Mushkin releases 1TB Reactor SSD with SMI controller

Mushkin releases the Reactor 1 TB SSD with a 3-year warranty.

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Mushkin announced the release of the Reactor SSD. The drive only has one listed capacity of 1TB, but we would expect it to be available in numerous capacity points. The Reactor sports the Silicon Motion SM2246EN controller, but no word on the type of NAND employed. The SSD only features a three-year warranty, which is a bit light in the era of 10-year warranties we see with several MLC SSDs. The NAND is likely MLC, as that version of Silicon Motion's controller doesn't support TLC, at least to our knowledge.

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The Reactor comes in a 2.5" 7mm form factor, which is perfect for mobile applications. The SMI controller also supports DevSlp, a key function that idles the SSD to save power in mobile applications. The Reactor features speed of 74,000/76,000 IOPS random read/write and 560/460 MB/s sequential read/write speed. The Reactor wades into an extremely competitive market, and low-cost MLC and TLC SSDs are lowering the bar on pricing. The fab-enabled SSD manufacturers are in the midst of a cost-cutting cycle, and current prices are as low as 34 cents per GB.

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Fab-enabled manufacturers are also deploying extensive value-added features, such as free caching software, cloning software, and robust toolbox features. The Reactor will have a hard time competing with the low price and extensive value-adds, especially with a 3-year warranty, when other manufacturers are moving to ten-year warranty periods.

The quest for benchmark world records led Paul further and further down the overclocking rabbit hole. SSDs and RAID controllers were a big part of that equation, allowing him to push performance to the bleeding edge. Finding the fastest and most extreme storage solutions led to experience with a myriad of high-end enterprise devices. Soon testing SSDs and Enterprise RAID controllers at the limits of their performance became Paul's real passion, one that is carried out through writing articles and reviews.

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