OCZ IBIS SSD Boasts HSDL and Works at 740 MB/s

Coming with the express intention of inaugurating its HSDL interface, OCZ is preparing the IBIS, a solid state drive that, despite not plugging into the PCI Express slot, still goes well over 700 MB/s both when reading data as well as writing it.

As far as consumer-oriented SSDs go, most of them have, so far, stuck to the SATA 3.0 Gbps connection, reaching top speeds of more or less 285 MB/s.

Now, however, OCZ went ahead and implemented its proprietary interface that supposedly provides a bandwidth of up to 20 Gbps.

This bandwidth is made possible by the fact that the newcomer, known by the name of IBIS, communicates with the system via the SAS connector.

OCZ's new creation is built out of MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory chips and appears to have already been tested.

The components that give the drive its high data transfer rates are four SandForce SF-1222 controllers.

Coupled with the bandwidth mentioned above, this allows the newcomer to read data at 740 MB/s and write it at 720 MB/s.

The product also features a MTBF of 2 million hours and utilizes the 3.5-inch form factor.

There are seven versions of the IBIS on the way, with capacities ranging between 100 GB and 960 GB, each priced accordingly and featuring the 3.5-inch form factor.

The 100 GB version sells for $529, while the 160 GB model and the 240 GB one are priced at $629 and $739, respectively.

As for the 360 GB, 480 GB, 720 GB and 960 GB solid state drives, they will sell for $1,099, $1,299, $2,149 and a full $2,799, respectively. The 240 GB drive has even been previewed by HotHardware.

Unfortunately, since OCZ itself has not exactly issued a press release to announce these HSDL-enabled drives, it is unknown exactly when they will ship, the next few months being the most accurate estimation given so far.