Samsung announced that it is now building 256GB SSD storage drives with what it calls substantial performance gains. The drives are designed for use inside notebook and desktop computers. Samsung says that the new 256GB SSD doubles the performance of its 64GB and 128GB SSDs.

Sequential read time for the new SSD is 220MB/s and sequential write rates are 200MB/s. Erase cycles for the drive are performed at 100GBs per minute. To put the performance in real terms Samsung says that the 256GB SSD can store 25 HD movies in 21 minutes. The performance is thanks to an optimized platform containing a chip controller, NAND flash and special drive firmware developed by Samsung. The drive only consumes 1.1 watt of power and uses multi-level cell technology.

”While SSD’s have always been touted for their performance, Samsung is turning the storage industry upside down now with an SSD that delivers truly disruptive performance,” said Jim Elliott, vice president, memory marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. ”Getting our exceptionally high performing 256GB SSD in a notebook is analogous to having a 15,000rpm drive, without all of its size, noise, power and heating drawbacks.”

Via Samsung