Crucial has a compact version of its well-known M4 series solid state drives released. The new drives have an msata format, which makes them much smaller than the previous M4 ssd’s and under are more suitable for ultrabooks.
The new, compact M4 ssds from Crucial to make use of the same parts as also in the large version. The msata ssds use a Marvell 88SS9174 controller, 25nm-mlc flashchips of Micron drives. The flash memory is out of sync and read speeds up to 500MB/s are according to statement of the manufacturer. Write speeds with up to 175MB/s a bit slower, and the drives get up to 45,000 iops read and 35,000 iops in write.
Crucial supplies the drives in capacities of 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB, each with a msata connector. The smaller capacities were primarily as a caching drive for traditional disks can be used; the small M4 ssds have been certified for Intel’s Smart Response technology. The larger would be flat laptops as well as ultrabooks can serve as a storage drive. The msata ssds have a smaller space than a normal ssd’s; they are barely larger than the chips. The msata drives measure about 51 to 30 millimeters.
The ssd in the Crucial M4 msata series are available immediately and cost little more than their 2,5″-variants. Previously, parent company Micron already small msata variants of the C400 ssd’s. Which were however intended for manufacturers. Crucial is the consumer brand of Micron.
