|
| Q:
Do you carry SATA II SSDs? Is there performance difference? |
| A:
SSD performance is based ONLY on the manufacturer and series, NOT by the
connector. Think about it. The bandwith of IDE is 133MB/s, yet
no hard drive in the world can sustain that speed...Not even a 10,000RPM
SATA II Raptor! In other words, Western Digital COULD make an IDE
Raptor of the same performance. Example number 2: We carry an MTRON
32GB IDE (PATA) SSD that SUSTAINS A READ SPEED of 105MB/s! Thats and
IDE SSD that is MUCH faster than a SATA Raptor hard disk, and faster than
most SATA SSDs as well. Samsung has announced "SATA II" SSDs that
will read at 100MB/s. The MTRON PRO SSDs are SATA I, but read at
over 110MB/s. So in this case SATA I is FASTER than SATA II.
Remember what SATA II really is. It's NOTHING. It's an extra
set of commands in the SATA command set. The problem is, a company
can just use SOME of those extra commands and call their drive SATA II.
A different company can use different extra commands and also call their
drive "SATA II" but each drive can support completely different features. |
|
| Q:
What is the difference between MTRON MSD-6000, MSP-7000 (PRO), & Mobi SSDs.
And where does Memoright models fit in? |
| A:
DV Nation only sells top performing SSDs, and all of these drives provide
excellent performance. The MTRON MSD-6000 series has been
discontinued, but DV Nation still has stock. These drives are still
brand new and under full warranty. The March 2007 issue of
Computer Power User Magazine has a 2-page review of MTRON PRO vs Memoright
SSDs. 20 tests were run, and each manufacturer won half the tests:
Memoright won 10, MTRON won 10. Likewise, some of our customers
prefer Memoright, some prefer MTRON. MTRON Mobis are the cheapest,
while we actually sell many more PROs than Mobis. All They are both
great drives. Here is a quick breakdown: |
|
|
|
|
|
| Model |
Speed (read /
write) |
Warrantied use
|
Warranty length |
Case material
|
| MTRON MSD-6000 |
100 / 80 MB/s |
all |
5 years |
aluminum |
| MTRON Mobi-3000 |
100 / 80 MB/s |
single-user
desktop only |
3 years |
aluminum |
| MTRON MSP-7000
PRO |
120 / 90 MB/s |
all |
5 years |
plastic |
| Memoright ".1"
series |
80 / >105MB/s |
all |
5 years |
aluminum |
| Memoright GT
series |
>110 /
>110 MB/s |
all |
5 years |
aluminum |
| *
Memoright GT series will first be available in 64GB in March. But
Memoright SSDs perform on par with MTRON even though MTRON rates them
higher (refer again to the CPU Mag article). All of these SSDs have
a <.1ms access time. The best 10,000RPM Raptor hard drive have an
8.5ms access time! All drives in this chart are SLC-based. See
SLC vs MLC question above. |
|
| Q:
What is SLC flash memory? What is MLC? What is the difference?
What do you carry? |
| A:
SLC stands for "single level cell." MLC stands for "Multi-level cell."
SLC is faster than MLC. However, MLC allows more data to be stored
than SLC. When the capacity of an SSD increases, you want to pay
particular attention to weather the manufacturer has gone to MLC.
ALL Memoright and MTRON SSDs sold by DV Nation are SLC...EVEN the 2.5"
128GB Memoright! This means there is NO performance penalty.
Toshiba and others have announced MLC SSDs that are spec'd to read at an
admirable 100MB/s, but we think that even if they achieve that, their IOPS
performance will likely be lower than SLC. But these MLC SSDs are
currently WRITING at half the speed of SLC. So, to sum it up, SLC
will always give TOP performance, but if you want to get into SSDs, you
might save a little money on MLC SSDs. |
|
| Q:
When can I buy / do you carry: Samsung, Toshiba, Crucial, Micron, Adata
and other SSDs? |
| A:
If you are reading this, you probably realize DV Nation is the only
company that specializes ONLY in SSDs. We provide the highest
performance, and yes.. cheapest of the high-quality SSDs. (Notice we
do not carry Transcend.) There are about 3 sources of NAND
flash chips that go into SSDs--Samsung provides the most. Companies
such as MTRON, Memoright, Crucial, etc, buy these NAND chips and and
develop their own controller. The controller is the main difference
among models. That, as well as selection of SLC vs MLC, is why a
drive from Memoright can write faster than any other disk in the WORLD:
110MB/s in some cases, while a Toshiba writes at 45MB/s.
Companies who publish super-low pricing, but do not actually provide their
SSDs through non-computer-installed distribution do a big disservice to
the public. We met met with all SSD makers at CES and here is what
we found: The MTRON and Memoright SSDs are priced competitively with
what is coming out by these other brands. Samsung has not committed
to retail release. We can only get two of Samsung's models right now
(1.8" 64GB ZIF, and 1.8" 32GB micro-ATA). Crucial seems to be
interested in working with us, but we don't have a date on their drives.
Toshiba won't answer the phone or return calls. Sandisk is not
actually interested in selling SSDs. DV Nation was set up to buy
directly from Sandisk before their merger with M-Systems. Now they
refer us to their so-called distributors. These distributors do NOT
actually stock any Sandisk SSDs! They are unable to even provide
pricing. We asked again for a quote on Jan 7th, and as of this
writing have not received valid pricing. We finally got a
spreadsheet from one distributor saying OUR PRICE is $2500 for ONE 32GB
Sandisk SSD that performs much slower than a $1100 Memoright.
(LOL!!!) Makes no sense. At DV Nation, we employ an apparently
bizarre business model. We buy in bulk and stock more SSDs than
anyone. We monitor the market and approach all manufacturers on the
verge of releasing SSDs. (Sometimes they contact us first). So just
come to DV Nation for the best in what is out there. You can get
32GB 100MB/S SSDs here starting at $725--the same price as a high-end
video card, and 1/3rd the price that the same drive was about 9 months
ago! Prices have stabilized though. We are keeping in close
contact with Memoright and MTRON to make sure we are providing the widest
range, and highest performance devices. Memoright is already making
128GB in 2.5", fully compliant with the 9.5mm 2.5" standard. Look
for 256GB, secure erase, wide temperature, and lower cost MLC models from
them in H1. Also in H1 from MTRON: uuber-fast ExpressCards, 1.8"
SSDs nearly 100% faster than anything Samsung or Toshiba has announced,
and perhaps even cheaper MLC SSDs. |
|
| Q:
What is Secure Erase? |
| A:
Secure Erase is a function built into some SSDs. It requires special
firmware. A command can be sent to that SSD via a software command
or push-button, and the drive's firmware will then non-destructively, or
destructively erase the data. |
|
Non-destructive Secure Erase - In this version, the drive's firmware
rapidly writes "0's" across the entire drive. Since Memoright has
the fastest write speed, it can do this faster than any other drive.
All
Memoright brand SSDs SHOULD support non-destructive secure erase in
the near future. We already have their Windows XP secure erase
program. We are just waiting on drive support. Contact us if
this is a requirement for you. |
|
Destructive Secure Erase - This method renders the drive UNUSABLE, and
happens very very fast. It can be activated by a software command,
or by a push button located on the drive itself, or by a remote
push-button. |
|
| Q: I heard
that MTRON SSDs are slowed down to a slower speed when running on an Intel
X38 or other Intel chipset. True? |
| A:
* UPDATED 12/30/07 *
We just
tested MTRON PRO and Memoright SSDs on an Intel X38 chipset
motherboard (Asus Maximus Formula) and got FULL SPEED out of both drives.
So Intel chipsets are O.K. for full speed depending on the motherboard you
are using. We haven't tested all Intel chipsets, but our high end
X38 is capable of full speed! |
|
| Q: Are
MTRON Solid State Disks compatible with my Apple MacBook? |
| A:
The super-fast MTRON and Memoright SSDs are compatible with the Apple MacBook and
MacBook Pro running OS X 10.5 Leopard. The techs at the Apple store
were absolutely STUNNED at the performance! You usually see a "bar"
appear during the OS load. It doesn't even come up since the 100MB/s
MTRON with <.1ms access time loads the OS so fast. Apps loaded so
fast that all the techs said that the tech who did the first installation
said he wanted one! DV Nation is the only company offering the 32GB
SATA MTRON SSD preinstalled in the
Apple MacBook
and
MacBook
Pro. |
|
| Addendum:
Our SSDs also work in all versions of Windows and Linux. If you want
to use an SSD to enhance performance but are unsure of OS compatibility,
CONTACT US. We also sell
PC desktops
and notebooks with up to four MTRON SSDs installed. |
|
|
| Q: Are
MTRON Solid State Disks compatible with RAID controllers? If so,
which ones? |
| A: *
UPDATED 12/29/07 * MTRON PRO and Mobi SSDs ARE COMPATIBLE with most
RAID controllers. Memoright SSDs are also compatible with most RAID
controllers. The first generation of MTRON (and many other brands)
were compatible with just a few RAID controllers. If you have the
older series MSD-6000 modes by MTRON, see this
pdf compatibility
chart to select a RAID controller. That isn't the complete list,
but it is a list that MTRON says will work (We did by the LSI Logic
MegaRAID 8408E PCI-E RAID controller from that list and verfied that it
worked)! |
|
|
| Q: Do
you have a solid state disk for the Motion Computing Tablet? |
| A: YES!
16GB and 32GB are available for the Motion Computing LS800
here (Not
for the LE1600). It also fits the Fujitsu 1600 |
| It features the micro-ATA "Toshiba Connector"
shown here .
Sample HDs that this replaces are Toshiba
MK2004GAL and MK6006GAH |
| |
| Q:
What is the difference between a Solid Sate Disk (SSD) and a Disk on
Module (DOM) |
| A:
Solid State Disks and Disks on Module are solid state flash disks.
That means they are pure flash memory with a standard connector and
controller. There are no moving parts, making them rugged, immune to
vibration and dropping, and they have no altitude operating restrictions.
A Disk on Module (DOM) is a term for a disk that plugs DIRECTLY into a
motherboard's socket. PQI and other manufacturers make DOMS with
IDE, USB, or SATA connector. DOMs are popular in point of sales
machines, ATMs, and other tight-fit applications. DOMs are the smallest
form factor possible and are smaller than standard disk drive |
| A Solid State
Disk (SSD) is a DOM that is in the form factor of a hard disk. 1.8",
2.5", and 3.5" form factors are drop in replacments for hard disks.
The SSD has a standard connector on it such as IDE or SATA (or BOTH!).
The solid state disk is connected to the motherboard via a standard
connector. The SSD can have a higher maximum capacity since it is a
physically larger size. Check out the new PQI 64GB SSD. It is
a 2.5" form factor and is only 8.45mm high! No other manufacturer
keeps the height that low on such a high capacity! |
| |
| Q:
I heard that NAND flash memory costs $X per GB, so why isn't a 32GB SSD
under $1000? |
| A:
*Updated 12/29/07* You get what you pay for. That's why
Transcend is cheap, while MTRON and Memoright are more expensive (but
worth it). After we first wrote the answer to this question, MTRON
released their Mobi series which IS under $1000 for 32GB. Way under.
$725 as of this writing.
ORIGINAL ANSWER: Simply
conjecturing that NAND flash chips costs X dollars per GB, and doing
simple math is irresponsible reporting by the media. First of all,
there are more parts than just the flash chips. There is the
controller and engineering required for you to be able to plug it into ANY
computer and have that computer recognize it has a hard disk.
Secondly, there are different grades of NAND flash. The best
manufactures, such as PQI, M-Systems, Bitmicro, and Adtron use Industiral
Grade Flash. (PQI uses Samsung NANDs). The companies that
charge half the price of PQI SSDs use consumer grade flash. It is
inferior and unstable. Super Talent, Q-Memory, and others produce
SSDs that are so unstable that they will generate blue screens of death in
Windows, causing you to reinstall Windows DAILY. YOU GET WHAT YOU
PAY FOR. That's why our customers prefer PQI. Their prices are
about half that of M-Systems, and they perform at the same level! We
have benchmarked them inside our test system with identical results.
We buy directly from PQI and can assure you that we pay far more than
$1000 for a 32GB at the wholesale level. Last we checked, a 32GB SSD
from M-Systems costs about $8000! PQI prices start at $1799 for
32GB. You may have seen one other company advertising PQI SSDs and
you can plainly see that we beat them by $300 to $500 PER UNIT. As
(if) prices fall, we will pass it along. Keep in mind that NAND
flash is a 20 year old technology, and prices have just now gotten down to
THIS level. |
| |
| Q: What
about speed? I see M-Systems claims a 45MB/s read speed, yet you say
that the PQIs are just as fast even though the spec sheet says they
operate at 25MB/s. How fast are they? |
| A:
Well, lets start by restating from the above question that the 2.5" PQI
Turbo SSDs benchmark as fast as M-Systems. We have tested them each
at right around 25MB/s using HD Tach 3.0. We think that maybe
M-Systems used a a different benchmark to get their performance numbers.
Or maybe hard disk benchmarks don't quite do justice to solid state disks.
For instance, the current line of 1.8" SSDs from PQI benchmark at 15MB/s,
yet they will boot a laptop 21% faster than a laptop drive rated at 30MB/s
(rated at TWICE the throughput)! One reason for this is the superior
random access properties of SSDs. When data become scattered around
a hard disk's platters, the read/write head must thrash about, losing
performance. Any area of a solid state disk is instantly accessible
at <1ms. So while the throughput of a hard disk might be twice as
fast as current SSDs, the access times of the SSD are over FIFTEEN TIMES
FASTER than the best mechanical hard disk. When you look at a
chart that benchmarks the number of I/Os an SSD is capable of, compared to
a hard disk, you notice the SSD on top and then have to scroll
down...farther...farther...Oh! There are the hard drives! It's
that big of a difference. Samsung and Microsoft say that flash disks
are 50 to 100 times faster for 4K transfers, a common data set size for
Windows operation....which is the premise of Vista ReadyBoost. SSDs
are great for database applications, multi-user, multi-I/O environments.
If you are just looking for another drive for A/V editing, look elsewhere.
SSDs are fast enough, but not necessary...But for rugged needs,
high-altitude needs, databases and such, SSDs are an excellent solution.
Beware of marketing claims of speed. Adtron advertises a solid state
disk that operates at 85MB/s. So we called them and spoke with an
engineer who candidly told me that that it was marketing hype and to
expect performance in the 30s. At DV Nation, we are honest about
performance and think that for now, PQI provides the best value. We
are in contact with companies in Tawian, Korea, and Japan. So when
other SSDs come out, we will provide them if they are superior. |
| |
| Q: I hear
people in forums cry about the number of read/write cycles. How long
will a modern SSD last? |
| A:
Current-generation SSDs, such as those by MTRON have no read cycle limits,
and a write life cycle of 140 YEARS. (You read that correctly).
140 years @5GB per day. With technologies such as wear leveling, and the newest NANDs, that has
increased to 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 write cycles. Manufacturer suggest a 10 year
life expectancy. 3.5" hard drives come with a 3 to 5 year warranty. SSDs are so reliable that they have been sent to Mars on Mars Rovers.
You can't do that with something that won't last. We have been
selling PQI SSDs since the middle of 2006 with no returns for any reason.
On the other hand we have purchased numerous 2.5" laptop mechanical hard
disks that failed within 2 to 3 weeks! This WON'T happen with solid
state disks! SSDs should outlast the useful life of your system. |
| |
| |
| Q: Do
you have a solid state disk for the Samsung Q1 UMPC? |
| A: *UPDATED
12/29/07* We got the Samsung 64GB ZIF in stock and sold out, but will
place another order on Jan 3rd. Hopefully we will be able to get
more. ORIGINAL ANSWER: The
Samsung Q1 uses a disk drive with a ZIF (zero insertion force) connector.
The Samsung brand of SSD is not available through retail channels but the
Sandisk 32GB ZIF SSD is available
here . |
| |
| * We will add to this faq, so please keep
coming back. |
| * In the
meantime, stay tuned to our main SSD page for the
latest solid state
disks. More are coming in Jan, Feb, and later 07 |
| * There is more
information at our
forum
|
| |
