Earlier this year we saw a flood of SSDs based on the SandForce SF-1200 controller, including the G.Skill Phoenix series. Featuring impressive 285MB/s read and 275MB/s write speeds, the performance was right in line with other drives based on the same chipset.
Shortly afterwards, the company released the updated Phoenix Pro line in an attempt to differentiate itself from the pack. By using custom firmware G.Skill managed to serve up a useful performance boost, with the drives hitting 50,000 IOPS in 4k random-write tests.
Now the company is adding a few models to the Phoenix Pro range in wallet-friendly capacities. The new drives are available in 40GB, 80GB and 160GB capacities, and join the existing 60GB, 120GB and 240GB models that were released in June.
They all make use of the same SF-1200 controller and custom firmware, so that blazing performance should be intact.
Like all of the Phoenix-series SSDs, the new drives will come with a three-year warranty as well as complete technical support services from the manufacturer.
We don't have any details on pricing or availability just yet, but expect the new drives to be available in the coming weeks. With so many similar drives on the market, price could be the deciding factor and that entry-level 40GB drive could certainly be interesting.
