SandForce Controllers Used in Silicon Power's Fast V20 SSDs

Since solid state storage is bound to go only forward and progressively eat away the share of HDDs (hard disk drives), Silicon power decided to enhance its portfolio by bringing out the V20 line.

Some end-users may have heard or read about how SandForce managed to sell over 1 million SSD controllers over the course of 2010.

This was a significant accomplishment because, while the chips are definitely powerful, they were meant for the high-end market.

Thus, considering how expensive even the 'lesser' SSDs are will realize that the 1 million shipments is all the more noteworthy for it.

Now, SandForce's controllers are proving to be just as appealing as before, if not more so, seeing as how they have been revealed to power a new line of storage units.

The SSDs in question are known as the V20 line and belong to Silicon Power and have the now famous data transfer speeds of 285 MB/s when reading and 275 MB/s when writing.

They come in capacities of 40 GB, 60 GB, 120 GB and 240 GB, are based on MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory chips and utilize the SATA 3.0 Gbps interface.

In other words, the 2.5-inch drives are designed to be compatible with any system, new and old, while providing a performance higher than that of most competing solutions.

For those that want more numbers, the V20 work on 4.5-5.5V, measure 100 x 69.85 x 9.4 mm, weigh 70 grams and support the TRIM command.

They also have 128-bit AES encryption, built-in ECC, lifespan-extending Wear Leveling technology and shock and vibration resistance.

Finally, they are bundled with a 3.5-inch adapter and comply with the European RoHS specification (they are environment-friendly).

The press release didn't give any prices, but they should be at least similar to all other SF-enabled models. A 3-year warranty should accompany all newcomers.