CES 2011: Visiting with Vendors
by Dustin Sklavos on January 7, 2011 12:50 AM ESTConclusion
There are probably two big takeaways from these meetings, along with a third one that may be more inferred than outright stated.
The first is that USB 3.0 is making a splash whether Intel and AMD get on board early or not. It's just going to happen. Kingston's USB-enabled SSD uses USB 3.0, along with A-Data's; A-Data is actually moving all of their flash drives over to USB 3.0, and Patriot had that remarkably fast flash drive using it. Thermaltake has already moved their BlacX line to it, and Cooler Master even had a notebook cooler with a built-in USB 3.0 hub. Bottom line: USB 3.0 is here to stay.
The second is that after a briefly stagnant period dominated largely by the SF-1200/SF-1500, the SSD market is picking up again. That much should be evidenced by Anand's time with the SF-2000 controller along with the proliferation of Marvell's SATA 6Gbps controller. Each manufacturer I visited with that produced SSDs had a SATA 6Gbps drive on hand and were posting remarkable performance with them.
Finally, though, the third and more questionable point...SATA 6Gbps may have a remarkably short shelf life compared to other standards. While the industry is moving to USB 3.0 with or without Intel and AMD, SATA 6Gbps is having a slightly slower uptake and isn't promising to reap the kinds of dividends USB 3.0 is. Where it gets really alarming is how close SSD manufacturers are already getting to saturating SATA 6Gbps, a standard that came into being largely for them. The Patriot rep I spoke to was of a similar opinion and suggested products like OCZ's RevoDrive may actually wind up being the wave of the future, since PCI Express is capable of substantially more throughput than SATA 6Gbps is. We may be seeing SSDs that need that kind of throughput sooner rather than later.
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adonn78 - Friday, January 7, 2011 - link
I cannot wait for the price drop in SSD's. I also love newegg and they are far more reliable than Amazon. Amazon is a great place for buying text books, toiletries, and clothes and prepaid phone. newegg is wher eI go for computers and other hardware. I bought a microwave off newegg that less expensive than the same product on amazon. It depends ont he item largely. I am also looking forward to Sandy bridge copmputer on newegg. I plan on buying soon.MeanBruce - Friday, January 7, 2011 - link
News Flash! Corsair finally understands airflow! Only takes them three years! Finally an obsidian that's not a hotbox. The new 650D is sporting fully removable drive cages, 200mm in and out even vented card slots. Looks like they took many features right off the HAF 912 Advanced, but that's fine add some Corsair style and elegance and I am in baby! Wonder if it will feature the new "Corsair Link". Man I love those huge rubber grommets! How many days till April?Mr Perfect - Friday, January 7, 2011 - link
Has Corsair released any specs on the mechanical keyboard? Does it use some flavor of Cherry MX switch? Alps maybe? Also, does it support NKey rollover with PS/2 or 6Key rollover withUSB?GNva - Friday, January 7, 2011 - link
What´s the point to go to a show and not disclose your products?My computer was recently stolen and they took away my Stacker 832 case. I was looking for a replacement but I was not convinced with the current models. If I see the Cosmos S, their front interior looks similar to the stacker. I am hoping that the next high end case will be like the HAF X internally, but full aluminium. It´s said that a new case design is very expensive to put on production, so I expect a lot of reuse.
Now I lost the opportunity to know if I must wait or not.
MeanBruce - Friday, January 7, 2011 - link
I have a Stacker 830 Special Edition Black Full Aluminum, in perfect condition that I am going to sell. The 830 SE has the mesh panel on the floor and the SSD module with blue LEDs in the top mesh panel, very cool. Let me know if you want it. Yeah I think a new case design is very costly to implement. BruceDanNeely - Friday, January 7, 2011 - link
You can get more people to see a demo behind closed doors at a big show than if you wait several months and then do something where they have to spend extra money just to fly out and get a hotel room. Some vendors do this every year. There're even vendors who don't join the show, but instead rent space in neighboring hotels and invite journalists in to see what they can't afford to demo at the big show.GNva - Friday, January 7, 2011 - link
Interesting. Now, why invite journalists if they won't allow them to say anything?For all we know, they are talking about sliced bread.
DanNeely - Saturday, January 8, 2011 - link
Because they will say something *when the nda expires*, and doing it this way is cheaper, provided that there aren't any major changes between now and release.ClagMaster - Friday, January 7, 2011 - link
SATA 6G does not have enough bandwidth?How much is really enough for non-industrial, consumer applications ?
Loading Vista or Windows 7 at SATA 6G speeds is lightening fast.
Nentor - Tuesday, January 11, 2011 - link
Thanks for that (I had to look it up).