Specifications, Pricing and Availability

SanDisk launched the Extreme SSD in three capacity sizes - 120GB, 240GB and 480GB. We have all three capacity sizes in the lab, but only the 240GB has 5.0.3 on it. We're saving the 120GB and 480GB for 5.0.4. The Extreme was the first LSI SandForce SF-2281 drive to feature 24nm Toggle Mode flash, something SanDisk managed to pull off because they own half of the fab and the flash itself is labeled SanDisk.

As you can imagine, owning your own flash factory has benefits. It's kind of like a farmer, a farmer doesn't really have to worry about the cost of milk, beef, chicken or corn because a he just walks out the back door and takes what he wants when he wants. That isn't always the case, but you get the idea - the ability to just take what you need and give yourself a nice discount at the same time is a nice little perk, especially since flash is the most expensive component on an SSD.

SanDisk didn't just let the opportunity to pluck flash from the production line like chicken eggs in the hen house pass by. At this time, the SanDisk Extreme 240GB with premium 24nm Toggle Mode flash costs less than most 25nm IMFT asynchronous flash drives. During my research I found the 240GB model we're looking at today listed for $179.99 at Newegg and Google Price Search tipped up a low price of just $174.99. Did I mention this is the 240GB model? The 120GB Extreme shows up all over the place at less than $100 and the massive 480GB capacity is at Amazon for $374.31. At these prices rolling two SanDisk Extreme drives in RAID 0 on your Intel 7-Series motherboard with TRIM support isn't just a possibility, it's almost a must.

On the performance side the SanDisk Extreme delivers the 550MB/s sequential read speed that made SF-2281 FPU drives famous. The 240GB model has a claimed sequential write speed of 520MB/s, the highest in this product category from SanDisk. IOPS performance comes in at 39K random read IOPS and 83K 4K aligned random write IOPS.

If there is one area where the SanDisk Extreme SSD takes a hit it's in the accessory package. Inside the box you get the SSD and a paper manual. SanDisk does not include a desktop adapter bracket, but at the current price, we can't really throw a fit about that. Desktop users should take notice though since in many cases you'll need to come up with a way to mount your drive. SanDisk also includes a nice three year warranty should you need it. Of the 29 user reviews at Newegg a staggering 79% (23) rate the Extreme SSD 256GB at five eggs.