Mushkin Expands Its SSD Lineup with Helix: M.2 PCIe 4x, 3D MLC NAND, Up To 2 TB

[Raevenlord]

Adding to their SSD lineup, Mushkin, which makes some really interesting, good price-performance ratio products has recently announced the upcoming availability of their Helix line of M.2 2280 SSDs. Based on Silicon Motion's SM2260 controller paired with 3D MLC NAND, Mushkin positions the Helix line as a premium, high-performance offering for desktops and laptops alike. Models will vary from a 250 GB entry-level offering thorugh a 2 TB high-end SKU, with the 2 TB version offering sequential read performance at up to 2.5 GB/s and write performance at up to 1.1 GB/s, when Silicon Motion's pseudo-SLC caching technology is used to its best effect.





Mushkin also claim that the drives can deliver up to 232K/185K 4KB read/write IOPS, which does speak to some under-the-hood firmware tricks going on (since those are higher than Silicon Motion's rated throughput for the SM2260), but keep in mind that these values are only representative of the performance you can expect from the high-end, 2 TB offering - speeds on the other rated capacities are likely to be lower.

No word as of yet on pricing or availability, or even if the final products will carry heatspreaders, much like some of Mushkin's competitors offer.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

hope these are actually available, unlike the samsung 960 pro series, particularly the 1 and 2TB versions.

And hopefully they come in cheaper, to reflect the lower performance numbers. M.2 drive prices are currently a bit ludicrous compared to 2.5" SSDs.

 

[Patriot]

hope these are actually available, unlike the samsung 960 pro series, particularly the 1 and 2TB versions.

And hopefully they come in cheaper, to reflect the lower performance numbers. M.2 drive prices are currently a bit ludicrous compared to 2.5" SSDs.

Go grab the SM961 off ebay (960pro) or PM961 960 evo.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Go grab the SM961 off ebay (960pro) or PM961 960 evo.

At $570+, and with a whole 6 listings, none of which came with the same 3 year warranty for a consumer product, those are not a suitable replacement for a new drive.

And keep in mind, my comment was covering both the lack of availability (there are no 2TB SM 961's on ebay ATM) as well as price. I am not about to dump the full price of a SM961 on a drive that doesnt have any warranty, when mushkin might be releasing a cheaper one with an actual warranty.

To top it off, the 960 evo has no 2TB option, which is what I really want. only the pro does, and that drive is completely MIA right now. Hopefully mushkin may not only release one, but also supply them in proper numbers.