14 DAY TRIAL // Micron's RealSSD C400 series of solid state drives has been keenly awaited by many computer hardware enthusiasts looking for a high performance storage disk, and the wait is now over as the first drives have already been listed and are available for purchase.
Announced at the beginning of January, the Micron C400 SSDs are available in 64GB, 128GB and 512GB storage capacities and will come in the 2.5-inch and 1.8-inch form factor.
Compared to most other SSDs that have reached the market, the C400 line was designed from the ground up to incorporate Micron's 25-nanometer NAND flash technology and, just like the previous C300 drives, use the SATA 6Gbps interface for connecting to the system.
Behind this interface stands a Marvell built SSD processor that enables the drives to reach read speeds of 415 MB/s as well as 40,000 4K random read IOPS (inputs/outputs per second).
Write performance varies depending on the capacity of the drive, and the 64GB unit has a write transfer speed of 95 MB/s and is capable of reaching 20,000 4K random write IOPS.
The bigger 128GB and 512GB drives raise this number to 50K IOPS, and their write speeds are rated at 175 MB/s and 260 MB/s, respectively.
Prices start at $129.99, for the 64GB version, and go all the way up to $949.99 for the 512GB drive, while the 128GB model is listed at $244.99. The SSDs can be purchased right now and should ship in one or two days.
The new C400 series SSDs compete for the same market segment as Intel's recently released 510-series SSD, which also use a Marvell-built controller, as well as with various other solid state disks that are based on the SF-2000 SandForce controller.
Crucial, a division of Micron, will also sell these under the Crucial m4 SSD name. (via Sweclockers)