Packaging

You will receive:

• The SSD
• 3.5" mounting kit
• Screw package

The Drive

The drive conforms to the dimensions set forth by the 2.5" form factor. It is made of metal, which improves its durability.


Like most recent SSDs, the Mushkin Chronos uses the SATA 6 Gbps interface. It is compatible with any older SATA standard, but will, in such a case, work at reduced performance.


You will find the SSD controller and just four flash chips on the PCB. You can see the solder pads for additional chips, but my guess is the drive's whole capacity has been consolidated into four chips to reduce cost. Fewer chips mean less channels for the flash controller to use at the same time, which may affect performance.


Mushkin uses a SandForce SF-2281 controller on their drive.


The four flash chips seem to be rebranded Toshiba chips, but sources online say they've seen other chips as well.