Samsung 470 128 GB

Samsung SSD 470 Series (128GB)

When you think of solid-state drives (SSDs), Samsung is not the first name to come to mind. But judging by its 470 Series line of SSDs, that might well change soon. Though the line is based on 3Gbps SATA II rather than the newer and faster 6Gbps SATA III standard, the 128GB model we tested (priced at $299 list) ran impressively - in some cases beating the results we saw from the more established players in the field. We'd like to see what else Samsung can produce, and whether it can stay competitive on the SATA front, but the 470 represents an excellent start. It's worth noting, too, that unlike drives from other companies (Intel being one of the most notable exceptions), the 470 Series SSDs use controllers from Samsung rather than from (acclaimed) third-party providers such as Indilinx, JMicron, or SandForce. This means Samsung is putting its name and reputation on the line, which is potentially risky for a company that's not well known for these types of products in the consumer space. As it turns out, there was no reason to worry. Samsung does indeed know what it's doing, and that showed once we put the 470 Series drive to the test.