Introduction

If you follow my State of Solid State Series of articles then you already know the SandForce SF-1200 controller isn't going away anytime soon. The SF-1200 will go down in history as the fastest SATA 3G SSD controller ever developed. With its 285MB/s read and 275MB/s write speeds, the SF-1200 pushed SATA 3G to the limits and taught us what solid state performance should feel like.

What was last year's enthusiast standard is making a comeback, this time as a mainstream and decaf power user product. With a majority of users still clinging onto their SATA 3G desktops and notebooks, it's no surprise to see companies like Silicon Power introducing new SF-1200 products. The 2011 SF-1200 products will arrive in several shapes and configurations. Companies like Renice have already developed mSATA drives, OCZ still has their Vertex 2, but now with 25nm flash, and many others are following suit to reduce costs even further.

Finding SF-1200 drives without 25nm flash is going to be a difficult task in 2011 from the usual suspects. Silicon Power on the other hand has decided to stick with tried and true 3Xnm flash since it's faster and offers more longevity. We've spoken with Silicon Power's product manager and he's very excited about bringing more of their SSDs to the global market and the US market in particular. Silicon Power is going to be aggressive with their pricing on the V20 and will keep the shelves stocked at Amazon.com.

Let's take a look at the new Silicon Power V20 SF-1200 controlled SSD.