http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8898864&pos...
Well I just got off of the phone with a very helpful Kingston tech support rep who in turn spoke with Kingston's engineering department.
It looks like the v-series use the JMicron JMF602B controller - BUT - Kingston is using an "exclusive" firmware that they developed with JMicron that specifically addresses the poor performance exhibited by the crapload of SSDs that use the original JMF602B firmware. In short, Kingston says that this is not a rebadge of anything but rather an exclusive Kingston product. They claim that new firmware TOTALLY SOLVES previous performance issues.
This makes sense since the V-series has different published specs compared to the crapload of SSDs that use the JMF602B. All of these JMF602B drives have 80MB/s write, 150MB/s read, and 4K random write IOPS of about 6 (which is terrible...a 5400rpm notebook drive will have about 50 to 60 and 7200rpm notebook drives have about 70 to 80).
The V-series, however, is advertising 80MB/s write with only 100MB/s read. It appears that the new firmware sacrifices sequential read bandwidth (not very important) to achieve better random IOPS performance. Indilinx went through the *exact* same thing with their initial firmwares for their debut controller (used in the OCZ Vertex, Super Talent Ultradrive ME, and several others). Initial Indilinx firmwares had wicked high sequential read/write bandwidth and very poor IOPS performance. Subsequent firmwares reduced max bandwidth and greatly improved IOPS performance.
The question is just how much were JMicron/Kingston able to improve the firmware; what is the IOPS performance like now? Kingston claims that these drives are 50% faster than 7200 rpm drives. If they were able to increase random write IOPS from ~6 to about 50 (at minimum) then these drives will NEVER stutter (as Kingston has stated is the case) and will far outperform a HDD in regular useage.
I'm curious to see some performance tests done.
EDIT
Here is what a reviewer on Newegg has to say (I think he is wrong about the Toshiba controller since I have personally confirmed with 2 different people at Kingston that the controller is by JMicron)
Pros: I wanted to write a review in for one of these drives because I have a feeling a lot of people, like myself, were a bit puzzled as to what these drives actually are. Given the price, it would be easy to assume that these are based off of the much maligned J-Micron controller. I'm happy to report that this is NOT the case! These are based off of a Toshiba controller which does not exhibit any of the stuttering issues that other drives do in this price range. These new Kingston V-Series drives look to be the first "value ssd" that people should actually be happy using.
Cons: Not up to Indilinx or Intel based SSD speeds.
Other Thoughts: No stuttering. Faster than any rotational drive. One of the cheapest price per GB out there in the SSD world. Even includes the mounting bracket.