SanDisk's affordable Ultra Plus SSD family
Subject: Storage | January 7, 2013 - 06:57 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ssd, sandisk ultra plus, 256GB, Marvell, 88SS9175
Using the Marvell 88SS9175 controller, the SanDisk Ultra Plus family of SSDs comes in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB models all of which come with a 3 year warranty. As you can see below, the 256GB model that Legit Reviews recently received does not take up much space in the drives shell. SanDisk's nCache technology is featured on these drives and helps boost the performance of 4k writes but does not fare so well on large files. With decent performance and a price under $1/GB these drives are worth checking out ... unless you want to wait to see what comes out of CES.
"SanDisk is best known for their memory products and with that, they've been doing a number of SSDs on both consumer and enterprise fronts. Their latest offering that came across our desk is the Ultra Plus line being powered by the Marvell 88SS9175 controller and SanDisk's own 19nm NAND. The 6Gbps interfaced drives are marketed towards the both the desktop and mobile computing crowds with promises of strong performance, high reliability and power efficiency. It comes standard in the 7mm, 2.5" form factor so it should be good to go for most Ultrabooks as well..."
Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
- SanDisk Ultra Plus SSD @ AnandTech
- KingFast F3 Series 2.5" SATAIII SSD 240GB KF2509MCF Review @ Madshrimps
- Understanding MTBF in SSD - What Does an SSD's MTBF Mean for You @ hardCOREware
- Mushkin Chronos DX 480GB @ Tweaktown
- Kingston SSDNow KC100 240GB SSD Upgrade Kit Review @ NikKTech
- Rosewill RDED-12001 External Slim Aluminum Blu-Ray Writer @ Hi Tech Legion
- LaCie 5big NAS Pro @ AnandTech
- Asustor AS-606T NAS @ techPowerUp
- Infortrend EonNAS Pro 200 2-Bay NAS @ Tweaktown
- LaCie 5big NAS Pro Preview: User-friendly hybrid cloud @ Hardware.info
Plextor's M5 Pro features new flash and a new controller
Subject: Storage | October 26, 2012 - 02:52 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: plextor, m5 pro, ssd, toggle NAND, Marvell, Monet 88SS9187-BLD2
The Plextor M5 Pro introduces both Toshiba's new 19nm toggle NAND and Marvell's new 8-channel dual core Monet controller. [H]ard|OCP tried out the 256GB model, availble for $250, and were impressed not only by the performance but also the error correction abilities and the system utilities which were included. They were disappointed that the familiar Plextool software is not supported by this drive but they feel it is only a matter of time before Plextor remedies that issue. Check out the results of the benchmarks in their full review.
"Plextor brings the M5 Pro with the new Marvell Monet controller powering its banks of high performance Toshiba Toggle NAND. This is the debut of the first SSD with 19nm Toshiba Toggle NAND, the debutof the new Marvell Monet 88SS9187-BLD2 controller. We take a look and see what these new components bring to the table."
Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
- Mushkin 7mm Chronos Deluxe 120GB SSD Review @HiTech Legion
- Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB SSD @ SPCR
- Mach Xtreme MX-DS Turbo 120 GB SLC @ techPowerUp
- The Truth About SSD Performance Numbers @ TechwareLabs
- PNY XLR8 Pro 480GB SSD @ SSD Review
- Comay Venus Pro 3 240GB SSD @ Tweaktown
- Silicon Power Velox V60 120 GB and Transcend SSD720 128 GB SSD @ X-bit Labs
- Runcore Rocket Air SSD Review - A 256GB Blade SSD Upgrade For Mid 2012 Macbooks and Ultras @ SSD Review
- ADATA Premier Pro SP300 24GB mSATA Cache Solid State Drive @ Kitguru
- Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 2.5" Hard Drive Review @ eTeknix
- OCZ Vertex 4 256GB Solid State Drive Review @ circuitREMIX
- Thecus N4100EVO NAS Server Review @ NikKTech
- OWC Mercury Electra 3G MAX 960GB Review: 1TB of NAND in 2.5" Form Factor @ AnandTech
- OWC DIY Kit (Data Doubler + SSD) and SuperSlim USB 2.0 External Enclosure Review @ Madshrimps
- QNAP TS-869L @ techPowerUp
- QNAP TS-469 Pro All-in-One NAS @ X-bit Labs
- Lexar JumpDrive S73 16GB USB3 @ Funky Kit
- Synology DS213+ @ techPowerUp
- Seagate 1TB Back Up Plus USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive Review @ Legit Reviews
Plextor Announces New M5 Pro SSD, Impressive Marvell Performance
Subject: Storage | August 8, 2012 - 02:26 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: ssd, plextor, m5 pro, Marvell, marvell 88SS9187, flash memory
Plextor, a company known best for its line of optical drives has announced a new SSD that offers up some impressive performance numbers. The M5 Pro is powered by a Marvell 88SS9187 Monet controller and claims to offer improved data protection and throughput even when the drive is near-full.
Plextor uses 128-bit error correction built into the Marvell controller in addition to a data hold-out algorithm in Plextor’s firmware to ensure that data reads from the flash memory as accurate as possible. Further, the drive offers up AES 256-bit full drive encryption to protect your data from prying eyes. The company further stated that the drives have undergone “rigorous high-temperature burn-in tests” to ensure reliability. The reliability aspects are the features that the company is touting the most in its press release, but the other half of the coin is performance.
Fortunately, if its numbers turn out to be true, users will not be disappointed. The Marvell controller is putting out some decent performance numbers. The M5 Pro SSD is capable of read and write IOPS of 94,000 and 86,000 respectively. Further, it can deliver a claimed 540 MB/s sequential read and 450 MB/s write operations. Not bad for Marvell at all!
According to Kathy Huynh, Product Marketing Manager for Plextor:
““In recent years, Plextor has been able to develop SSDs that deliver high real-world performance and sustained speed over the long-term. Our SSDs have one of the lowest annual failure rate in the consumer SSD industry. Now with the M5 Pro, we aim to use Plextor’s abilities to offer extreme data protection and give users total confidence in every single aspect of their drive.”
The new M5 Pro solid state drives will come with a five year warranty and will be available later this month. You will be able to pick up an M5 Pro in 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB capacities, though there is no word yet on how much they will cost. You can find more information in the company’s press release.
For more SSD information, check out our SSD Decoder!
Podcast #197 - Z77 Motherboards, GTX690 Rumors, and the truth behind the new Indilinx controller
Subject: General Tech | April 12, 2012 - 03:46 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: Z77, ssd, podcast, nvidia, Marvell, Ivy Bridge, Intel, Indilinx, gtx690
PC Perspective Podcast #197 - 04/12/2012
Join us this week as we talk about Z77 Motherboards, GTX690 Rumors, and the truth behind the new Indilinx controller.
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular
RSS reader - MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath, and Allyn Malvantano
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- iPad 2012 vs. Transformer Prime
- Kingwin Lazer Platinum 1000W
- Asus ROG Maximus V GENE
- Raspberry Pi passes EMC Compliance
- This Podcast is brought to you by
MSI Computer , and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards!
- Will the real Indilinx controller ...
- NV Tegra 4 Specifications Leak
- Maingear Shift System: Just Delivered
- ZOTAC Intel 7 Series Mobos
- Leaks about NV GTX 690
- Epic talks storm of Bullets
- http://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-Cards/NVIDIA-Introduces-Two-New-Rebranded-600-Series-Cards
- http://www.pcper.com/news/Systems/PCAudioLabs-Editing-PC-Sweepstakes-Winner
- This week: Still working on watercooling from Antec
- Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- Ryan: thermite
- Jeremy: Scotch in Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!
- Josh: Morrowind Overhaul
- Allyn: IDE USB Dock!
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- Closing
Are OCZ's Indilinx Everest and Everest 2 Controllers Actually Marvell Hardware?
Subject: Storage | April 11, 2012 - 09:43 PM | Allyn Malventano
Tagged: Vertex 4, ocz, Octane, Marvell, everest
We've covered the OCZ Octane and more recently the new OCZ Vertex 4. We've also seen how they behave under wildly differing firmware revisions. What have we not yet seen? Turns out the hardware powering both the Octane and Vertex 3 controllers was actually from Marvell.
Judging from the performance we saw from the Octane, it's clear that Indilinx is cranking out some great firmware for this hardware, but it's a bit of a surprise to us that the Indilinx arm of OCZ chose to go this route as opposed to spinning their own next gen controller, especially in light of how well the original Indilinx Barefoot was received back in the day.
It turns out that 'Indilinx Infused' is more than just a catch phrase.
As evidenced by some commenters over at the source, some feel cheated that this news did not come to light earlier. My take on it is that an SSD is a package deal - controller hardware *and firmware* make up that package. If a company can deliver both in a reliable and well performing manner, then it's that companies product you are buying, not just the controller.



