Kingston Digital SSDNOW V300 120GB SSD Review Storage   Page 1

Reviewer: Jon Coulter Article Publish Date: 12/19/2012

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

 

 

Kingston in their continuing focus on cost effective high performance Solid State Drives have launched a new series of drive, This new series is called SSDNOW V300. This new value oriented drive features a Kingston Branded SandForce 2281 Flash Processing Unit and Kingston Branded Toshiba 19nm NAND Flash.

This is the first time we’ve had a drive in the lab with this combination of FPU/NAND so we are excited to see how this baby will perform. Kingston had special firmware written by LSI SandForce for compatibility with Toshibas 19nm NAND Flash Memory making this drive one of a kind; at least for the moment.

Kingston’s SSDNOW 300 series has a 7mm Z-Height (thickness) that allows installation into newer generation laptops that require the standard; which means you can purchase this drive and it will fit everywhere except where an mSATA drive is required, like for your Ultrabook.

19nm Flash technology from Toshiba is aimed at reducing NAND costs through higher yields while delivering top performance and this is the reason Kingston is using it the V300. Kingston is able to offer the consumer more capacity at a reduced cost while maintaining top performance which is what the consumer is demanding these days. Kingston chose LSI SandForce’s 2281 controller because it has been utilized more than any other FPU making it a known performer and a low cost solution due to its DRAM-less design.

Here’s what Kingston has to say about the SSDNOW V300 SSD:

Kingston’s SSDNow V300 solid-state drive is a cost-effective way to revive your computer. It’s 10x faster than a hard drive plus more reliable, more durable and shock-proof. It features an LSI® SandForce® controller customized for Kingston and best-in-class components, and is available in kits with all the accessories needed for an effortless transition to the latest technology. For added peace of mind, it’s backed by a three-year warranty, free technical support and legendary Kingston® reliability.

Features

• Fast — 10x faster than a 7200RPM hard drive
• High Quality — features an LSI® SandForce® controller customized for Kingston
• Reliable — with no moving parts, solid-state drives are less likely to fail than standard hard drives
• Economical design optimized to make migrating to an SSD more affordable
• Convenient — all-in-one kits with all the components for easy installation
• Multiple capacities — to fit your workload
• Guaranteed — three-year warranty, free technical support and legendary Kingston reliability

Kingston, LSI SandForce and Toshiba sounds like a great collaboration to me and will undoubtedly serve up gobs of performance in addition to great value. Let’s get into the review and give this cool new drive a once over RWLabs.com style.