Mushkin Launches 6Gb SATA MLC SSDs With SandForce SF-2281 Processor

Mushkin, Inc. announced Chronos, a solid state drive series based on the SandForce SF-2281 processor.

This series will be Mushkin’s first utilizing the SATA Revision 3.0 protocol, providing 6 gigabits per second of bandwidth. The Chronos Series is comprised of two types of products: Chronos and Chronos Deluxe. Chronos Deluxe SSDs utilize NAND flash memory and are  for enthusiasts or those in audio/video production who require bandwidth. Chronos SSDs offer asynchronous flash memory.

"This new series of SSDs is the latest in Mushkin’s long history of solid state storage products. This is an area in which we have made great strides and our Chronos SSD line will continue this tradition. Users who are ready for SATA III now, or are planning to upgrade down the road, will not find a better drive in terms of performance and price," said Brian Flood, Mushkin director of product development.

"SandForce is pleased that Mushkin has chosen to introduce their next generation SSDs with the latest SandForce SSD Processors," said Jeremy Werner, director of marketing at SandForce. "Their end customers will greatly benefit from the enhanced user experience with the breakthrough performance of the SF-2281 utilizing the new 6 Gbps SATA 3.0 interface."

The Chronos SSD series are  fast drives with up to 560MB/s read and 530MB/s write throughput. IOPS will measure up to 90,000 IO/s with 4K random write transfers. Reliability and maintenance features include the SandForce DuraWrite, RAISE (Redundant Array of Independent Silicon Elements), Recycler (Garbage Collection), Intelligent Wear Leveling, Read Disturb technologies and Enhanced ECC using BCH and up to 55 bits per 512 byte sector.

Mushkin Chronos Features:

• SandForce SF-2281 SSD processor with unthrottled IOPS firmware
• SATA 3.0 (6Gb/s) interface (backwards compatible with SATA 3Gb/s)
• RAID support
• High speed MLC NAND
• 3-year warranty
• 240GB Speeds: 560MB/s read and 530MB/s write, 90,000 IOPS random 4K
• 120GB Speeds: 560MB/s read and 520MB/s write, 90,000 IOPS random 4K
• Power Consumption: < Power Supply: 5VDC ±5% 3W typical (active), 1.65W (idle)

Availability is expected later in June 2011.