14 DAY TRIAL // High-end solid-state drives are the sort of storage devices that work at 550 MB/s (2.5-inch SATA form factor), or PCI Express drives with over 1 GB/s speed. At least, this was the case until now.
ADATA has created a new high-speed SSD, one with the NGFF form factor (next-generation form-factor) and powered by the LSI-SandForce SF-8639 controller chip.
We'd be tempted to liken it to a RAM module if it didn't have the connectivity interface on the left side instead of the top/bottom.
The storage device does use the PCI Express interface to communicate with systems though (mobile PCs, especially ultrabooks).
Understandable, since the transfer rate of 1,800 MB/s would not be possible to achieve on anything else.
We can only wonder what kind of super-fast creatures could be created when NAND Flash technology reaches the point where it can fully utilize PCI Express 2.0/3.0 x16 slots.
Then again, by the time it happens, the PCI Express specification will likely have moved up a level or two, so we don't need to worry about it now.
The AXNP280E SSD comes in 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB capacities, but we're not sure when sales will start.
The 4K random access performance is of 200,000 IOPS (input/output operations per second), while TRIM and NCQ are present and accounted for.
All in all, the new NGFF SSD is better in more or less every way than all standard SSDs, and will no doubt cost a fortune because of that.
Its long, thin shape may also require some design concessions and/or changes. Ultrabook makers will have to replace the considerably wider and shorter mSATA form factor after all.
If ADATA somehow manages not to demand a fortune for each and every one of these things, the Ultrabook industry could go through an episode of rebound, now that new CPUs and low-power states are available too.