Today, CDRLabs brings you a review of Samsung's first DRAM-less SSD, the 980. Designed for everyday PC users, gamers and content creators, this compact, M.2 form factor drive is powered by Samsung's "Pablo" controller and is available with up to 1TB of their latest 6th generation V-NAND flash. To overcome the performance drawbacks typically associated with DRAM-less SSDs, the 980 utilizes Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology, which lets the drive use a small portion of the host system's memory as its own. The 980 is also equipped with Samsung's newly upgraded Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0 technology as well as an ultra-fast PCIe Gen3 x4 interface to provide NVMe performance with six times the speed of SATA SSDs.

TerraMaster, a professional brand that specializes in providing innovative storage products, introduces the D2-310 2-bay RAID storage with USB 3.1 5Gbps port for small home and small office setups. The D2-310 features a high-speed USB 3.1 Gen1 SUPERSPEED+ 5Gbps Type-C that’s compatible with Windows and Mac systems. The highly-compatible, high-speed Type-C connector deliver speeds of up to 410MB/s, allowing users to copy 1GB videos in just 2~3 seconds.

Competitively priced at $159, the D2-310 is perfect for creative professionals like video editors, graphics designers, and animators working at home and in small offices. Its two bays support 2.5” and 3.5” SATA drives and up to 36TB storage capacity (2x 18TB 3.5” HDDs). It uses a sturdy aluminum enclosure with superb temperature management and low noise.

Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is proud to announce the new NM620 M.2 2280 PCle Gen3x4 NVMe SSD. The NM620 is a perfect solution designed for content creators and gamers who want to maximize the speed of their PCs and be able to handle intensive workload.

Enjoy 6x the speed of SATA SSDs with speeds of up to 3300MB/s read and 3000MB/s write, so you can improve overall workflow. Supported by PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe 1.4 technology standard and built with the latest 3D NAND flash, the NM620 puts you in the computing fast lane and offers impressive performance even for demanding creative workstations and gaming experiences.

For added efficiency, its reduced power consumption and cooler operation makes the battery life last longer than a traditional hard drive.Also, the NM620 is built to last with no moving parts, unlike traditional hard disk drive. On top of that, it’s also shock and vibration resistant, making it one robust and reliable SSD.

Gaming is a booming global industry, and content creation is also more popular today with the continued growth of social networking. Having a reliable storage device has therefore become a prerequisite. Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend), a leading brand of digital storage and multimedia products, is proud to announce the release of the MTE240S, a PCIe M.2 solid-state drive (SSD), to serve the increasing need for digital storage. Built meeting the latest PCIe 4.0 specifications and crafted of high-quality 3D NAND flash memory, the MTE240S unleashes lightning transfer speeds of up to 3,800MB/s. Available in capacities of up to 1TB, the SSD comes with an ultra-thin graphene heatsink, delivering a seamlessly smooth and stable storage experience for gamers and content creators alike.

3,800MB/s high speed for uninterrupted performance
Compliant with the NVMe 1.4 specification, the MTE240S is embedded with the latest PCIe Gen4 x4 interface and a 4-channel controller, resulting in compelling performance of 3,800MB/s read and 3,200MB/s write speeds. The drive effectively decreases system latency, giving gamers that competitive edge, and enabling video editing by content creators.

Stay cool with graphene heatsink
Transcend’s MTE240S features an ultra-thin graphene heatsink that keeps the components at a suitable temperature during high-speed operations. The operational temperature remains within an acceptable range, ensuring that speed is not affected by heat. Dynamic thermal throttling mechanism monitors the temperature at all times. This not only keeps overall system stability on an even keel, but prolongs the lifespan of the SSD. The MTE240S is also engineered with LDPC coding for greater data integrity. All these technologies aim at a safer, more durable storage experience for gamers and content creators.

TerraMaster, a professional brand that specializes in providing innovative storage products, introduces the U8-111 enterprise-class 8-bay networked storage server with high-speed 10 Gigabit Ethernet. It is a highly scalable storage server that’s designed to meet the needs of enterprise virtualization, data-intensive applications, and service continuity. The TerraMaster U8-111 is competitively priced at US$1.099.99.

Fast and Reliable
The TerraMaster U8-111 comes with a built-in 10GbE port delivering high-speed bandwidth to maximize the performance of the storage server. With two Seagate IronWolf 6TB hard drives in RAID 0 mode, the U8-111’s read and write speeds can reach 650MB/s and 670MB/s, respectively. Users can take advantage of the higher 10GbE speeds without replacing Cat6/6A cables for adopters and without the need for 10GbE add-on NIC cards. The U8-111 is designed for professional content creators such as video editors and animators that handle large data wherein speed and bandwidth greatly affect productivity.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced the 980 NVMe SSD, the company’s first consumer drive without DRAM. Delivering the highest performance among DRAM-less SSDs, the new 980 makes blazing NVMe speeds more accessible to a wider range of users.

“Through both hardware and software innovations, our new 980 SSD brings greater value without compromising the high-end NVMe performance,” said KyuYoung Lee, vice president of Memory Brand Product Biz team at Samsung Electronics. “The 980 offers an excellent blend of speed, power efficiency and reliability, making it suitable for everyday PC users and gamers as well as content creators.”

Previously, DRAM-less designs have presented a disadvantage in speed without the short-term memory at hand for fast access to data. Samsung’s 980 utilizes Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology, which links the drive directly to the host processor’s DRAM to overcome any performance drawbacks. This technology, coupled with the company’s latest sixth-generation V-NAND as well as optimized controller and firmware, enables the 980 to provide NVMe performance with six times the speed of SATA SSDs. Sequential read and write speeds come in at up to 3,500 and 3,000 MB/s, while random read and write performances are rated as high as 500K IOPS and 480K IOPS, respectively.

Crucial, Micron’s global consumer brand of memory and storage, today launched an expansion of its award-winning portable solid-state drive (SSD) portfolio to offer consumers more options for external storage performance, capacity and value at any price point. The new products include the high-capacity 4TB portable SSD at a SRP of $489.95, and a new 500GB portable SSD for a wallet-friendly SRP of $69.95. Consumers looking to store large gaming libraries or more movies for long road trips will find an ideal solution in the Crucial X6.

“Our customers are looking for convenient, fast and reliable storage at an affordable price — and these two new capacity additions to the X6 portable SSD product line are further evidence of our commitment to the external solid-state storage market,” said Teresa Kelley, vice president and general manager of Micron’s Consumer Products Group. “There is no doubt we have reached a point where the benefits of solid-state storage outweigh those of traditional hard drives. Now with the mainstream Crucial X6 and the performance Crucial X8 available in a wide range of capacities, we have an even stronger portfolio to offer our customers. Whether you need to store all your school and professional files or quickly access your entire personal entertainment library, there is a Crucial external SSD option for everyone.”