Kingston launches performance SSD range

Kingston's SSDNow V+ drives range from 64GB up to 256GB

Memory maker Kingston has expanded its range of solid state drives (SSDs) with the introduction of the SSDNow V+ series, aimed at performance users.

The 2.5in SATA drives have capacities ranging from 64GB up to 256GB and are designed for power consumers, system builders, integrators and enterprise users.

The new range sees Kingston move away from simply rebranding Intel's SSDs as it has done in the past, and now uses a Samsung S3C29RBB controller at the heart of the new drives.

"The Kingston SSDNow V+ Series drive is an ideal solid-state drive for those users working in demanding environments where efficiency and performance are important, as more system resources are in use," said Steve Hall, product marketing manager for Corporate at Kingston Technology Europe.

"Users will be more productive as the drives' higher capacities allow for more data storage and faster boot and application load times."

According to Kingston, the V+ range boasts a sequential read throughput of 220MB/s and a sequential write throughput of between 140MB/s and 180MB/s depending on the capacity.

Being SSDs, the drives are light – coming in at around 84g - and have fairly modest power requirements drawing 0.15W while idle and 2.6W when in use.

Kingston also reckons the drives have a mean time between failure of around one million hours and are backed by a three-year warranty.

The new Kingston SSDNow V+ drives are available in 64GB capacity only in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with a retail cost of £129. The 128GB and 256GB versions are expected to be available in September with pricing yet to be confirmed.