CES 2014: Mushkin’s Helix SSD to Feature LSI’s SandForce SF-3700 Controller

CES may be winding down, but one interesting tidbit hidden within the myriad of other Mushkin launches is that the company is already working on future solid-state drive releases featuring the upcoming LSI SandForce SF-3700 controller.

SF-3700 “Griffin” will be the third-generation SandForce controller, but the first to be launched since LSI acquired SandForce and all of its assets. LSI Corp is a well-respected company that designs and sells storage and RAID related semiconductors to enterprise clients and data centers, and has a vast array of engineering talent, IP, and prior experience at its disposal, so it is expected that LSI will likely turn out the most reliable SandForce controller yet.

Mushkin’s SF-3700 based SSDs will feature the Helix brand name and will launch in 2.5”, M.2, and also PCIe form-factors. The M.2 gumstick variety will reach up to 512GB while the desktop model will have support for up to 2TB – although there’s been no word yet if launch models will go that high. Helix models will feature MLC but have the option of the more durable eMLC NAND.

Exact performance of the SF-3700 generation isn’t yet known but it’s a safe bet it will eclipse existing SF-2281 SSDs. Pricing and launch dates are not yet known either, but given we first heard about the SF-3700 generation at Computex, we would hazard a wild guess of around May. Either way, we aren’t going to complain about a little extra Q&A time and will be looking forward to seeing what SandForce can do with LSI’s resources and expertise behind it.