Introduction

Just as you rise you shall fall because the only guarantees in life are death and taxes. The LSI SandForce SF-2281 has reached middle age and like every mid-life crisis, things are starting to change. The enthusiast performance crown changed hands in the last few months as Samsung's 840 Pro and OCZ's Vector are now riding their horses in the center of the enthusiast joust ring.

In order to extend the life of what I consider the most successful flash controller to date, LSI moved SF-2281 to the mainstream market where it can thrive as a worthy competitor until Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF) wipes the slate clean.

SF-2281 had a long and significant run as the world's fastest controller. Moving from the high profit to the high volume sector certainly isn't going to hurt LSI either. The last announcement from the company claimed over 10 million controllers shipped, I'd say it has to be a record if anyone keeps track of such things.

For shoppers, this is great news because SF-2281 delivers an amazing amount of performance and is a mature controller that's already moved past reckless youth. The mainstream market is where high value products live, the bang for the buck crowd. The Kingston SSDNow V300 is kind of like the person in the average neighborhood with a new Vette parked in the garage though. Let's take a look.