Western Digital and its subsidiary SanDisk revealed
new SSDs using 64-layer 3D NAND memory. They start at an affordable US$ 100 for
the 250GB model and going all the way up to 2TB. They are nearly identical,
except that the WD drives come in 2.5”/7mm and m.2 2280 form factors, while the
SanDisk is available only in 2.5” flavor.
Both SSD models are based on a Marvell controller
and the higher capacities should offer 560MB/s sequential read, 550MB/s
sequential write, also 95K/84K IOPS in random read/write. The base 250GB model
is a bit slower, though not by much.
The drives are available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB and
2TB capacities and will be available in the third quarter of this year,
starting at $100 for the 250GB model. Prices for the higher capacities haven’t
been announced yet. The previous generation Blue SSD offered 1TB for US$ 300.
Anyway, the new drives all have a 3-year warranty and are rated at 1.75 million
hours MTBF.
