Will Micron be the first with SATA/6G SSDs?

[MRFS]

http://hothardware.com/News/Microns-RealSSD-C300-SSD-Is-The-Fastest-Ever/


See the video comparing a standard 7,200 rpm HDD
with Micron's C300 running at 3G (300 MB/second).

This is a very important trend, particularly as motherboards
integrate SATA/6G controllers "on-board" without needing
to buy and install a separate controller.

This technology will rapidly become the high-end state-of-the-art.


MRFS

 

[r_manic]

I'm not sure if Micron's first. Check out this article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/6-gb-s-sata,2457.html

 

[Pointertovoid]

Sata600 controllers aren't part of the chipset, not even at the latest Intel, alas. They are manufactured elsewhere (TI, NEC...) and board manufacturers connect them on a Pci-E 1.0 lane, just as if they were on an added card.

And then, as theoretical maximum performance of a single PciE 1.0 lane is 250MB/s, there is zero hope to get Sata600 speed from such boards.

I'm deeply disappointed that Intel didn't integrate Sata600 nor Usb 3.0 nor Pci-E 2.0 in its P55 IOH. That's an excellent reason not to buy it, and wait for their next one, as adding a Sata600 on a Pci-E 1.0 is pointless. Not even Usb 3.0 could give its theoretical performance, for the same reason.

 

[MRFS]

> board manufacturers connect them on a Pci-E 1.0 lane
> theoretical maximum performance of a single PciE 1.0 lane is 250MB/s


I think the folks at PC Perspective correctly confirmed that
the ASUS "PCI-E x1 Gen2" solution has a bandwidth
of 500 MB/second, not 250.

"Gen2" = PCI-E 2.0 @ (2.5 Gbps / 10 bits per byte) x 2

See the purple link in the center here:

So, 500 is better than 250, but still not 600 MB/second.


This Micron video appears to be using a SATA/6G controller
(see the SFF-8087 black cable + my comment), but
the performance of their SATA/6G SSD is not even close to 600 MB/second:

http://www.micronblogs.com/2009/12/you-asked-for-it-realssd-c300-random-iops/

So, I would guess that the limiting factor in that video is the Nand Flash,
not the SATA interface.


We're looking forward to the availability of the ASUS U3S6 add-on card:

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=19975
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/exclusive_first_usb_30_and_sata_60_expansion_card_will_sell_30

The ASUS website says it's only compatible with certain ASUS P55 motherboards,
but Ryan Shrout at PC Perspective told me privately that he has run it AOK
with other PCI-E chipsets.


Gigabyte, ASRock and MSI also say they now support SATA/6G, but
I'm not as familiar with the implementation details of their solutions:

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=21601


According to these specs, Intel's RS2BL040 and RS2BL080
also support true "6G":

http://www.intel.com/Products/Server/RAID-controllers/RS2BL040/RS2BL040-overview.htm
http://www.intel.com/Products/Server/RAID-controllers/RS2BL080/RS2BL080-overview.htm


You are so correct: these high-speed standards should be
integrated onto motherboards, instead of requiring expensive
add-on cards.


USB 3.0 and SATA/6G are the current standards!
Why is Intel dragging their feet then?


In light of these new standards, 2010 is shaping up to be
a very exciting year for storage!


MRFS