Gigabyte enters SSD market with UD Pro series (256GB/512GB)
When it comes to selecting a solid-state drive (SSD) for a new DIY PC, current consumers already have a number of go-to brands to choose from: Samsung, Western Digital, Crucial, Transcend and even Intel.
Between the handful of SSD makers here, they’ve pretty much got the gamut covered. Depending on your budget, performance needs, and warranty preferences, each of these makers can be the right choice.
Soon, however, there will be one more option to choose from. One more SSD manufacturer to give the above brands a run for their money.
And above all, it’s a name that many DIY PC enthusiasts trust — Gigabyte.
Taiwan’s Gigabyte, perhaps best known for their motherboard and graphics card offerings, has announced that they are entering the SSD market with the Gigabyte UD Pro series, set to launch in the coming weeks.
The Gigabyte UD Pro are will come in 256GB and 512GB capacity options. Although no official price has been confirmed by the manufacturer, in the US it is said to be retailing for around US$68.99 (~S$93 when converted with mid-market rates) for the 256GB option, and US$119.99 (~S$161) for the 512GB iteration.
Enthusiasts are already calling the Gigabyte UD Pro SSDs “aggressively-priced” for their specifications. Here are their respective sequential and random read and write speeds:
The Gigabyte UD Pro series drives will also each come with a 3-year warranty (up to 100 Terabytes Written or TBW for the UD Pro 256GB, and 200TBW for the 512GB).
“SATA interface SSDs are mainstream and have a considerable development history,” said Jackson Hsu, Deputy Director of the Gigabyte Channel Solutions Product Development Division.
“The challenge is to develop a product of exceptional quality that stands out from the rest. With DDR3L RAM, 3D NAND Flash memory, 256GB or 512GB storage capacity selections, UD Pro series SDDs offer users a high performance, high stability, and high capacity product choice, without sacrificing flash memory or performance,” he added.
While it remains to be seen if the Gigabyte UD Pro can deliver on the Taiwanese maker’s quality claims, for now what seems clear to us is that if you are in the market for a new SATA3 SSD, it’s probably a good idea to hold off your purchase until the new Gigabyte SSDs are in stock.
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