The storage market and not the least SSDs are smoking hot. Taiwanese PhotoFast has presented a new SATA 6.0 Gbps SSD called GMonster3 XV2 that promises impressive transfer speeds up to 500 MB/s, using a completely fresh controller from an unknown Japnese company.
PhotoFast GMonster3 XV2 uses the SATA 6.0 Gbps interface and if we are to take the numbers as given to us it will move closer to the limitations of this interface.
PhotoFast promises theoretic speeds up to 500 MB/s during read of data, and 450 MB/s during write of data. GMonster3 XV2 ships in 2.5″ alumium cover and use MLC NAND flash memory with TRIM support. Storage capacity ranges from 64GB up to 512GB and prices do look pretty humane.
- PhotoFast GMonster3 XV2 64GB – 110 USD
- PhotoFast GMonster3 XV2 128GB – 200 USD
- PhotoFast GMonster3 XV2 256GB – 400 USD
- PhotoFast GMonster3 XV2 512GB – 800 USD
What really makes us curious is the controller in GMonster3 XV2. When we first heard about the device we were convinced PhotoFast was working together with Marvell, but this is not the case and the only thing we do know is that the new controller comes from a Japanese company that is pretty new on the market.
The specifications look very promising at sequential speeds, when handling smaller files (4K) the performance was quite as convincing, but according our sources this will be improved as the units are not expected to reach stores until April. We hopes learn more about this new actor, since comptition is only healthy and it does look like a competitive product.
