AMD is usually best known for making processors and graphics cards, but it appears that the company is now branching out into the Solid State Drive business. Three R7-branded SSDs will be offered soon, although the company will not be directly involved in the manufacture of the component.
All product design and manufacturing is being left to OCZ, a well-enough known manufacturer of SSDs. However, customer support is also being left to OCZ, which leaves the logo as the only AMD made part. The three R7 SSDs will come in 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB storage sizes with AnandTech reporting that they will be based on the Barefoot 3 platform for gamers. As OCZ is now owned by Toshiba, these components will also be using Toshiba’s A19nm NAND chips.
Positioned between the Vector and Vertex product lines from OCZ, the R7 gives up some random write performance in exchange for a little extra random read performance. Most average users won’t notice a difference, but it does matter for those who take note of these little things.
More importantly is the cost, which weighs in at US$99 for the 120GB version. A price point that looks quite reasonable considering the average price of a current day SSD. The 240GB version will retail for US$164, while the 480GB has a price tag of US$199.
The aim of all this is apparently to provide users with a single brand for buying all their components, which in theory should make it easier for building systems from scratch. Especially for those who are not entirely sure of what they are doing. That being said, branding is unlikely to sway anyone who regularly builds their own systems as performance and price are more likely to be a factor.
[Source: AnandTech]
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