HyperX, a division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the HyperX Predator PCIe SSD. Shipping in February, HyperX Predator PCIe SSD will be the highest-end SSD with the fastest speeds in the HyperX lineup.

HyperX Predator PCIe SSD offers large capacities (240GB, 480GB) and incredible speeds to take systems to the edge. A 960GB version will ship in later Q1/Q2. Faster than SATA-based SSDs, the generation 2.0 x4 interface delivers speeds up to 1400MB/s read and 1000MB/s write for ultra-responsive multitasking and an overall faster system. It is powered by the Marvell 88SS9293 controller. The M.2 form factor ensures next-generation platform support with an M.2 PCIe slot. An optional half-height, half-length (HHHL) adapter is also available for many existing motherboards without an M.2 socket. The HHHL adapter comes with both standard and low-profile brackets to fit in slim profile desktop builds.

"As enthusiast desktop users and datacenter customers seek greater performance to break through 6Gb/s SATA limitation, Marvell's X4-lane PCIe SSD Controller 88SS9293 provides lightning fast, next-generation SSD performance," said Mike Chen, director of product marketing, Storage BU, Marvell. "We are proud to work with the HyperX team to deliver higher bandwidth and throughput for client systems and datacenter customers seeking to maximize storage performance."

Lite-On Storage, a leading developer of enterprise flash storage technology, today introduced its CV2 family of solid-state drives during a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Solid-state drives are faster and more affordable than ever. Lite-On also improves their reliability with its CV2 family armed with next-generation low-density parity-check (LDPC) technology.

Lite-On's CV2 is the first SSD powered by Marvell's four-channel 88SS1074 controller, enabling support for 256-bit AES encryption, an ultra-low-power DEVSLP state for extended battery life in mobile devices, and the latest flash memory interfaces. Lite-On's firmware engineers take that cutting-edge feature set and tune it, optimizing every aspect of the storage platform.

The 88SS1074 is matched up to triple-level-cell Toshiba A19 NAND in capacities of 128, 256, and 512GB. By implementing the controller's LDPC error-correcting technology, Lite-On extends the CV2's endurance as much as 33%, hitting reliability levels previously only attainable with MLC flash. The result is an SSD rated for 2,000 program-erase cycles and protected by a three-year warranty.

Marvell, a worldwide leader in providing complete silicon solutions from mobile communications to storage, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud infrastructure, digital entertainment and in-home content delivery and Kinoma software enabling the "Smart Life and Smart Lifestyle," today announced the world's first DRAM-less NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) solid state drive (SSD) controller for mass market mobile computing solutions with industry-leading NANDEdge low-density parity check (LDPC) technology supporting triple-level cell (TLC) and 3D NAND. Marvell's 88NV1140 and 88NV1120 enable small form factor SSD solutions with unparalleled performance for integration into low-z-height tablets, Chrome devices and the upcoming wave of new 2-in-1 hybrid/detachable mobile PC platforms.

"As mobile computing and cloud-based services become an integral part of our daily lives, fast, secure, reliable and cost effective storage solutions with a small form factor are the key to bringing the benefit of technology to the mass market. I believe our latest game-changing SSD controller will drive the fast deployment of a new wave of small form factor SSD solutions for the mass market mobile computing platforms," said Weili Dai, President and Co-Founder of Marvell. "I am very pleased to see Marvell's leadership and our long track record of invention and innovation including the world's first DRAM-less NVMe SSD controller and the industry's most advanced LDPC technology enabling the latest TLC and 3D NAND flash memory. I am very thankful for our global engineering teams who continuously raise the technology bar to move our industry forward faster."

Marvell today announced the introduction of its first native Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) solid-state drive (SSD) controller, the 88SS1093. The Marvell 88SS1093 NVMe SSD controller delivers high-performance solid-state storage solutions with a fully Flash-optimized architecture overcoming the SAS/SATA performance limitations by optimizing hardware and software to take full advantage on NAND and addressing the needs of data centers and client systems that utilize next-generation PCIe 3.0 SSD storage. The 88SS1093 also integrates Marvell's third generation NANDEdge error-correcting, low-density parity check (LDPC) technology for higher reliability and endurance boost that was previously announced with Marvell's fifth generation SATA SSD controller, the 88SS1074.

"As the global leader of the storage industry, we are very proud of our innovation, invention, and contribution to the advancement of a wide range of storage technologies and products. I am very excited to see that our new SSD controller solution has once again raised the technology bar with superior performance, high reliability and robust security," said Weili Dai, President and Co-Founder of Marvell. "I am very proud of our close collaboration with leading tier one OEM and ODM partners around the world in enabling the rapid growth of the SSD market from client devices to data centers and enterprise systems. At Marvell, it is our pride and long term commitment to drive innovation to better lives for all in the new era of 'Smart Life and Smart Lifestyle'."

Plextor finally revealed its M6Pro line of high-performance SATA 6 Gb/s SSD. Featuring a finely tuned firmware driving a modern Marvell-made controller and MLC NAND flash, the drive offers transfer rates in excess of 500 MB/s. It comes in capacities of 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB. The drives come with PlexTurbo, a technology similar in function to Intel Smart Response technology, except that it creates a cache using system memory and the drive's NAND flash. At each boot, its software loads hot-data onto the system memory. It's slated for later in Q3 2014.

We're still a few days away from the official unveiling of MX100 solid state drive but thanks to a distributor jumping the gun we already have the full scoop on Crucial's latest creation. As previously revealed, the MX100 is set to be the first SSD equipped with Micron's 16 nm MLC NAND flash memory but not all models will have the 16 nm NAND - the 128 GB drive will pack 20 nm chips, while the 256 GB and 512 GB versions will have 16 nm flash.

All three MX100 drives come in a 7 mm-thick 2.5-inch chassis (a 9.5 mm adapter is included), and have a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, a Marvell 88SS9189 controller, and are backed by a three-year warranty.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash application products, today launches three new SATA 6 Gb/s SSDs - the Premier Pro SP900 M.2 2242 and 2282 for Ultrabooks and desktop PCs, and Premier Pro SP910, which is suitable for gamers and video editors. No matter the computer, users can find the best solution to upgrade and experience the optimized performance of an SSD.

The Premier Pro SP900 M.2 2422 and 2280 are the latest and smallest SSDs in the market with extremely slim designs and small dimensions (22x42 mm, 22x80 mm), which meet the M.2 standard from Intel. They are smaller than the typical 2.5" SSD and mSATA, but come with bigger capacities, including 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB. The two SSDs are not only suitable for Ultrabooks, but also for new motherboards in the next generation of PC upgrades.

Plextor, a leading developer of high performance digital storage technology, launches the M6e M.2 PCIe Gen2 x2 SSD, an ultra-fast 2280 (80.0 mm × 22.0 mm), M.2 PCIe form factor SSD designed to deliver high performance storage to modern gaming notebooks and the new generation of M.2-compatible motherboards.

The M6e M.2 PCIe is the drive at the heart of Plextor's multi-award winning PCIe gaming SSD. With its release as a stand-alone product, consumers with M.2 PCIe slots gain access to an ultra-fast SSD with maximum sequential read speeds of 770 MB/sec and sequential write speeds of 625 MB/sec. Random 4k read speeds reach 105K, and random write speeds attain 100K, IOPS. The M6e range gives gamers RAID-like performance without the space requirements or inconvenience of setting up a RAID array.

Marvell today announced its game-changing fifth generation serial advanced technology attachment (SATA 6 Gb/s) solid-state drive (SSD) controller. The industry-leading Marvell 88SS1074 SATA SSD controller deploys Marvell's third generation NANDEdge error-correcting, low-density parity check (LDPC) technology, facilitating use of 15 nm triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash in client and enterprise SSDs. The advanced SATA SSD controller significantly improves total storage system cost and delivers unparalleled performance with lower power consumption.

Marvell today announced the launch of its new 88SS1083 PCI Express (PCIe) solid state drive (SSD) controller -a two-lane PCIe Gen2 SSD controller. With performance transfer rates up to 1 GB/s, Marvell's 88SS1083 controller allows SSD manufacturers to offer PCIe SSD at price parity to SATA SSD. The Marvell 88SS1083 is the industry's first controller to be fully compliant with the SATA Express standard, which leverages the most popular PCIe interface and brings in low latency, dual-lane support and 1 GB/s data transfer rate.

The new 88SS1083 controller also supports Separate RefClock with Independent SSC (SRIS), a critical feature as it eliminates the need for an expensive shielded cable for minimizing noise and instead allows for a cost-effective SATA Express cable. SATA Express host can connect either high-performance SATA Express SSDs or traditional SATA devices at similar accessory costs.

"Improving performance while maintaining low power becomes more important than ever, especially for today's ultrathin notebooks and tablets," said Rajan Pai, Vice President, Sales and Field Applications Engineering at Marvell. "The new 88SS1083 allows SSD OEMs to offer higher performance, PCIe-based SSD solutions at similar prices to SATA and is quickly becoming the controller of choice for global OEMs. Marvell is proudly pioneering a new generation of high-performance and low-power silicon solutions that is driving our industry forward."

Plextor has now announced the European release of the M6S, its newest SATA solid state drive which makes use of Marvell's SS9188 dual-core controller and Toshiba 19 nm Toggle-Mode MLC NAND memory. The SSD comes in a 2.5-inch form factor (7 mm tall) and has a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface and is capable of read/write speeds of up to 520/440 MB/s.

Plextor's M6S is backed by a three-year warranty and comes in 128 GB (82 Euro), 256 GB (145 Euro) and 512 GB (306 Euro) capacities.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash application products, today announced the launch of the Premier Pro series SP920 solid state drive (SSD). Designed to meet the high-performance requirements of multimedia file transfers, the SP920 comes in a 2.5" form factor, and is equipped with the latest generation Marvell controller implementing the SATA 6 Gb/sec specification.

SSD continue to become mainstream storage selections for a cross-section of user types, largely due to the higher demands placed on primary system disks by operating systems, games, and high definition media. The SP920 is designed for high performance across a wide range of demanding applications, but it is especially fast in the transmission of multimedia files (uncompressed data). 4 KB random read / write speeds are as high as 98,000/88,000 IOPS, with sequential read and write speeds of up to 560 MB/s and 500 MB/s, respectively. In addition to these impressive numbers, the SP920 maintains consistently high read and write speeds even when the disk is 90% full. This is in contrast to some solid state drives that suffer performance degradation as the drive nears capacity.

Plextor, a leading developer of digital storage technology, announces the launch of the M6S, a highly efficient, high-performance SSD. The Plextor M6S is capable of delivering an impressive maximum random read/write speed of 94,000/80,000 and a 520/440 MB/s sequential read/write speed. This performance comes with power savings of 30% to 50% compared to the M5S. The DEVSLP power mode reduces power consumption to an incredible 2 mW.

"The new M6S gives desktop and notebook users the ultimate system upgrade. Its combination of speed and efficiency makes it an ideal replacement for a hard drive. By installing an M6S rather than a traditional hard drive, Windows 7 boots in a quarter of the time, applications start quickly, and saving and loading become almost instant. Our tests even show that notebook users can gain an extra 30 minutes of battery time by using an M6S," said Product Manager, Yaping Zheng.

Plextor, a leading developer of digital storage technology, announces the launch of the M6M mSATA SSD, a compact and extremely fast SSD. The new M6M is capable of matching the performance of desktop drives with impressive maximum random read/write speeds of 94K IOPS/80K IOPS and sequential read and write speeds of up to 520 MB/s and 440 MB/s. Installing an M6M in an ultra-thin notebook, NUC-style PC, or tablet PC maximizes system responsiveness and battery life.

"The M6M is all about real-world performance. We've optimized this compact SSD to deliver the best possible computing experience. We used the latest generation of components, then included a new version of True Speed for even smoother long-term operation, and focused on increasing the random speeds to give the fastest everyday operating performance", said Product Manager, Yaping Zheng.

Crucial announced its M550 series of performance SSDs, succeeding its existing M500 series. Built in 7 mm-thick 2.5-inch SATA, mSATA, and M.2 form-factors, the M550 series offers higher sequential transfer rates, and comes in higher capacities near existing price-points, over its predecessor. It also introduces a handful new features, such as NWA (native write acceleration), RAIN (redundant array of independent NAND), adaptive thermal protection (ATP), and hardware encryption. The drives appear to be based on a Marvell-made controller platform, with Micron-made MLC NAND flash. The mSATA 6 Gb/s and M.2 models come in capacities of 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB; while the 2.5-inch SATA 6 Gb/s models include 1 TB capacity. The drives offer sequential reads as high as 550 MB/s, with up to 500 MB/s of sequential writes. They're backed by 3-year warranties, and should eventually replace the M500 series from their existing price points.

GIGABYTE Technology, a leading creator of high performance server hardware, is proud to announce the GA-6PXSVT, its first single 2011 socket based workstation motherboard featuring an integrated 10 Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller.

Following the ever increasing need for bandwidth at every level, GIGABYTE offers with the GA-6PXSVT a strong solution for professional users. Regrouping on an ATX form factor ultra-fast networking, a large storage platform, the support of Intel Xeon E5-1600 V2 & E5-2600 V2 processors, and support for up to 256GB of ECC memory, all the features required for a rock-solid workstation or a high performance rack server are gathered.

QNAP launched the HS-210 compact NAS for living rooms. Built in a form-factor not too different from your TV shelf regulars, a Blu-ray player, and an HT receiver, the HS-210 tucks in a pair of 3.5-inch SATA hard drives, which it shares over gigabit Ethernet and USB. The NAS can be further expanded using USB mass-storage devices. It runs a Marvell-made ARM-based processor, which is fanless, and so barring the hum of the HDDs, the NAS itself is practically silent. The processor is paired with 512 MB of RAM. The HS-210 runs QNAP's QTS 4.1 firmware, with its own app environment.

Plextor, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media and storage equipment, today announced its M6 series lineup of solid-state drive solutions. The multi-form factor lineup features Plextor's next-generation 2.5" M6S and M6M mSATA SSDs, along with the introduction of two PCIe drives - the ultra-fast M6e M.2 PCI express and New HHHL PCIe card.

"We are excited to announce the new M6 series, Plextor's new generation of consumer solid-state storage products. With the addition of the M6e M.2 PCIe and SATA drives to the M6 family, Plextor now offers one of the broadest and highest-performing portfolios in the consumer space," said Darlo Perez, Director of Plextor Americas. "Plextor's latest lineup highlights our commitment to providing top-shelf quality and performance in the solid-state drive market."Images courtesy of Legit Reviews

Plextor, a leading developer of high-performance digital storage technology, announces the launch of the M6e, the first SSD specifically designed to meet the demanding requirements of the gaming community. The M6e PCIe SSD uses a new generation of high-bandwidth components to deliver smooth, uninterrupted gameplay and excels the player to get to the next level. It combines the convenience of driver-free ACHI support with the compatibility of selectable legacy BIOS or fast UEFI boot.

The Plextor M6e delivers maximum sequential read/write speeds of 770/625 MB/s and random read/write speeds of 105K/100K IOPS. The PCIe Gen2 x2 interface bypasses the SATAIII bottleneck, includes the latest server-grade multicore Marvell 88SS9183 controller with native PCI 2.0 support, and a pre-graded high performance Toshiba Toggle NAND flash.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today introduced its next-generation Intrepid 3000 Series of enterprise-class SATA III-based SSDs delivering the industry's best sustained performance and consistent I/O responses. As the series supports storage capacities up to 800 GB, Intrepid 3 represents OCZ's highest performing and largest capacity enterprise SATA SSDs to date. Leveraging the Everest 2 Platform, a combination of the Marvell 88SS9187 controller with OCZ's proprietary firmware, the new series features advanced flash management and endurance capabilities that extend NAND flash life and enhance drive reliability, all supported by a 5-year warranty.

'Incredibly fast' best describes the new Intrepid 3000 Series. In a steady state condition by which the drive is writing, erasing and re-writing data repeatedly over the full capacity of the drive, the performance for both large block sequential operations, as well as small block random operations, is unrivaled. This includes 520 MB/s for sequential reads (128K blocks), 470 MB/s for sequential writes (128K blocks), 91,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS) for random reads (4K blocks) and 40,000 IOPS for random writes (4K blocks). In comparison to OCZ's previous SATA III enterprise drives, the Intrepid 3000 Series delivers five times faster sustained performance for 4K write operations and two times faster sustained performance for 4K read operations.

Plextor (www.plextor.com), leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media and storage equipment, gave a sneak preview of the upcoming M6 Drive and M.2 form factor SSD solutions at the IFA show in Berlin.

Plextor M6 Series
The M6 is the anticipated successor to the Plextor M5 Series. The M6 is a 2,5", 5 mm solid state drive for the consumer market and is scheduled to come in the following versions: a version for the high performance segment, the Pro version; and a version to cater the needs of average computer users, the S version. The M6 features the next generation of Plextor's proprietary TrueSpeed technology that works in tandem with the Marvell 88SS9187 controller for enhanced performance and reliability.

Plextor, leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital storage devices, is slated to give a sneak preview of their new M6 SSD at the Flash Memory Summit and Exhibition August 13-15 to be held at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.

The M6 features the next generation of Plextor's proprietary TrueSpeed technology working in tandem with the Marvell 88SS9187 controller for enhanced performance and reliability. The new drive will also feature the latest generation of A19 Toggle NAND flash from Toshiba and an ultra-slim 5 mm casing. Additional product specifications and a formal release date are expected to be announced in the coming months.

Gigabyte rolled out the fifth revision to its 990FXA-UD3 socket AM3+ motherboard, which possibly heralds a series of upgrades to the company's existing socket AM3+ motherboard SKUs. The 990FXA-UD3 Rev. 4 features a host of changes over its UEFI-equipped predecessor, beginning with a refreshed 10-phase CPU VRM (Digital Power Engine), a different selection of chokes, capacitors, and MOSFETs, newer VRM and chipset heatsinks capable of handling higher thermal loads, and Gigabyte's newest UEFI setup program. The board is otherwise identical to the 990FXA-UD3 Rev 3.

Designed with support for AMD FX "Vishera" processors out of the box, the 990FXA-UD3 Rev. 4 features a split power-plane 10-phase CPU VRM, with chokes that don't whine under load, and lower footprint MOSFETs. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2133 MHz memory, and the AMD 990FX northbridge. This chip gives out two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, and two PCI-Express 2.0 x4 slots (physical x16). Two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI make for the rest of its expansion. All six SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the SB950 southbridge are assigned as internal ports, while a Marvell 9172 controller handles two eSATA 6 Gb/s. The board offers a total of four USB 3.0 ports, driven by EJ168 controllers by Etron. 8-channel HD audio driven by Realtek ALC889 CODEC, and a gigabit Ethernet interface driven by Realtek 8111F, cover the rest of its connectivity. Since it's a revision to an existing SKU, we expect it to be priced the same, around $140.

GIGABYTE created UEFI-equipped revisions of most of its socket AM3+ motherboards with the advent of FX "Vishera" processors last year, but held back with its flagship motherboard for the platform, the 990FXA-UD7. The company released an updated revision of the motherboard, dubbed 990FXA-UD7 Rev 3.0, completely skipping "Rev 2.0." While the new board is essentially laid out similar to its predecessor, a lot has changed.

To begin with, its based on GIGABYTE's newer (though not latest) Ultra Durable 4 construction. A 10-phase high-amperage VRM powers the AM3+ socket, which appears to be ready for AMD's FX-9000 series CPUs for overclockers. The CPU VRM uses driver-MOSFETs, although not quite the PowIRStage chippery we find on Ultra Durable 5 motherboards. A thicker, chunkier heatsink is used to cool these driver-MOSFETs and the AMD 990FX northbridge. This cluster of heatsinks is connected to the one that cools the AMD SB950 southbridge over a heat pipe. The AM3+ socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, which support up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2000+ MHz memory.

First sighted in January, ASUS' P9X79-E WS socket LGA2011 motherboard is ready to take on the new breed of Core "Ivy Bridge-E" and Xeon "Ivy Bridge-EP" lines of processors, even if initial versions of its BIOS don't advertise that support. Based on Intel X79 Express chipset, the board is built in the 305 x 267 mm SSI-CEB form-factor. The LGA2011 socket is powered by a 10-phase VRM, with 2+2 phase memory VRM. The CPU socket is wired to eight DDR3 DIMM slots, four on its either sides, supporting up to 64 GB of quad-channel DDR3-2133 MHz memory. The board features a total of seven PCI-Express x16 slots. 4-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX are supported.

Storage connectivity on the P9X79-E WS includes two SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the X79 PCH, four SATA 6 Gb/s from a Marvell-made 4-port SATA 6 Gb/s AHCI/RAID controller, four SATA 3 Gb/s from the PCH, and an additional two eSATA 6 Gb/s from an ASMedia-made controller. There are just four USB 3.0 ports on offer, all ASMedia-made controllers. Other connectivity includes two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, both driven by Intel-made controllers, 8-channel HD audio, legacy connectivity such as PS/2 and RS232 COM (header), and a pinch of overclocker-friendly features in the BIOS and on-board. The P9X79-E WS from ASUS is priced at US $499.99.