SanDisk Extreme PRO 480 GB SSD review - Specifications and Features

Specifications & Features

The sample that has arrived in our secret test facility is the 480GB version of the Extreme Pro series drives.  Later on we'll add the results for 240 GB and 960 GB as well as these are still inbound.

The Extreme II series has been released with Synchronous MLC NAND, flash memory from the SanDisk new 19nm node. The 19nm NAND flash memory is tied towards the latest revision of the Marvell 88SS9187-BLD2 (Monet) controller. This is an 8-channel NAND flash controller and the third revision from Marvell, it comes with a dual-core architecture that is very fast per channel.

On the next pages we'll be showing you some PCB photos as well, and what you'll notice is that it carries DDR memory caches as well. In-between the different SKUs the RAM buffer will be different. It's configured in a 1:1 style, this 240 GB has a 256MB cache whilst the 480GB version will have 512MB. 

As you can see, over the a SATA3 interface you may expect read speeds up to 550 MB/s and writes up to 515~520 MB/s depending on volume size of the SSD. The fastest SSD in this series will be the 240 GB model, which these days in regards to pricing also is a size we feel you should have in your PC or laptop as minimum.

Features

• SATA 6 Gb/s compliant; Backwards compliant to SATA 3 Gb/s & SATA 1.5 Gb/s
• ATA8-ACS v6
• NCQ support up to queue depth = 32
• Support for TRIM
• S.M.A.R.T. feature supported
• Advanced Flash Management:
• nCache – Non Volatile Write Cache
• Dynamic and Static Wear-leveling
• Bad Block Management
• Background Garbage Collection
• Advanced features:
• Tiered caching – Volatile and non-volatile cache
• Supports multi stream – improves user experience in multitasking systems
• Minimal write amplification – increases endurance and performance
• Support for Thermal throttling
• Performance will be throttled in the event junction temperature of critical components is measured to be exceeding the maximum allowable for the product

The nCache is used to accumulate small writes (called segments) at high speed and then flush and consolidate them to larger MLC sections of the NAND Flash memory array.

SanDisk Press Release

The new SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD—a drive designed for gamers, PC enthusiasts and media professionals who demand the highest possible consistent, real-world performance1. With sequential read speeds of 550 megabytes/second (MB/S) and write speeds of up to 520 MB/s, the SanDisk Extreme PRO loads and runs graphics-intensive applications and game levels in a heartbeat.

Additionally, by offering up to 1TB-Class of capacity, the SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD provides the space needed to store even the biggest programs, games or files, and load them blazingly fast—transforming any PC or console into a serious gaming machine.

• 240 GB SDSSDXPS-240G-G25
• 480 GB SDSSDXPS-480G-G25
• 960 GB SDSSDXPS-960G-G25