14 DAY TRIAL // With OCZ unleashing a new line of PCI Express SSDs, SanDisk was not about to just sit idly by, which is why it put together a pair of solid state modules of its own. Unlike those from its competitor, these are designed for the SATA 3.0Gbps interface, and, thus, while not as fast or capacious as the RevoDrive, are more versatile and widely usable, in laptops and desktops alike. The newcomers go by the names of G4 and P4 and represent two major advancements on their maker's part.
The P4 unit, or units, since there are versions with different capacities, utilize, besides the standard mSATA shape, the mSATA mini form factor, which means they are especially suited for smartbooks, tablets, set top boxes and netbooks. With storage space of 8GB to 128GB, they have random write 4KB performance of up to 600 IOPS, thanks to the nCache acceleration technology.
The G4 drive, with its 64GB, 128GB and 256GB versions (twice the capacity of previous generations), read and write at 220/160MB/s. This is possible thanks to the ExtremeFPS page-based algorithm that increases writing efficiency and random write speeds.
They also feature customized form factors, for thinner laptop designs. As for reliability, the G4 models are expected to last for over 10 years of PC usage, which is more than the usual lifespan of a desktop or mobile computer.
"We designed our new SSDs with long-term consumer usage in mind," said Doron Myersdorf, senior director, SSD marketing, SanDisk. "Our drives offer faster boot times and improved system responsiveness while maintaining our uncompromising reliability standards. In addition, the drives utilize our Adaptive Flash Management (AFM) technology, which enables them to bridge the gap between demanding market requirements and increasingly challenging raw NAND flash characteristics."
The G4 and P4 are made out of 32nm MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory chips and should start being mass produced in the third quarter.