Over the last few days several manufacturers have announced SSDs based on the SandForce SF-1200 SSD. In comparison with the SF-1500, it shares the following aspects of spec:
- 260 MB/s for sequential reads and writes
- 30 000 IOPS random reads on 4 KB blocks (120 MB/s)
However in terms of random writes on 4 KB blocks we’re at 120 MB/s for the SF-1500 and 40 MB/s for the SF-1200. The difference then looks to be solely at a firmware level and in the possibility of coupling the SF-1500 with SLC, but SandForce also looks set to price this added value too high for the consumer market, reserving the SF-1500 for SSDs for the enterprise market.
OCZ had already announced its intention to market a Vertex 2 based on the SF-1200 in March, as have A-Data with the S-599 range and PhotoFast with the G-Monster 2s. OCZ used CeBIT to announce the forthcoming arrival of the Agility 2, which is reported to be based on an SF-1200 with cut down performanace (while it’s already a cut down SF-1500!), while G-Skill has unveiled its Phoenix and Corsair its Forces.
Generally, all manufacturers will be marketing versions at 50, 100, 200 and 400 GB, but it seems as if Corsair has limited itself to the best-selling 100 and 200 GB versions with its Force F100 and F200.
