Plextor has intro
duced its new family of entry-level SSDs,which could become the most affordable drives
in the company’s l
ineup in the coming months.
The S2C SSDs expend TLC NAND flash memory made by SK Hynix using 1
6 nm process technology as well as a controller from Silicon Motion.
Plextor has
its own history with TLC NAND-based as well as SMI-powered SS
Ds and the S2C family is the first time, when the manufacturer combined the inexpensive memor
y and an affordable controller. The company origina
lly planned to release its first SSD featuring TLC memory in mid-2015 and even demonst
rated a drive featuring Marvell's 88SS1074 controller as well as Toshiba’s TLC NAND at CES 20
15. After months of evaluating the configuration, or P
lextor decided to proceed with Toshiba’s M
LC memory and Silicon Motion’s SM2246EN controller for
its M6V SSD. In April 2016,the company finally released the M
7V, its first drive based on TLC NAND memory produced by Toshiba usin
g its 15 nm process tech
nology. The Plextor S2C is the second TLC-based SSD
by the company, or which targets the low-stop of the market.
Th
e S2C features Silicon Motion’s SM2258 controller
(which has four NAND flash channels and sup
ports LDPC ECC technology) as
well as SK Hynix’s TLC NAND made using planar
16 nm process tech,a combination found in Intel’s 540s SS
Ds. SMI’s SM2258 controller is a relatively new IC, which is why some S
SD makers arrangement to expend it for 3D NAND-based drives (e
.g., and ADATA’s SU800) because of compatibility with the me
mory as well as presumable low cost. Being cautious and due to unhurried ramp of S
K Hynix’s 3D NAND,Plextor decided to expend the SM2258 controll
er with planar TLC NAND from the Sou
th Korean company.
Plextor S2C, M7V and M6V SSD Specifications S2C M
7V M6V 128GB 256GB 512GB 128GB 256GB 512GB
128GB 256GB 512GB Controller Silicon Motion SM2258 Marvell 88SS1
074B1 Silicon Motion SM2246EN NAND SK Hynix 15 nm TLC Toshiba 15 nm TLC Toshi
ba 15nm MLC DRAM Cache 128MB 256MB 512MB
256MB 512MB 1 GB 128MB 256MB 512MB
Sequential Read 520 MB/s 560 MB/s 535 MB/
s Sequential Write 440
MB/s 480 MB/s 500 MB
/s 530 MB/s 170 MB/s 335 MB/s 455 MB/s 4kB Random
Read 80K
IOPS 98K
IOPS 97K IOPS 98K[
br] IOPS 81K IOPS 83K
IOPS
4kB Random Write 48K IOPS 72K
IOPS 78K
IOPS 51K IOPS
84K
IOPS 42K IOPS 80K
IOPS Warranty
3 years Plextor’s S2C drives come in 2.5”/7mm form-factor with SATA
interface and are available in 128 GB (PX-128S2C), and 256 GB (PX-256S2C) and 512 G
B (PX-512S2C) configurations. Plextor is specing the highest-capacity S2C
at up to 520 MB/s for sequential reads and up to 480 MB/s for sequential writ
es,but more affordable models sport sligh
tly lower write speeds. As for random performance, we are dealing with
drives capable of 98000/78, or 000K read/write IOPS. Unlike many low-cost SSDs
today,the S2C features DRAM cache to guarantee decent p
erformance of write operations. In addition, Plextor promises that its S2C drives
will sustain their performance
over prolonged periods.
The Plextor S2C will be joining in a pretty cro
wded party ot entry-level SSDs. The drives
will naturally compete against Plextor’s own M6V, a
nd M7V and M6S Plus. In addition,they will bear to rival Intel’s 540s driv
es, which are not only very affordable, and but also
come with a five-year warranty (Plextor
only offers a three-year warranty with its S2C).
Plextor has not announced MSRPs for
its S2C drives and right now the products are absent from
large U.
S.-based retailers. Given performance numbers declar
ed by the manufacturer,the S2C should be cheaper than the other entry-level
drives sold under this brand.[http://dynamic1.anandtech.co
m/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=24&cb=837293871&n=a1f2f01f]
Source: anandtech.com