Kingston Unveils First SandForce SSDs at Computex

In an announcement that may not come as a huge surprise to some, Kingston revealed at Computex plans to introduce a new series of solid-state drives featuring SandForce controllers. This marks the first time Kingston will have utilized any SandForce controllers in its products. This is particularly intriguing news given that Kingston quite possibly has the most experience with the widest variety of SSD controllers in the market, having dealt with everything from Intel’s G1 & G2 controllers to multiple models from Samsung, Toshiba and JMicron. Indilinx and SandForce have been conspicuously absent, but the latter can now be tacked onto the list.

Kingston’s HyperX series RAM has always been associated with blistering-fast enthusiast memory. Given the second generation SandForce SF-2200 can deliver some of the best performance in any SSD we’ve seen to date, this may explain why Kingston has decided to extend the brand name to the new HyperX SSD series which will be the first high-end enthusiast offering from Kingston since the initial Intel X25-M ‘G1′ days.

As is typical for SF-2281 powered drives, the Kingston HyperX SSD series will feature a SATA 3 (6Gb/s) interface, 120GB and 240GB models, the larger of which will offer 525MB/s reads with 480MB/s writes. For random IOPS Kingston lists 40,000 read and 60,000 writes. As for NAND the HyperX SSD series will utilize Intel’s latest 25nm flash.

However, unlike most other upgrade kits that feature a mounting plate, SATA cable, and screws, Kingston is going one better and offering a copy of Acronis True Image HD migration software as well as an external USB drive bay. Kingston’s HyperX SSD series will carry the standard three year warranty, and should begin shipping the second week in July.

COMPUTEX Taipei and Fountain Valley, CA — (June 1, 2011) — Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it has teamed up with SandForce® Inc., a leader in high-performance SSD (Solid-State Drive) processors, to launch its first SATA Rev 3.0 (6Gb/s) based SSD targeted at enthusiasts, gamers, and performance users. The Kingston HyperX® SSD feature the latest and most reliable SandForce controller to date, and is also available as a bundle with the HyperX Upgrade Kit for easy installation.