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Kingston Technology Company’s Flash memory affiliate Kingston Digital, Inc. is announcing its newest addition to the SSDNow product line, the KC300 solid-state drive. The KC300 maximizes power efficiencies in notebook PCs, enabling business, mobile and power users to markedly increase productivity. The KC300 utilizes SandForce’s second-generation SF-2281 processor to provide advanced power management.
The KC300 replaces the Kingston V+200 and KC100 models as Kingston’s next-generation business drive. This SSD features enterprise-level SMART attributes; which allows admins and users to monitor drive status and health, including wear range, life left, write amplification and total bytes written. The KC300 utilizes DuraWrite technology to extend the life of the SSD by efficiently and effectively reducing the number of write operations via intelligent data compression.
According to Ariel Perez, SSD business manager at Kingston, “Kingston’s new SSDNow KC300 is designed to help business, mobile and power users extend the lifespan and significantly improve the performance of their PC or notebook with higher speeds, greater stability and reliability. KC300 provides greater power efficiency than the traditional hard disk drive, thus allowing users to keep on working longer without having to recharge the battery.”
The 2.5″ X 7mm form factor KC300 features the SATAIII (6 GB/s) interface. It is rated at 525 MB/s sequential reads and 500 MB/s sequential writes. Maximum random 4K read IOPS are stated as 84,000; except for the 480GB model that is rated for 73,000 IOPS. The random 4K write IOPS range from 64,000 for the 60GB, 120GB, and 180GB versions to 52,000 IOPS for the 240GB, and 32,000 IOPS for the 480GB model.
The KC300 is marketed as either a stand-alone SSD or as and upgrade kit. The upgrade kit includes cloning software and other accessories for notebook or desktop systems. The KC300 includes free technical support and is backed by a three-year warranty. Pricing was not available at time of publication, but the KC300 should be available through channel suppliers shortly. The Kingston press release for the KC300 can be viewed in its entirety here. Watch for our full review of the SSDNow KC300 in the near future.