14 DAY TRIAL // Computer memory specialist Team Group, has recently updated its product portfolio to include a new high-performance solid state drive series based on second-generation SandForce controllers, which can reach read speeds up to 550MB/s.
The new drives are known as the Xtreem S2 series and initially the range will comprise three models with capacities going from 60GB to 240GB, while using the standard 2.5-inch form factor characteristic to most notebooks.
At the heart of the all the units stands the SandForce SF-2281 controller, which features native support for the SATA 6Gbps interface as well as eight memory channels that are to be connected to NAND Flash memory chips.
No information regarding the type of NAND used in these solid state drives is available, but Team Group has provided us with a series of performance numbers.
According to these details, the fastest drive in the series, the 240GB unit, is able to read data sequentially at speeds up to 550MB/s, while its sequential write performance is rated at 520MB/s.
This maximum value drops as we move down in the Xtreem S2 SSD series, the 120GB unit offering 500MB/s, while the 60GB drive is limited at 480MB/s, but all the models retain the 550MB/s read speed of the 240GB unit.
Maximum 4K random write performance is estimated at 50,000 IOPS (input/output operations per second), which seems to suggest that the firmware used in capped by SandForce.
As is the case with all SandForce SF-2200-based drives, the Xtreem S2 series supports the DuraClass and DuraWrite technologies with full support for the TRIM command.
Sadly, team Group refrained itself from providing any information regarding the release date and price of the Xtreem S2 series SSD units.