SSDs
When Western Digital introduced its Ultrastar DC SN861 SSDs earlier this year, the company did not disclose which controller it used for these drives, which made many observers presume that WD was using an in-house controller. But a recent teardown of the drive shows that is not the case; instead, the company is using a controller from Fadu, a South Korean company founded in 2015 that specializes on enterprise-grade turnkey SSD solutions. The Western Digital Ultrastar DC SN861 SSD is aimed at performance-hungry hyperscale datacenters and enterprise customers which are adopting PCIe Gen5 storage devices these days. And, as uncovered in photos from a recent Storage Review article, the drive is based on Fadu's FC5161 NVMe 2.0-compliant controller. The FC5161 utilizes 16 NAND channels supporting...
Marvell Announces First PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD Controllers: Up To 14 GB/s
Today Marvell is announcing the first NVMe SSD controllers to support PCIe 5.0, and a new branding strategy for Marvell's storage controllers. The new SSD controllers are the first...
47 by Billy Tallis on 5/27/2021Western Digital Introduces WD Black SN750 SE SSD: Entry-Level PCIe Gen4
Among several announcements today, Western Digital is introducing a new more affordable PCIe Gen4 SSD under their gaming-oriented WD Black brand (styled WD_BLACK). The new WD Black SN750 SE...
14 by Billy Tallis on 5/26/2021Western Digital Introduces WD Black D30 Game Drive External SSDs
Western Digital is adding a new external SSD to their WD_BLACK product line: the WD Black D30 Game Drive SSD. The D30 is a bus-powered USB SSD offering up...
5 by Billy Tallis on 5/26/2021Caching And Tiering: Intel Optane Memory H20 and Enmotus FuzeDrive SSD Reviewed
Two competing products break out of the mold of typical consumer SSDs and combine two kinds of storage on one drive, with extra software to use that storage intelligently...
45 by Billy Tallis on 5/18/2021Best SSDs: May 2021
A solid state drive is often the most important component for making a PC feel fast and responsive; any PC still using a mechanical hard drive as its primary...
21 by Billy Tallis on 5/14/2021The Inland Performance Plus 2TB SSD Review: Phison's E18 NVMe Controller Tested
Phison's E18 is their second-generation PCIe 4.0 SSD controller, and it keeps them in the running for the fastest consumer SSDs. Micro Center's Inland Performance Plus is the cheapest...
118 by Billy Tallis on 5/13/2021The ADATA GAMMIX S50 Lite 2TB SSD Review: Mainstream PCIe Gen4
Today we're taking a look at ADATA's XPG Gammix S50 Lite, a mid-range consumer NVMe SSD based on Silicon Motion's new SM2267 controller. Among other notable features, the Gammix...
93 by Billy Tallis on 4/30/2021Sabrent Rocket Q4 and Corsair MP600 CORE NVMe SSDs Reviewed: PCIe 4.0 with QLC
A PCIe Gen4 SSD controller can get more performance out of QLC NAND, but can a QLC SSD ever be more than a low-end drive?
60 by Billy Tallis on 4/9/2021Kingston Introduces NV1 Entry-Level NVMe SSD
As previewed at CES, Kingston's newest entry-level consumer NVMe SSD is now shipping. The new NV1 uses a similar strategy to Kingston's entry-level SATA drives like the A400, where...
11 by Billy Tallis on 3/30/2021Mushkin Launches DELTA And GAMMA PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Mushkin has announced two new product lines for PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSDs. Following on from last year's introduction of the ALPHA series, the new DELTA and GAMMA drives continue...
12 by Billy Tallis on 3/30/2021The Western Digital WD Black SN850 Review: A Very Fast PCIe 4.0 SSD
Western Digital has rapidly risen to being a top-tier player in the market, and this is no more evident than with their newest high-end SSD, the WD Black SN850.
83 by Billy Tallis on 3/18/2021The Samsung SSD 980 (500GB & 1TB) Review: Samsung's Entry NVMe
Samsung's new SSD 980, with no PRO, EVO or QVO suffix, is the company's first entry-level NVMe SSD. We've got two of the capacities in for review.
54 by Billy Tallis on 3/9/2021Crucial X6 Portable SSD 4TB Launches at $490: Phison's U17 Flash Controller Enters Retail
Crucial introduced the X6 Portable SSD last year as an entry-level alternative to their NVMe-based X8 Portable SSD. Launched in capacities of up to 2TB, the X6 adopted a...
1 by Ganesh T S on 3/2/2021The Intel SSD 670p (2TB) Review: Improving QLC, But Crazy Pricing?!?
Intel's third generation QLC SSD delivers much-needed performance improvements due to its new 144-layer 3D QLC NAND and a new low-cost SSD controller from Silicon Motion.
73 by Billy Tallis on 3/1/20212021 NAND Flash Updates from ISSCC: The Leaning Towers of TLC and QLC
The annual IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference covers a range of topics of interest to AnandTech. Every year the conference includes a session on non-volatile memories where most of...
76 by Billy Tallis on 2/19/2021The Samsung 870 EVO (1TB & 4TB) Review: Does the World Need Premium SATA SSDs?
Samsung is one of the few brands still launching new high-end SATA SSDs in the consumer market. The new Samsung 870 EVO is a fine update to a very...
136 by Billy Tallis on 2/17/2021How We Test PCIe 4.0 Storage: The AnandTech 2021 SSD Benchmark Suite
Our new SSD test suite is ready, updated and expanded for the latest trends in storage including PCIe 4.0 and QLC NAND.
70 by Billy Tallis on 2/1/2021Corsair Launches MP600 CORE and MP600 PRO PCIe 4.0 SSDs
Corsair is launching a new round of PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSDs based on the latest reference designs from Phison plus Corsair's own heatsink designs. Starting off, the Corsair...
37 by Billy Tallis on 1/28/2021Samsung Introduces 870 EVO SATA SSDs: 128L TLC With an Updated Controller
Samsung is launching the latest iteration of their mainstream consumer TLC-based SATA SSDs. The new 870 EVO brings the same generational updates to Samsung's 3D NAND and SSD controller...
29 by Billy Tallis on 1/19/2021Kingston at CES 2021: New NVMe SSDs and a USB 3.2 Portable SSD
Kingston introduced a variety of new storage products at CES 2021, announcing new NVMe SSDs ranging from entry-level to high-end consumer and enterprise drives, plus new portable storage products. NV1...
1 by Billy Tallis on 1/14/2021