Any new/faster SSDs coming out this year?

[Avalon]

I know in the past several months we've seen new entries into the SSD market like the Samsung 830 and Intel 520. We've seen new controllers based on Marvell, and OCZ, who bought Indilinx, released their Everest controller.

But, since the release of the 2200 series of Sandforce chipsets back in the beginning of 2011, we haven't seen a generational leap in performance. Is anything expected to be coming out this year that will raise the bar? Or are we still a couple years away?

 

[boed]

OCZ just released their new RevoDrive max iops 3x2 - the speeds were not as high as they originally projected but still fast. If you don't have space to make your own raid using individual drives, these are a possible PCIE solution.

Super Talent had announced theRAIDDrive II however there are still no sign of them shipping in the US yet. Hopefully we'll see some soon as I'd like to do a comparison test.

 

[=Wendy=]

OCZ/Indilinx will release the Everest 2 controller (90K IOPS).
SandForce will release the SF-3xxx series (expected to give 500MB/s+ even with non-compessible data).

Both are due early summer.

 

[Obsoleet]

If you're talking about SATA6gb drives, we're a couple of years away unless SATA6gb is replaced sooner.

There's little reason to wait because Samsung and Intel have equally performing drives now, and are pretty reliable. The 830 even more so as it's had more time on the market, the jury is still out if Intel could stabilize Sandforce. I have my doubts, and so should you at the prices they're charging for the larger capacity drives.

Short answer to your question: a lot of SATA limits are being hit, there's little reason to wait with the 2 most reliable SSD manufacturers having the product out they do now.

The Samsung 830 (and maybe the Intel 520, we'll see) is the new 'defining drive' for SATA6gb.. it has SF speeds with Samsung reliablity.

What the Intel G2 was to SATA3gb, the Samsung 830 is to the SATA6gb generation.
The most solid, fast drive you can get.

Unless you like reformatting, troubleshooting and pulling hair out- waiting for and picking up the newest Sandforce or OCZ drive is going to be a fun beta testing event that I'd recommend against. An Intel drive using the SF3 controller, if it even happens, is a year or 2 away and that would be the one you'd want.

 

[=Wendy=]

An Intel drive using the SF3 controller, if it even happens, is a year or 2 away and that would be the one you'd want.

Intel KingsCrest (530) is slated for summer 2012 release. Would you bet against it being SF3 based?

As for the 520, you can't claim reliability on something that has only been out in the wild for a week.

 

[Coup27]

Going on how long its taken the 520 to arrive, I would be very suprised if the 530 arrived even this year.

 

[=Wendy=]

Going on how long its taken the 520 to arrive, I would be very suprised if the 530 arrived even this year.

Not necessarily. Intel have already validated the SF architecture, and the core logic is not likely to change a lot in SF3.

Take the PCH on Intel chipsets, the SATA core logic hasn't really changed much since P35, so you don't have to validate the complete package again, only what is new.

More than likely SF will use a higher clocked SSD processor to achieve faster non-compressible data writes, and a faster SSD processor also means you can crank up the IOPS.

 

[RavenSEAL]

My SSD already does 550MB+ R/W. How much more would you want and why?

 

[Obsoleet]

Intel KingsCrest (530) is slated for summer 2012 release. Would you bet against it being SF3 based?

As for the 520, you can't claim reliability on something that has only been out in the wild for a week.

I didn't make any claims on it's reliablity, that's for the SSD itself to back up over time. I'm staying away from that Sandforce powered abomination for at least 6 months.
Is it more than likely the best SF SSD ever? Of course, it's the first one worth buying. Am I dumping $1,000 on the 480GB model (the one I want)? Hell no.
Time will tell if it's the best SATA6gb drive. It's got the most to prove of any drive on the market.

I will be highly amused, and pleased, if the 530 is SF3 based and is released this summer considering the 520's troubles.
No wise (hu)man among us would jump quickly on a Sandforce based drive from anyone, even Intel. Though they are definitely the best bet, if you're a betting woman.

 

[exdeath]

My SSD already does 550MB+ R/W. How much more would you want and why?

Well given than we will be stuck with SATA 6g for quite some time and stuck at a 550 MB/sec hard barrier, the only room for improvement is.... getting that 550 MB/sec R/W with 4K random!

More NAND and more channels to distribute commands to, higher capacities, faster controllers, and lower prices.

Why do I want faster storage devices? Well for starters DoD 5220.22-M (3) on a spindle sucks and takes all day... I'd just as soon shred the slow m****r f*****s.

Well ~2.5 hours anyway. And that's just some old crappy 80GB... Most drives I wipe are 160-320 GB thank god. I'd hang myself if I was asked to wipe a 2 TB spindle.

 

[=Wendy=]

No wise man among us would jump quickly on a Sandforce based drive from anyone, even Intel. Though they are definitely the best bet, if you're a betting woman.

Your only recourse is to take a really cheap shot at my gender. :thumbsdown:

 

[LokutusofBorg]

Your only recourse is to take a really cheap shot at my gender. :thumbsdown:

He's quickly becoming one of those people that you should just ignore in a thread.


Isn't Intel and some others working on a new bus to replace SATA? When that happens things will open up a little bit. But PCIe devices are already exploring that ground, so I'm not sure there are a lot of ground-breaking changes in store in the SSD space until they move past NAND.

Phase Change Memory (PCM) will likely be the next big revolution in storage, if it takes hold here in the next year or two.

 

[iamlilysdad]

Your only recourse is to take a really cheap shot at my gender. :thumbsdown:

Why would you assume he/she was taking a cheap shot at your gender? Maybe it was simply an error in wording. Also, it's an assumption that because your username is Wendy that you're a woman. Which honestly, this being the internet, isn't necessarily the case.

 

[iamlilysdad]

He's quickly becoming one of those people that you should just ignore in a thread.


Isn't Intel and some others working on a new bus to replace SATA? When that happens things will open up a little bit. But PCIe devices are already exploring that ground, so I'm not sure there are a lot of ground-breaking changes in store in the SSD space until they move past NAND.

Phase Change Memory (PCM) will likely be the next big revolution in storage, if it takes hold here in the next year or two.

SATA Express or something like that, right? Using the PCIe bus for SATA purposes.

 

[sequoia464]

Crucial seems to be having blowout sales recently on the M4's - is there a new drive in the works over there?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Not necessarily. Intel have already validated the SF architecture, and the core logic is not likely to change a lot in SF3.

Take the PCH on Intel chipsets, the SATA core logic hasn't really changed much since P35, so you don't have to validate the complete package again, only what is new.

Isn't that line of thinking, exactly what caused the Pentium FDIV bug, and more recently, the Sandy Bridge chipset recall?

 

[Obsoleet]

Your only recourse is to take a really cheap shot at my gender. :thumbsdown:

? No cheapshot intended. I'd like to know how it could be taken that way. I did change the typical phrase 'betting man' to betting woman, because I thought you probably were a woman. I didn't want to refer to you as a man, but it's pretty hard to tell just based on a username so it's just a shot in the dark.
For the record, I think 'gender' is a bunch of crap to be honest. There's the physical state and then the mental state, which can apply to either anatomical men, or women. You'll also never hear me make a slight towards homosexuals or transgender, my views are pretty anti-gender discrimination.
That said, if you were honestly offended and not pretending, I do apologize for sure. I don't let that shit fly on my watch so I'd be ashamed to be associated with it.

edit to add something relevant-
I stand by my view that on SATA6gb there's little point in waiting. Unless you want to beta test whatever new drive OCZ/Samsung/Intel/whoever releases. I'll stick with the Samsung 830 for the SATA6gb era, I feel it does everything needed at a fair (scaling per GB) price. For me, it's Sandforce speed with Samsung everything else, without the need to actually gamble on a real SF drive, Intel or not.

He's quickly becoming one of those people that you should just ignore in a thread.

Yeah, if you're against pricier, higher quality, fast/reliable drives that are solid recommendations.. I'd hate me too

 

[groberts101]

SF 3xxx series and Indilinx Everest 2 will be the new heavy hitters to make their way around June/July.

Both will be faster than the current gen controllers available today and people will buy them based on that fact alone. Not everyone cares about enterprise level stability and the sales volume of SF 2xxx series should be proof enough of that fact.

 

[zchieply]

those sequential read/write speeds are not as important as small random transfers so there are always room for improvement within the interface.

 

[Obsoleet]

those sequential read/write speeds are not as important as small random transfers so there are always room for improvement within the interface.

That's true but if you wait for 550MB random 4k performance you might be waiting until 2025. I think any drive that maxes SATA6gb sequential limits is a good enough spot to say ok, and buy one drive for that interface era and be done with it. That's how I feel about my Intel G2's, for SATA3gb, they are fine. I have no desire to upgrade as long as I'm on this interface.

I know what you're saying though, and of course random has room for improvement but you have to decide at some point when performance is good enough to purchase something.

If he wants to wait for faster random speeds more power to him, but I'm ok with maxing SATA6gb sequentials as an acceptable point of purchase (I'd purchase below maxing the spec honestly.. these are blazing fast drives).

 

[Obsoleet]

SF 3xxx series and Indilinx Everest 2 will be the new heavy hitters to make their way around June/July.

Both will be faster than the current gen controllers available today and people will buy them based on that fact alone. Not everyone cares about enterprise level stability and the sales volume of SF 2xxx series should be proof enough of that fact.

To be fair, none of the drives mentioned in this thread have enterprise level stability.

 

[taltamir]

If you're talking about SATA6gb drives, we're a couple of years away unless SATA6gb is replaced sooner.

6gb has already been maxed out by SSDs, less then a year after its introduction. its successor is in the works.

 

[wpcoe]

What about putting a small RAM cache on the SSD, with small capacitor(s) if there is write caching involved to lessen the possibility of lost writes?

I've tinkered with FancyCache, and it produces some extraordinary benchmark numbers, but to be honest, I haven't "felt" the difference, so I'm wondering about the validity of SSD's cached with RAM.

 

[Edrick]

I went from a Crucial C300 to a Corsair Poerformance Pro (both SATA III), and I can feel a difference.

In my laptop, I went from an Intel G2 to a Crucial C300 (from my desktop), and I can feel a very noticable difference.

I do not think todays drive truely saturate the SATA III bus just yet. But the next generation surely will.

 

[groberts101]

I went from a Crucial C300 to a Corsair Poerformance Pro (both SATA III), and I can feel a difference.

In my laptop, I went from an Intel G2 to a Crucial C300 (from my desktop), and I can feel a very noticable difference.

I do not think todays drive truely saturate the SATA III bus just yet. But the next generation surely will.

while there are plenty who would say that no major differences will be noticed when upgrading one SSD to another faster SSD?.. I'm not one of them.

Controller types, nand types, DRAM sizes, firmware, all adds up cumulatively to give you perceivable differences in even basic usage. Then when you really multitask them?.. they really start to show you saved minutes.

And I would think not even near saturated where it counts for an OS volume. latency and random file performance are where the mfgrs are concentrating right now. Especially considering that all the "advertising fluffery" of sequential metrics are sooo over rated for an OS volume.

I would easily take an SSD that saturates the sata2 limits in all metrics(randoms included) than another SSD running at sata3 sequential speeds with only typical random metrics. Simply because that's where an OS likes to run at about 90+% of the time.

You'll see that happen(more low end grunt as you've now witnessed firsthand) more often in premium SSD as DRAM increases in size. Even further reductions in latency(DRAM=ultrafast).. will just be the cherry on top after that happens. In the next year and a half(maybe even sooner?).. I could easily see us buying SSD's with 1 gig of DRAM and MUCH stronger small file /random performance. Then hopefully we have sata express by then to get a little boost in the sequentials as well. Bonus.