Samsung has begun sampling new low-density, higher performing solid state drives that are 30 percent the size of today’s 2.5 inch SSDs. With these new smaller, lower capacity drives, Samsung hopes to introduce SSD technology to the low-cost PC market. The new multi-level-cell (MLC) SSDs will be available in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacities with mass production taking place next month. Specs for these drives are as follows:

The 32GB MLC SSD will have a read speed of 90MB/s and a write speed of 70MB/s. The 16GB reads at 90MB/s and writes at 45MB/s while the 8GB reads at 90MB/s and writes at 25MB/s. All three of these drives feature the same SATA II controller as the new Samsung MLC-based 128GB SSD.

No word on how much these drives will be but it’s nice to see SSDs being targeted for the low-cost market. I’d gladly pop a 32GB SSD into a nettop system if it meant lower power consumption and quieter operations.

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