Zalman N series 128GB SSD review - Introduction

Zalman N Series 128GB SSD

What, you didn't know that the goddesses of cooling are also selling SSDs ? Yeah they sure do, and they even embed a SandForce SF-1222 controller in its N Series line. Now granted that's not the hot new SATA 6G stuff, but if you feel that up-to 280 MB/sec reads and 270 MB/sec writes do not suck ... then you better read this review alright.

Being fashionably late to market with this product series the SSD series will sell at 64GB ($169) and 128GB ($289). Performance wise this drive should be as fast as the Vertex 2 series for example. Yeap, we'll be peeking at the new N series SSDs from Zalman.

But allow me to explain this first ... Zalman actually has two series active and running in the market as we speak. One of them is labeled as the S Series and will employ controller chips created by JMicron, while the more powerful N Series (tested today) will use SandForce controllers.

The S Drives will be, at least at first, three in number, will have capacities of up to 128 GB and will sport read and write speeds of up to 280 MB/s and 210 MB/s. The 32 GB and 64 GB models will be limited to about 60 MB/s and 120 MB/s, respectively.

The prices for each drive are: $100 (32 GB), $150 (64 GB) and $250 (128 GB) and will be optimized for ACHI mode and sure, Windows 7 TRIM command is fully supported.

The second product line we test today is based on the more popular and powerful SandForce controllers, it will offer higher performance, of up to 280 MB/s when reading and 270 MB/s when writing.

Armed with a decent three year warranty the N series will be available in only 64 GB and 128 GB capacities, with prices of $170 and $289, respectively. Have a peek at the product after which we'll dive straight into the full review.