INTRODUCTION

   With most mainboards featuring at least one M.2 port and most enthusiasts turning towards PCIex models noone really knows just for how long manufacturers will keep focusing their efforts in the production of new SATA based solid state drives. On the other hand SATA models will probably take a lot longer to disappear from the market entirely (if ever) compared to IDE ones so i really doubt casual consumers have anything to worry about. Regardless today manufacturers release many SATA SSDs per year with specifications and capacities that can cover from casual users and gamers up to the most demanding enthusiasts and professionals. Toshiba has been in the SSD market for many years now (they were the ones to invent flash memory) but since their acquisition of OCZ a couple of years back they've been stepping up their game and today with us we have one of their latest SSD models the Q300 Pro 256GB.

   Toshiba Corporation, a Fortune Global 500 company, channels world-class capabilities in advanced electronic and electrical product and systems into three focus business fields: Energy that sustains everyday life, that is cleaner and safer; Infrastructure that sustains quality of life; and Storage that sustains the advanced information society. Guided by the principles of The Basic Commitment of the Toshiba Group, “Committed to People, Committed to the Future”, Toshiba promotes global operations and is contributing to the realization of a world where generations to come can live better lives. Founded in Tokyo in 1875, today’s Toshiba is at the heart of a global network of 550 consolidated companies employing 188,000 people worldwide, with annual sales surpassing 5.7 trillion yen (US$50 billion). (As of March 31, 2016.) To find out more about Toshiba, visit www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm.

   Toshiba announced and released the TLC-based (3-bit-per-cell flash) Q300 SSD line and the MLC-based (2-bit-per-cell flash) Q300 Pro SSD line back in late 2015 which are currently available in 120/240/480/960GB (Q300 line) and in 128/256/512/1024GB (Q300 Pro line) capacities. Toshiba has once again designed a DRAM-less drive so aside using their very own NAND flash controller (TC358790 - not much is known about it) and A15 (advanced 15nm) Toggle MLC NAND flash for the Q300 Pro line there's nothing else under the hood (cache is held in flash). The drive also supports TRIM, garbage collection, NCQ (native command queuing) and QSBC enhanced error correction (quadruple swing-by code), TCG/OPAL 2.0, advanced power management and features an MTTF (mean time to failures) of 1.5 million hours, 160TB TBW endurance and Toshibas Adaptive Size SLC Write cache technology which basically treats a portion of the NAND as SLC while in use (pseudo SLC) to significantly improve write performance. Toshiba also covers the Q300 Pro line of SSDs with a 5 year warranty (3 years for the Q300 line).