With the release of the Crucial (NASDAQ:MU) M4 the other day, we are now in to the second generation of SATA6 SSDs. This new drive is not that big a jump, more evolutionary than revolutionary, but it is notably faster.

The short story is that the M4 has a new version of the same basic Marvell (NASDAQ:MRVL) controller as the older C300 coupled to 25nm instead of 34nm. The firmware has obviously been updated to take advantage of the new memory and new controller features, and the usual optimisations learned from the first generation. The end result is a read speed of 415MBps and a write speed of 260MBps, +17% and +20% over the older drives.

While the specs are not news, the details are. The M4, and the OEM C400 variant, are available from 64-512GB, with speeds varying a bit because of chip count. They are all 2.5″ form factor, and sell for $129, $249, $499, and $999 for 64, 128, 256, and 512GB variants respectively. Should you want more, the details can be found here.S|A

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Charlie Demerjian

Roving engine of chaos and snide remarks at SemiAccurate

Charlie Demerjian is the founder of Stone Arch Networking Services and SemiAccurate.com. SemiAccurate.com is a technology news site; addressing hardware design, software selection, customization, securing and maintenance, with over one million views per month. He is a technologist and analyst specializing in semiconductors, system and network architecture. As head writer of SemiAccurate.com, he regularly advises writers, analysts, and industry executives on technical matters and long lead industry trends. Charlie is also available through Guidepoint and Mosaic. FullyAccurate

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