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The Q Series Pro comes in a small, black box. Along with a picture of the drive, the front advertises many of its key features including its 256GB capacity, maximum read and write speeds and 7mm form factor. The back of the box provides a bit more information as well as some images of the box's contents. Inside, you'll find the SSD, a mounting spacer for use with traditional 9.5mm drive bays, a quick install guide and some warranty information. While not included in the box, a free copy of NTI Echo can also be downloaded from Toshiba's website.
Physical Features:
The construction of the Q Series Pro is very similar to Toshiba's other 2.5" SSDs. The outer casing is made entirely out of a lightweight, metal alloy. Also, instead of a matte finish, the Q Series Pro sports a more natural look which is broken up by a series of of small dots.
As I mentioned earlier, the Q Series Pro uses Toshiba's TC358790XBG controller chip. Its been suggested that, like the controller in the Q Series, the TC358790XBG is based on a Marvell design. The chip's dimensions do support this theory but Toshiba representatives have stated that it was designed in house and was not sourced from Marvell.
For the 256GB version of the Q Series Pro, Toshiba opted to use their own 32GB 19nm TH58TEG8CDJBASC Toggle Mode NAND flash chips. Looking at the picture above, you can see that there are eight of these chips on the top of the PCB. Despite there being a place on the PCB for a DRAM cache chip, the Q Series Pro does not have one. While it's possible that Toshiba decided to go without a DRAM cache, the more likely story is that instead of a separate chip, it has been included as part of the controller.
