SilverStone has always been on the forefront of introducing some very unique, but awesome products and their new SST-MS09C is definitely among those products.

The SilverStone SST-MS09C is an all-aluminum external M.2 SATA SSD enclosure that appears to be a flash drive from the outside and except it doesn’t actually have a drive pre-installed. Instead, the SST-MS09C allows you to purchase your own M.2 2280 SATA drive and install it to use as a flash drive. Bridging the drive is an VIA Labs VL715 controller which is able to interface SATA 6Gb/s with USB 3.1 Gen 2 to prevent any interface bottlenecking.

Those with an extra M.2 SATA drive hanging [...]

64-Layer 3D NAND, USB 3.1 Gen 2

Last year I was fortunate enough to be among the first to review the Samsung T3 Portable SSD. The drive was small, durable, fast, available in capacities up to 2TB, and relatively good looking making it not only my favorite portable SSD, but also my most highly recommended as well.

Of course, with Samsung’s annual release cycles, Samsung recently launched the new Samsung T5 Portable SSD which we’ll be reviewing today.

Samsung Portable SSD T5 Specifications Manufacturer Samsung Model T5 Capacity 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB Interface Type-C USB 3.1 (Gen 2), USB 3.0, USB 2.0 Transfer Speed Up to [...]

Spyware, adware, ransomware, rootkits, worms, viruses, trojans, keyloggers, hijackers and more. These days, there are literally millions of ways your computer could get infected by some sort of malware and generally speaking, dealing with this stuff is a massive pain in butt. Many of these malwares not only attempt to look legitimate, but they also embed themselves by modifying registry keys and other system settings to ensure that once they’re in a system, they don’t leave.

Luckily, there are some great people who have developed some effective tools to remove that malware so you don’t have to figure out how to do it manually. Here are some of the best [...]

Need a USB drive that can withstand the elements better than you? Meet Lexar’s JumpDrive Tough ruggedized USB flash drive.

Designed to transport data in harsh environments, the Lexar JumpDrive Tough comes with a rugged case that can withstand dust, weather (- 13°F to 300°F), water (up to 98ft), and can handle up to 750 PSI of impact /pressure.

Manufacturer Lexar Capacity 32GB 64GB 128GB Sequential Write Up to 25MB/s Up to 60MB/s Up to 60MB/s Sequential Read Up to 130MB/s Up to 150MB/s Up to 150MB/s Interface USB 3.1

In addition to its ability to withstand the elements, the JumpDrive Tough is also fast, featuring support for USB 3.1. According to [...]

At CES 2017, Kingston impressed when they showed us their upcoming ultra high capacity 2TB DataTraveler Ultimate GT flash drive, which is a follow up to their HyperX Predator flash drive that was the first to reach the 1TB capacity back in 2013.

According to specifications, the Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate GT will be available in two capacities: 1TB and 2TB, and will feature support for USB 3.1 Gen 1 which will allow it to reach speeds up to 300MB/s sequential reads and 200MB/s sequential writes. It’ll also feature a 5 year warranty with fre technical support for peace of mind.

Both Kingston’s new 1TB and 2TB DataTraveler Ultimate GT is now [...]

During CES 2017, we stopped by the Kingston suite who had several new memory products to showcase including a brand new world’s highest capacity flash drive and an upcoming value SSD.

 

Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate GT

When Kingston launched the DataTraveler Ultimate back at CES 2013, it was touted as the highest capacity flash drive ever made, touting up to 1TB of storage in a very compact form factor. With the Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate GT, Kingston beats that by doubling the capacity to 2TB while still keeping the drive in the same compact form factor.

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Introduction

Being an Editor here at Custom PC Review, I’m constantly in need of lots of mass storage. At CES 2017, I took over 1,000 14-bit RAW images using a Nikon D800 camera which generated files somewhere between 40MB-45MB each. After exporting them, another set of images are then created which take less, but still require quite a significant amount of storage space. Tack that onto 50Mbps 1080p video along with the thought of possibly doing 4K video down the road and the need for lots of reliable storage quickly adds up.

Of course, the easy solution is to throw a couple hard drives into your PC because that’s cheap and easy, but I also wanted the [...]

Gigabyte’s Mid-Range X99 Motherboard

When Intel launched the Broadwell-E platform earlier this year, Intel’s X99 chipset saw a surge in interest as many users became interested in upgrading their systems which required a suitable motherboard to match. Today we have an X99 platform motherboard that sits at below the $250 pricepoint and has the features to keep up with most users needs.

Today we’ll be reviewing the Gigabyte X99P SLI which is a motherboard that falls into the $200 range with a fairly extensive list of features making it quite competitive on paper.

The original X99 SLI motherboard from Gigabyte was priced at the $200 price point but [...]

SSD Performance in a Flash Drive Formfactor

Aside from the insanely great performance, shock resistance, and low power consumption, one benefit of SSDs is the ability for them to be extremely compact. As a SSD only requires silicon rather than spinning disks, SSD form factor is really only dictated by how a company chooses to arrange the chips onboard.

As such, we’re starting to see quite a few external SSDs take advantage of this form factor flexibility. One such product is the VisionTek USB 3.0 Pocket SSD which crams a full SSD into a form factor just slightly bigger than your average flash drive.

VisionTek USB 3.0 Pocket [...]

Now with 48-layer 3D V-NAND, Up to 2TB Capacity

When I reviewed Samsung’s Portable SSD T1 last year, I was very impressed with what it had to offer. Of all the external SSDs on the market, the PSSD T1 proved to be the best combination of speed, capacity, and physical size. Because it utilized Samsung’s 32-layer 3D V-NAND, it was able to offer 1TB storage capacity in a form factor about the size of a business card. Furthermore, it had native encryption technology built in and since it wasn’t a RAID-based solution, it didn’t cost a boatload of money either.

Fast forward one year and what we have here for review today is the Samsung Portable SSD T3. [...]