No, that isn't a major typo on this article's headline. According to print magazine c't, who conducted a test bench consisting of two pieces each of OCZ's TR150, Crucial's BX 200, Samsung's 750 Evo, Samsung's 850 Pro, SanDisk's Extreme Pro and SanDisk's Ultra II, the last SSD to actually give out the last breath was Samsung's 256 GB 850 Pro, with a staggering 9100 TB (that's 9.1 Petabytes) written. This is well beyond Samsung's suggested longevity for this particular SSD, which stands at 150 TBW.

The first particular model to give out was one of Crucial's BX 200, at 187 TBW (still more than twice over the manufacturer's 80 TBW). The second model to fail was the second Crucial BX 200, at 280 TBW. The remaining SSDs apparently died after a power peak (unclear whether a surge or a spike), save for the Pro models, in the form of SanDisk's Extreme Pro and Samsung's 850 Pro (it seems those Pro-oriented features do serve some purpose, eh?.) One of these SanDisk Extreme Pro models lasted for about 2,200 TBW, the same amount of writes the first Samsung 850 Pro model endured. However, the second Samsung 850 Pro broke through all records with its total 9,100 TB written. Naturally, these are interesting and impressive overall results, but they can't really be counted upon as being statistically significant; two models each aren't enough to achieve a representation of the tested SSD models' endurance. However, this also probably means that save a defect on your SSD's manufacturing, you can count on it for a considerable amount of writes.

Crucial is giving final touches to its next-generation mainstream SATA SSDs, under the BX300 series. A follow-up to its MX300 series, the BX300 series will be launched later this Summer. The drives combine a Marvell-made controller with Micron 3D TLC NAND flash memory, and likely come in capacities of 240 GB, 480 GB, and 960 GB. Crucial will sell these drives only in the 7 mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor with SATA 6 Gb/s interface, initially. While the company didn't talk about performance, it mentioned that the drives offer "SATA-saturating performance," meaning that at least its sequential reads could be around the 530 MB/s mark (that of the MX300), if not higher. With the BX300, Crucual is launching a new multi-media SSD install tutorial website that's made as simple to understand as possible, so anyone with a screwdriver can replace their HDD with a new SSD.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the availability of its latest DDR4 server DIMMs. With speeds of 2666 MT/s, new Crucial DDR4 server memory modules allow for increased performance and bandwidth within data centres and hyperscale environments. They are also available in a variety of server module types and densities ranging from 8GB to 64GB.

New Crucial 2666 MT/s 8Gb-based server memory modules are approximately 11 percent faster than the previously released 2400 MT/s DIMMs. Additionally, the newly expanded portfolio of Crucial server memory will support cloud and enterprise environments that are migrating to next-generation Intel server platforms.

The Ballistix sub-brand of Crucial, Micron Technology's consumer products subsidiary, is now its own brand, and no longer labeled next to Crucial. The Ballistix Gaming brand will now include PC gaming hardware, including memory (RAM), and perhaps even SSDs and gaming peripherals in the future. Ballistix products will be targeted at DIY gaming PC builders and enthusiasts.

Commenting on the story, Crucial stated: "Ballistix is now it's own defined brand, becoming a sibling to Crucial (previously a sub-brand). For more than a decade, Ballistix has injected speed and style into PC gaming in a way that can't be imitated. As the only major brand of gaming memory that builds and tests products from start to finish, Ballistix brings you the proven performance and reliability that pro gamers build with. Ballistix performance memory (RAM) is designed to give the upper hand to gamers, performance enthusiasts, and overclockers."

Crucial today, in a statement to TechPowerUp stated that it has canceled the Ballistix TX3 PCIe solid-state drive launch. The company canceled the product on the basis of "prioritization of company resources and investments." The company however stated that it will continue to develop SSD products that target the gamer-enthusiast market that the Ballistix TX3 PCIe was intended for. "We are, however, continuing to explore potential opportunities for future gaming products and will provide an update as new plans are formalized," the company stated.

Crucial first unveiled the Ballistix TX3 at the 2016 Computex Expo, where it demonstrated its M.2 variants. The drives combined Silicon Motion's new SMI2260H processor with Micron-made 3D MLC NAND flash memory. The drive took advantage of 32 Gb/s PCIe and the new NVMe protocol to offer transfer rates up to four times higher than current performance-segment SATA 6 Gb/s SSDs.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced additional capacities of the Crucial MX300 solid state drive (SSD). Built for speed and loaded with advanced features, the new drives deliver an immediate increase to system performance.

With read speeds up to 530 MB/s and write speeds up to 510 MB/s on all file types, the Crucial MX300 enables users to boot up almost instantly, load programs with ease, and accelerate demanding applications. The drive is engineered with Micron 3D NAND technology, resulting in an endurance rating of up to 220 TB total bytes written by leveraging larger NAND cells to deliver top-notch performance and prolong endurance.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the availability of Nonvolatile DIMM (NVDIMM) server memory to help companies protect data in the event of a system power loss. Historically, companies have used uninterruptible power supplies, solid state drives (SSDs), mechanical hard drives (HDDs) or other devices to ensure the security of critical data. While this method of preserving critical data has been effective, the backup and restore times have been very long due to the latency and write times of the SSD and HDD. Today's applications such as relational databases, scale-out storage, data analytics, and in-memory databases require much faster backup and restore times.

Crucial NVDIMM server memory combines DRAM and NAND onto a single module, providing the performance of DRAM with the persistence of NAND. In the event of a power loss, the NVDIMM will back up all DRAM data to the NAND while utilising a backup power source, known as an ultracapacitor. The DRAM on the NVDIMM ensures critical data can be operated on from a low-latency memory space without the risk of losing it. The NAND on the module ensures that the contents of the DRAM are not lost during a power failure, making the DRAM persistent. When power is restored to the system, the data in the NAND is restored on the DRAM.

Crucial is ready with a high-performance SSD in the M.2 form-factor, which leverages 32 Gb/s PCI-Express, and the NVMe protocol to belt out four to five times the read/write performance of SATA 6 Gb/s SSDs. The new Crucial Ballistix TX3 line of M.2 SSDs features the Silicon Motion SMI2260H processor, mated to Crucial-made 3D (stacked) MLC NAND flash, cushioned by a large DRAM cache. A similar setup is found on the ADATA SX8000NP, and the sequential speeds of that drive are rated at up to 2,000 MB/s reads, with up to 800 MB/s writes.

Even as Crucial's 2.5-inch SATA MX300 drive is nowhere close to market launch, its M.2 cousin is already unveiled. Built in the M.2-2280 form-factor, the drive appears to feature SATA 6 Gb/s interface, logically with the same controller, DRAM cache, and 3D stacked TLC NAND flash memory as the 2.5-inch SATA MX300. One could speculate looking at that large bank of SMT capcitors that the drive offers some sort of power failure protection that finishes up active write operations before powering down 'gracefully.' Crucial did not put out performance numbers.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the availability of Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 SODIMMs. Ideal for gamers and performance enthusiasts, the new modules accelerate gaming laptops and small form factor systems by packing faster speeds into every memory slot, enabling users to run demanding games and applications with ease.

With speeds starting at 2400 MT/s, Ballistix Sport LT SODIMMs offer better latencies, reduced load times, and improved frame rates with integrated graphics. The new modules also feature a sleek black PCB and digital camo design and support Intel XMP 2.0 profiles for easy installation. "We're constantly seeking ways to empower gamers with affordable, easy-to-use products that help them gain that competitive, performance edge," explained Jeremy Mortenson, product marketing manager, Crucial. "With new platforms supporting faster DDR4 SODIMMS coming to the market, the newest Ballistix SODIMM module does just that."

Crucial is reportedly readying a successor to its best-selling MX200 performance-segment SSD. The new MX300, which will initially be launched in a 750 GB capacity (model: CT750MX300SSD1), will feature 3D (stacked) NAND flash memory. This particular model serves up sequential transfer speeds of up to 530 MB/s reads, with up to 510 MB/s writes. Looking at the way Crucial is pricing the drive in Japan (JPY ¥24,000), its stateside pre-tax MSRP could very well be sub-$200, working out to a price/GB of at most $0.26. According to the source, the drive could launch later today.

Crucial unveiled the Ballistix Sport LT Red DDR4 memory module. Available in densities of 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB, and in kits of single-module, dual-channel, and quad-channel; the module offers PC4-19200 (DDR4-2400 MHz) speeds, with timings of 16-16-16, and module voltage of 1.2V. The module is characterized by a full-height black PCB, and a racy red heatspreader, with a very G.Skill-like styling. The company didn't reveal pricing or availability.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the availability of two new offerings in its server memory product portfolio: 32 GB DDR4 VLP RDIMMs and 64 GB DDR4 LRDIMMs. With speeds of 2400 MT/s and engineered to enable higher densities by implementing a dual stack of 8 Gb DDR4 DRAM die to engineer a single 16 Gb component, these new DDR4 server memory modules allow for increased memory density, performance and bandwidth.

The 32 GB VLP RDIMMs are the highest density server memory modules Crucial offers for that module form factor, and are almost half the height (40 percent shorter) of a standard RDIMM module. These high density modules help enable memory dense systems like blade servers and microservers without compromising performance. Additionally, they can be installed at a 90-degree angle to the motherboard in these height-constrained systems, which enables better airflow to keep the system cool..

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the availability of Crucial DDR4 2400MT/s 8Gb-based RDIMM, LRDIMM and ECC UDIMM server modules. Engineered to enable higher density modules, 8Gb-based DDR4 enables increased performance, bandwidth and energy efficiency. The modules are available for immediate purchase through select global channel partners and at www.crucial.com.

Higher-density, 8Gb-based modules allow for greater channel bandwidth and channel density and are also up to 20 percent more energy efficient than 4Gb-based modules. Ultimately, these benefits provide more value per gigabit than current 4Gb-based offerings, making it easy to scale up server deployments in the future. Designed for Intel's next generation processor product families, Crucial's 8Gb-based server memory is extensively tested to mission-critical standards and is backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the new Crucial BX200 solid state drive (SSD), which offers substantial yet affordable performance gains compared to a standard hard drive. The drive, designed for consumers and SMBs, allows users to load applications in seconds, boot up almost instantly, and accelerate every day applications.

The new BX200 provides sequential read and write speeds up to 540 MB/s and 490 MB/s respectively on all types of data, as well as random read and write speeds up to 66k and 78k IOPS respectively. Additionally, when compared to a typical hard drive, the new BX200 is more than 13 times faster and 40 times more energy efficient for almost instantaneous access to data, resulting in longer battery life and a cooler, quieter system. The new drive utilises a Silicon Motion SM2256 Controller and is coupled with Micron verified firmware, allowing users to upgrade their existing infrastructure at an affordable price, which is a great alternative to buying a whole new system.

Intel plans to launch the first consumer SSD based on its new 3D Xpoint memory technology, a successor to NAND flash which promises exponential gains in performance and capacity, some time in 2016. The Intel-branded drive will be called Intel Optane, will come in modern form-factors such as M.2/NGFF, SATA-Express, PCI-Express (add-on card), and will take advantage of the new NVMe protocol.

Early prototypes of Optane demoed at IDF already offer up to 5.5 times the throughput of NAND flash-based DC P3700 series SSDs, and we're only talking about single-queue performance. Compared to the queue depth of just 32 commands for AHCI, NVMe offers command queue depth of a staggering 65,535 commands. Since Micron Technology is the co-developer of 3D Xpoint, it's likely that we'll also see Micron/Crucial branded drives based on this tech.

We are bang in the middle of an inflection point where the latest generation of CPUs, GPUs, motherboards, memory, displays, and software (Windows 10) just launched. To help our readers wanting to save big on their first gaming PC builds [and because the news is slow these days], TechPowerUp brings to you its Builder's Digest series of guides, on which components we would choose, to build a gaming or media PC from the ground up, at a given price-point.

In this episode, we're trying to build the best gaming PC possible, under $1,700. Our definition of "best" includes not just performance, but also energy-efficiency and noise. $1,700 is a great budget to get building your first serious gaming PC from scratch. Your only semblance of a PC right now is probably a notebook you take to school, and so you need to buy everything that makes up a desktop. Here's how TechPowerUp will spend that money.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced it is unveiling a complimentary white digital camo heat spreader and unique white printed circuit board (PCB) option as part of its Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 memory offering. The modules, which will be showcased in conjunction with gamescom in Cologne, August 5th - 9th, offer the same DDR4 performance and proven reliability that gamers have come to expect from Crucial.

Designed for mainstream users who simply want to get more performance out of their systems, Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 memory delivers fast speeds and increased bandwidth. A new addition to the current Ballistix Sport DDR4 lineup, Sport LT modules feature a covert digital camo design, which will be available in both white and gray, and an integrated heat spreader. Whether gamers want plug-and-play installation or Intel XMP 2.0 profiles to achieve DDR4 speeds of 2400 MT/s, Ballistix Sport LT memory delivers seamless, affordable performance.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced significant updates to its Storage Executive tool. The new version (3.20) features Momentum Cache, an intelligent caching feature that can enhance burst performance by up to 10x[1], and allows users to extend SSD lifetime by reducing redundant writes. The tool uses idle memory for caching as needed, and installs easily via the Storage Executive interface.

In addition to the new features, Storage Executive also allows users to:

• Update to the latest firmware
• Monitor drive's temperature and health
• Reset the drive's encryption password
• Easily check how much storage has been used

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced Crucial Ballistix DDR4 16GB performance memory. Ideal for gamers and enthusiasts who deal with content creation, virtual machines, RAM drives, and memory-intensive applications, the new Ballistix modules leverage Micron's new 8Gb DDR4 component technology to offer up the highest density DDR4 memory to date.

Until now, only expensive server systems have been able to reach these memory densities, but with Ballistix DDR4 16GB modules, users can achieve greater densities on high-end desktop systems like the latest Intel X99 platforms. Available across Sport LT, Tactical, and Elite product lines, each module includes Intel XMP 2.0 profiles for easy setup and support.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, is now sampling Crucial DDR4 2400MT/s 8Gb-based RDIMM, LRDIMM, and ECC UDIMM server modules through its Technology Enablement Program. Engineered to enable higher density modules, 8Gb-based DDR4 memory allows for increased performance, bandwidth, and energy efficiency.

Higher density modules, when combined with the next DDR4 speed increase of 2400MT/s, create greater channel bandwidth and channel density, as well as increased energy efficiency. Ultimately, these benefits provide more value per gigabit than current 4Gb-based offerings. Taken together, the increase in density, bandwidth, and value deliver a lower total cost of ownership for users.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the availability of Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR4 memory. Designed to enhance high-performance gaming environments and push performance limits, the new modules deliver introductory speeds starting at 2666 MT/s, and allow users to radically increase bandwidth to 21 GB/s. Ballistix DDR4 memory also delivers up to 40 percent better power efficiency than standard DDR3 memory.*

Ballistix Elite DDR4 memory is optimized for the latest Intel X99 platforms with support for XMP 2.0 profiles, and features a custom-designed black PCB and anodized aluminum heat spreaders for improved heat dissipation. Supported by the exclusive Ballistix Memory Overview Display (M.O.D.) utility, which provides the ability to read information from the module, including real-time temperature from the integrated thermal sensor, voltages and more, all to aid overclocking efforts.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced two new solid state drives (SSDs): the Crucial MX200, built to deliver leading speeds and features, and the Crucial BX100, designed to offer substantial yet affordable performance gains compared to a hard drive.

Crucial MX200 SSD: Available in 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB capacities with respective MSRPs of £107.99, £191.99, and £360.99, the new Crucial MX200 delivers sequential reads and write up to 555MB/s and 500MB/s, along with random reads and writes up to 100k and 87k IOPS on all file types. Additionally, with an endurance rating up to 320 TBW (total bytes written) on the 1TB model, the Crucial MX200 delivers up to five times more endurance than a typical client SSD.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced new Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 memory and new Ballistix Tactical DDR4 memory. The new modules offer a combination of sleek design, DDR4 performance, and proven reliability for gamers to own the competition.

Designed for mainstream users who simply want to get more performance out of their systems, Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 memory delivers fast speeds and increased bandwidth. A new addition to the current Ballistix Sport DDR4 lineup, Sport LT modules feature a covert digital camo design and integrated heat spreader. Whether gamers want plug-and-play installation or Intel XMP 2.0 profiles to achieve DDR4 speeds of 2400 MT/s, Ballistix Sport LT memory delivers seamless, affordable performance.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced new Crucial DDR4 SODIMMs, designed to enhance next-generation laptop performance. The new DDR4 modules are more than 30 percent faster than their DDR3 equivalents with speeds of 2133 MT/s, enabling systems to load applications faster and run demanding programs without lag.

Operating at 1.2V compared to 1.5V for standard DDR3 memory, Crucial DDR4 SODIMMs consume 20 percent less voltage than standard DDR3 technology. The reduction in voltage combined with other DDR4 efficiency features leads to an overall power reduction of up to 40 percent, which helps extend battery life. Additionally, Crucial DDR4 SODIMMs increase memory bandwidth by more than 30 percent, allowing systems to handle more data at once.