Micron shook things up with some product branding changes at Computex 2016. It spun off the Ballistix product line into a separate brand that will focus on the gaming and eSports market. The new entity, called Ballistix - By Micron, looks to step away from the Crucial brand that is often seen as a quiet and conservative mainstream product maker.
Top tier performance products have fallen under the Ballistix line for several years now. Most ship with vibrant colors, overclocking features and an aggressive edge that never really fit the Crucial image. Micron hired an eSports veteran for this new team to lend expertise and to aid in building the brand. A new website has been established: Ballistix Gaming. When pressed, Micron stated that mouse pads and other gaming peripherals were not on the road map at this time.
Ballistix Gaming system memory has already shifted to the new brand. At Computex, Ballistix announced the new TX3 PCIe NVMe SSD. The design is similar to the Micron 2100 client SSD we discussed yesterday. The drive features the new Silicon Motion SM2260 NVMe controller that Micron has exclusively for an undisclosed period of time. The controller is paired with new Micron multi-level cell (MLC) 3D NAND sporting 256 Gb die. Capacity sizes range from 256 GB to 1024 GB (1 TB) with a 512 GB option in the middle. The two smaller capacity sizes will utilize a single-sided design but the largest model places flash on both sizes to accomodate the sleek 2280 form factor.
We spotted the new TX3 in action, albeit in a limited fashion. The performance specifications are still preliminary but we expect more information, and even samples in the coming months. This marks another entry into the growing PCIe NVMe space. We expect to see many more as the day progresses at Computex 2016.
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Chris Ramseyer is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware, covering Storage. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
