Maxiotek MK8115 DRAMless Controller Preview

[Guest]

Today we test a pair of early Maxiotek reference design SSD with Micron's 16nm and new 3D TLC using the MK8115 DRAMless controller.

Maxiotek MK8115 DRAMless Controller Preview : Read more

 

[Ncogneto]

Why are they forcing this on us?

 

[HERETIC-1]

The sad thing I see about this is it probably costs less than $3 to add Ram,
but by the time you add manufacturer markup- wholesaler markup-retailer
markup it's more like $10-which gives us this extra tier in the race to the
bottom.
Thro Chris's comment re controller complexity if Ram was added might add
a little more.....

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

Why are they forcing this on us?

The usual, so marketing can claim "It's an SSD!" to exploit the reputation built by the SSD as a class, while steadily chipping away at everything that gives SSD's better performance in their specific product.

 

[daglesj]

Its like VHS recorders in the early 80's weighed 15KG and lasted years. By the time your Dad bought his last one at the turn of the century they weighed 2KG and he threw it out two years later. Reduce the components and make it cheaper every year.

 

[mapesdhs]

How very true; a cheap 25 UKP DVD player might last only a few weeks these days. I know someone who went through two of them before finally being persuaded to buy something just a bit better (45 quid Sony or somesuch, faired much better). I have ancient VHS decks that still work fine.

 

[shrapnel_indie]

Why are they forcing this on us?

The usual, so marketing can claim "It's an SSD!" to exploit the reputation built by the SSD as a class, while steadily chipping away at everything that gives SSD's better performance in their specific product.

Its like VHS recorders in the early 80's weighed 15KG and lasted years. By the time your Dad bought his last one at the turn of the century they weighed 2KG and he threw it out two years later. Reduce the components and make it cheaper every year.

How very true; a cheap 25 UKP DVD player might last only a few weeks these days. I know someone who went through two of them before finally being persuaded to buy something just a bit better (45 quid Sony or somesuch, faired much better). I have ancient VHS decks that still work fine.

The Audio and Visual industry did this... started a bit slowly in the '80s.... went full tilt in the '90. Killed off or maimed reputations of what was once great companies. Some learned and while still going throw-away, upped the quality just enough to make it palatable to us consumers. It's why the vintage market exists, despite editorials and articles out there that say that vintage isn't better. (it's why a vintage Pioneer SX-1250 receiver that has analog tuning (160W 8Ω or 200W 4Ω, per channel) commands a price tag of $1000+ in good working and cosmetic condition... MORE than its $900 list price when it was brand new in '76)

The PC market, is and isn't the same simultaneously. We enjoy the added speed, power, and features greatly
(look at the price of an IBM 5150, adjusted for inflation, based on today's levels... We can build machines that can do circles around them at the price point they were 35 years ago (this is very good) .... but they aren't built like the tanks they were back then either. Most PC parts just continue to decline in value... The Home Computer market (where the C= 64, C= Vic 20, Amigas, Color Computers, Sinclairs, Ataris, etc. exist) is a little different in prices have stopped going down, and in some cases, have jokers that want 2x - 3x the actual market value.)

 

[mapesdhs]

For a long time my main amp was a NAD 3020i. Finally replaced it with an AVR a couple of years ago, a Yamaha 777 or something, so disappointed at the state of modern AV tech; too complicated, too many issues, it needs updates, etc. The NAD still works fine, but I wanted something with video abilities and 4K support for newer tech (HDTV, 4K later). It doesn't look like anybody makes anything these days that Just Works like the NAD does; the complex functions mean software/firmware is involved, which means bugs, and somehow I don't think sw dev people who work on this stuff have the same degree of design rigour as the hw people.

Likewise, the bluray player I bought way back is overly complicated, trying to be an uber home media centre, etc. Annoys me that it takes to long just to turn the thing on and off. Seems like every device is trying to be everything, which means they end up being not good at anything. I bought my brother a 4K TV and a bluray player, the duplication of functionality between them is crazy. Add to that the mess that is 4K bluray support on PCs, hardly worth bothering with.

As for vintage tech, there's no such thing as objective "market value". An item is only ever worth what someone is willing to pay. Auctions for mint ZX80s (especially unused kits) and Jupiter Ace systems can go for really high amounts (I watched an unused ZX80 kit sell for over 1500 UKP); they're hard to find but highly sought after, so people pay a lot. Is an Enterprise 128 worth 160 UKP? Who knows, but that's what I won one for, because I was willing to pay that much to have one for my permanent collection.

If you want real crazy, remember how much those incrediby rare NES games went for, like $40K or somesuch.

Thing is, the old stuff I have generally still works ok (I have over a hundred Sinclair systems, amazing the printers still work), whereas I fully expect my AVR to just die not that many yeas after the warranty runs out. I started collecting vintage tech because it was rising in value, now accounts for about a 3rd of my storage space, and of course valuable items like the Spectrum 128K don't take up much space, so the value-stored-per-unit-volume is quite good (better than the SGI stuff I normally deal with).

I even bagged a couple of Tatung Einsteins, they still work ok. Lots of Acorn systems, Timex, Commodore, etc. The item that's least likely to still work after all these years though is a joystick. 😀 Most of them were terrible.


Ian.

 

[hellwig]

didn't read the article, what I want to know is, what's the easiest way to avoid these DRAM-less devices?

Sure, I could just buy the most expensive SSD I can find, but that's not a good option (and who's to say people won't sell "premium" SSDs without DRAM anyway)?

What should I look for in the labeling, product description, etc... to make sure my SSD has DRAM? Now, every time I see an SSD on sale, I have to question why it's less expensive.