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There is a long standing belief that buying a DRAM-less SSD is just wrong.  As much as this might hold water prior to and for those users not using Windows 10, it doesn’t for those looking for value and performance in storage today.  Without getting too complicated, NVMe and Windows 10 allow the SSD to create a Host Memory Buffer …

Gen 4 SSDs have become common place as of late and manufacturers have elected to rely on the Phison E18 PCIe 4.0 NVMe controller, and for good reason.  It is a top tier controller with performance that provides 7GB/s throughput and over 1 million IOPS and, most recently, we even identified an SSD with this controller as being a ‘game …

CES 2022 has come and gone once again and estimates are that this year may have experienced an attendance drop of at least 75% not including companies that cancelled last minute as a result of the latest Omicron COVID-19 variant.  It is unfortunate but, in so many ways, life goes on and we all have to adapt and carry on.  …

An unexpected surprise arrived at our offices this Christmas break in the guise of a PCIe 4.0 DRAM-less SSD.  It was only a matter of time but there has been some clever thought put into this drive.  It is the ADATA XPG Atom 50 Gen 4 SSD and two things that stand out are that it is a single-sided SSD, …

KIOXIA has introduces two key products in the flash world in the past few weeks, the EM6 NVMe-oF SSD for enterprise and the BG5 update for PCIe 4.0 which will be available to typical PC users as a client addition to pre-built PC systems. EM6 NVMe-oF ENTERPRISE SSD To start things along, the EM6 is an enterprise NVMe-oF SSD available …

We might think that development in the SSD world has slowed a bit by now but that isn’t the case whatsoever.  As much as we have seen a mass change from the 2.5″ SATA SSD capable of 540MB/s to todays M.2 form factor which is only a fraction of the size yet capable of 8TB capacities up to 7GB/s, the …

One of the oldest names in SSDs is Kingston.  One might not expect such as Kingston, by all sense of the term, is a third party manufacturer…or distributor.  Unlike Samsung, WD/SanDisk, Intel, Kioxia, Micron, SKHynix and a few others, they do not actually own a fab that ‘grows’ the silicon ingots to manufacture NAND wafers.  Unbelievably, the original Kingston SSDNow …

On our test Bench today is the Silicon Power XD80 PCIe 3.0 NVMe M.2 SSD.  It is a 2TB capacity and claims to bring us top Gen 3 speeds with a lower price point and at lower temperatures, 20% lower actually.  The XD80 comes with its own metal heatsink attached, something we really never saw with many Gen 3 SSDs.  …

Only once before had we ever reviewed an SSD that only contained a single controller and a single NAND chip; this was the Samsung 980 DRAM-less SSD.  Much like the 980, our SSD today is a 1TB SSD that is DRAM-less and hits over 3GB/s read and write with a price point of just over a hundred bucks. Direct competition…oh …

The Innogrit Ranier Gen4 NVMe SSD controller has met with much success since the company officially came out of stealth mode.   The success of this controller is testament to the experience within the company.  Their management team is led by their CEO Dr. Zining Wu who served as Chief Technology Officer before leaving Marvell, most of his Management Team following …

The popularity of CFExpress Type B cards has been overwhelming over the past year and we are certain that it will continue to grow as newer digital equipment is released with this type of storage in mind.  It moves us from under 100MB/s data transfer speed for most up to over 5x that with CFExpress highs of 1700MB/s.  Don’t get …

We have reviewed several security-positioned portable SSDs over the years and one of the most common things we get is that companies are awaiting their FIPS certification.  This doesn’t speak negative to the product being reviewed whatsoever but, when we get a truly certified product in hand, it is nice.  Today, we are looking at the Secure Data SecureDrive KP …

Samsung has recently introduced a new card in their flash lineup which should be a very comfortable entry into the media world.  It is the Samsung Pro Plus microSDXC and it is available in 128, 256 and 512GB capacities with and without the included card reader. This card also comes with a 10-year warranty. Its performance specs are rather impressive …

Type B CFExpress cards have gained massive popularity as of late  but what about CFExpress Type A.  Has it been forgotten?  The unfortunate reality of CFExpress Type A cards is that they are a very niche product limited to very few Sony cameras; the Sony a7S III, FX3 and Fx6 specifically. If it’s a professional DSLR that has CFExpress storage, …

So I was in a conversation this week where many were speaking of the success of the Phison E18 controller and I stepped away from the crowd for a bit and had to ask, “Yes but will this last?”  Historically, we have watched different SSD companies, and more specifically, third party SSD controller companies step into the limelight with a …