Angelbird SSD2go & Angelbird SSD2go TWIN 480GB External SSD Review – Pushing USB 3.0 To The Limit

SSD2GO + TWIN CLOSER LOOK

As seen throughout, both the SSD2go 480GB and SSD2go TWIN 480GB use SandForce controllers and Micron NAND flash chips. Again, all of the models use the exact same components; the only potential change is in the amount of NAND present, which correlates to the size configuration you want.

Zooming in we see that the specific SandForce FPU is the SF-2281VB1-SDC model, which can be configured anywhere between 12GB to 512MB MLC/SLC NAND memory, and more importantly supports SATA 3.0 (6Gb/s – 8 channel) with 20,000 sustained IOPS.

The flash memory modules are the Micron 25nm IKA12 NW296 synchronous MLC packages. They are rated for a program-erase cycle of 3000 and hence are much better performers than their asynchronous version. Once the cycle is complete however, the SandForce SF-2281 SSD controller picks up the brunt to increase longevity and prevent deterioration. The larger the space, the more packages present, for up to a max of 16 modiles – 8 on each side of the PCB (32GB each for a total of 480GB usable/512GB raw); the extra space would go towards firmware + extras.

The final standout component present on each SSD PCB respectively is the Cap-XX H-Series HZ202 supercapacitor. With 5.5V capability and extended temperature rating, the HZ202 is suited perfectly for the GPRS capabilities in Angelbird’s unique USB 3.0 design.

Speaking of the USB 3.0 to SATA 3.0 + power bracket, as we will see from tests later on, this is a custom conversion adapter proprietary to Angelbird. We have the ATMEL 1150 USB 3.0 JTAG ISP programming chip, as well as the ASMEDIA ASM1053 and ASMEDIA ASM1456 processing units:

The ASM 1053 is a 6Gb/s SuperSpeed USB 3.0 chip with an embedded 8-bit microprocessor, integrated voltage regulators, and spread spectrum control which enhances the performance. The ASM 1456 is a SATA 6Gb/s (3.0) 2-differential-channel signal switch which is used to mux/demux high speed signals. It supports 1:2 or 2:1 multiplexer/demultiplexer switching with low on-resistance and crosstalk, operating at only 1.8V.