Micron Showcases 3D NAND-based Ballistix TX3 And Crucial MX300 SSDs at Computex
Micron Technology held a press conference in Taipei and provided details about the new "Ballistix TX3" and "Crucial MX300" series of solid state drives. Micron is bringing the "Ballistix" brand to SSDs, and plans to use the brand in the same manner as the "Crucial" and "Lexar" brands.
The first product in Ballistix series is the NVM Express (NVMe) M.2 "Ballistix TX3" SSD. The drive uses at Micron's 3D MLC NAND and a Silicon Motion "SM2260" controller.
The drive's sequential read speed reaches the 2,400MB/sec, while its sequential write speed hits the 1,000MB/sec. Nominal 4K random access speed is 140,000IOPS for both read and write, potentially providing a promising gaming environment to gamers. In addition, the Ballistix TX3 features a power failure protection function.
Ballistix TX3 |
|
NAND | Micron 3D MLC NAND |
Form factor | M.2 |
Interface | PCI Express Gen3 x4 |
Protocol | NVM Express |
Controller | Silicon Motion SM2260 |
Sequential read | Up to 2,400MB / sec |
Sequential write | Up to 1,000MB / sec |
4K random read | Maximum 140,000IOPS |
4K random write | Maximum 140,000IOPS |
Capacity | 250GB / 550GB / 1TB |
The SSD will be available in capacities of 250GB / 550GB / 1TB, when it hit the market in Q3.
The Crucial "MX300" will be offifially released in June 14th.
The 2.5-inch drive is based on Micron's 3D TLC NAND and will be initially available in a single capactity (750GB) as well as a single 2,5-inch form factor, but a very attractive price, according to Crucial.
Crucial MX300 750GB |
|
NAND | Micron 3D TLC NAND |
Form factor | 2.5 inches |
Interface | SATA |
Controller | Marvell 88SS1074 |
Sequential read | Up to 530MB / Sec |
Sequential write | Up to 500MB / Sec |
4K random read | Maximum 92,000IOPS |
4K random write | Maximum 83,000IOPS |
Mean time to failure (MTTF) | 1.5 million hours |
Endurance | 220TBW |
Capacity | 750GB |
Micron 3D NAND is engineered with larger NAND cells that improve performance and prolong endurance (220TBW), resulting in sequential reads/writes up to 530 / 510 MB/s on all file types, random reads/writes up to 92k / 83k on all file types, and an endurance rating of up to 220TB total bytes written.
The NAND configuration for this SSD is 8 X DDP?s of 384Gb Micron 3D TLC NAND. The SSD also uses 512MB of LPDDR3 in a DDP.
In the third quarter, Micron plans to offer the 2,5-inch MX300 in capacities of 275GB / 525GB / 1,050GB, followed by a 2,050GB (400TBW) vesion in Q4.