CES: Crucial claims first terabyte-class SSD under £450

Crucial Memory is to deliver an affordable "terabyte-class" solid state drive (SSD) for under £450, and also aims to be the first vendor to ship DDR4 memory later in 2013.

Introduced at CES in Las Vegas, the M500 SSD line will be available in 120GB, 240GB, 480GB and 960GB capacities later this quarter, according to Crucial.

The firm, a brand of Micron Technology, said that the 960GB "terabyte-class" model will be initially priced under £450, offering ultra-slim package designs and increased response times at a more affordable price.

Built around 20nm Nand flash memory components from Micron, the M500 SSD will be available in three form factors: a standard 2.5in drive format; an mSata module; and a new M.2 module.

However, the 960GB model is only available in the 2.5in form factor, at least initially.

The new SSD features a 6Gbit/s Sata controller capable of up to 80,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS), enabling it deliver sequential read and write speeds up to 500MB/s and 400MB/s, respectively, according to the firm.

"For consumers, the Crucial M500 SSD is an easy, cost-effective solution for dramatically increasing system performance. For OEMs, we're ultrathin ready with the Micron M500 SSD - improved response times, lower power consumption, and trusted reliability - all in a design that's smaller than ever before," said Glen Hawk, vice president of Micron's Nand Solutions Group.

Meanwhile, Crucial also demonstrated its upcoming DDR4 memory products at CES.

DDR4 is designed to boost memory performance by running at data rates up to twice as fast as DDR3 (up to 2,133MHz), while operating at a lower voltage (1.2v) to cut power consumption.

Crucial showed off samples of its 4Gbit x 8 components, which are set to be the first of a family of memory modules, comprising RDIMMs, LRDIMMs, SODIMMs and UDIMMs in both standard and ECC variants, Crucial said.

The DDR4 DRAM modules are expected to ship in late 2013.