium version - with full support for TRIM and AHCI.

The company has stated that the S Series will be based around JMicron controllers, and offer up to 260MB/s sequential read speeds while write speeds will vary from 60MB/s to 210MB/s depending on the model chosen.

The N Series, in contrast, is Zalman's no-holds-barred premium line of SSDs. Based around the popular SandForce controller series, the 64GB and 128GB drives will offer sequential write speeds of up to 270MB/s and read speeds of up to 280MB/s, while retaining the TRIM and AHCI support from the slower S Series drives.

Sadly, Zalman has yet to provide a time scale for launch, although it's thought to aiming to get the drives out of the door before the end of the year.

Prices are said to start at $100 for the 32GB S Series and rise to $290 for the 128GB N Series. UK pricing has not yet been confirmed.

Are you pleased to see Zalman sticking its oar into the SSD waters, or just disappointed with the cramped sizes on offer at launch? Share your thoughts over in the forums.

10 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

Hazchem 3rd November 2010, 16:23

More choice can generally only be a good thing. I've always liked Zalman's products too so I hope these live up to their name.

mrbens 3rd November 2010, 17:02

Quote:

write speeds will vary from 60MB/s to 210MB/s depending on the model chosen

Wow, that's a crazy difference!

32GB might be a bit cramped but 64GB is enought for most peoples OS and all their apps. It's a waste to fill SSDs with games as they load fast enough off standard drives anyway.

Lazy_Amp 3rd November 2010, 23:26

I really hate this SSD situation.

Really, the only thing that matters with these is the controller. Who cares if it's OCZ or Zalman or whatever if they have the same controller. This isn't news, can't you already buy drives EXACTLY like these? Probably for less?

FeRaL 3rd November 2010, 23:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazy_Amp
I really hate this SSD situation.

Really, the only thing that matters with these is the controller. Who cares if it's OCZ or Zalman or whatever if they have the same controller. This isn't news, can't you already buy drives EXACTLY like these? Probably for less?

Agreed...

l3v1ck 4th November 2010, 09:31

I'm not that interested in the number of brands of SSD's (OCZ, Corsair etc) . I'm more interested in the number of different drive controller manufacturers and the chips they produce (Indilinx, Sandforce, Intel, JMicron etc).
SSD's seem to be heading the way of graphics cards where they're almost all the same under that casing with a different stick on top.

SMIFFYDUDE 4th November 2010, 13:34

So many SSD articles. Still can't afford one.

Hakuren 4th November 2010, 15:52

It is absolutely bonkers. All Sand Force SSDs are exactly the same. Prices are around the same level. It doesn't matter if only OCZ releasing new products or 5000 other companies join in. Prices won't go down as long as there is nothing new on the horizon (like better controllers for SSDs or HDR technology).

Who cares what sticker is on top? OCZ, Zalman, Kingston... Iranian Jihad Corp or Bahamas Computing Institute. :D

ev1lm1nd666 5th November 2010, 15:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazy_Amp
I really hate this SSD situation.

Really, the only thing that matters with these is the controller. Who cares if it's OCZ or Zalman or whatever if they have the same controller. This isn't news, can't you already buy drives EXACTLY like these? Probably for less?

+1 for both!

Cthippo 6th November 2010, 08:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hakuren
It is absolutely bonkers. All Sand Force SSDs are exactly the same. Prices are around the same level. It doesn't matter if only OCZ releasing new products or 5000 other companies join in. Prices won't go down as long as there is nothing new on the horizon (like better controllers for SSDs or HDR technology).

Who cares what sticker is on top? OCZ, Zalman, Kingston... Iranian Jihad Corp or Bahamas Computing Institute. :D

I know that's true in theory, but has real world performance born that out? A lot of things are the same on paper, but some manufacturers have a special ability to screw them up in implementation.

PabloFunky 6th November 2010, 09:22

If competition brings the prices down, then im all for it.