Will future "cost-oriented" SSDs (think TLC) have plastic cases too?

[VirtualLarry]

Or is it necessary for the cases to be metal, for grounding, EMF, and cooling reasons?

Just think if they could save $2-5 on each SSD using a plastic casing. (Would it really make that much of a cost difference?)

 

[Cerb]

If they need that much shielding, then they just have to take it, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if a plastic shell with stamped sheet would actually be more expensive, and not as easy to assemble well.

And, if TLC gets popular for system drives, I want to see a stable next-gen SF controller with even better WA than their current ones, before I'd touch it with a 10ft pole. For a system drive, TLC will necessitate aggressive write-reduction, for good longevity.

 

[KingFatty]

I'd rather save the money and have a plastic case, assuming it's the same performance.

I don't think the electronics need to be shielded because it's like a big SD memory card and those are made of plastic with no issues. I don't think SSDs generate much heat at all.

But even if you want to shield it, you could use a plastic type of shield (mylar) like whatever they make the shiny bags from that your hard drives come packaged in.

Regardless, I don't see any value of paying extra for a metal case, so I'm happy to see value driven SSDs that don't use metal, if it saves money and doesn't add any tangible benefit besides bling/perception of luxury.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I just thought of something. Laptop HDs have a metal casing. Perhaps SSD makers went with a metal casing too, just so that people wouldn't get the psychological impression that SSDs were "cheap" (not inexpensive, but cheaply made).

Edit: Or maybe, it doesn't cost that much more for a metal casing. After all, you can buy canned peas at the grocery store for $0.50, in a metal can.

 

[corkyg]

If plastic, then mounting screw inserts need to be added for use in notebooks I would prefer metal for cooling as well in that environment. Looking ahead, the main target will be ulrabooks and tablets, not desktops with cavernous space.

 

[Cerb]

You can't really compare USB flash drives, since they aren't surrounded by RF noise from all sides. However, look at mSATA: some are shielded with an actual shield, some are not shielded at all*.

But, if you got a sturdy plastic case, put conducting screw inserts in it, and grounded those to the SSD, would it really be cheaper than relatively easy to machine aluminum? It's not like the cases are big, and I can't imagine milling out area for the PCB, drilling a few holes, and tapping dies being all that expensive, when making them in lots of thousands at a time.

* Yes, I know that's not strictly true, but I can't see how the power/ground planes work, you know?

 

[KingFatty]

True, maybe it could be just a naked PCB, sort of like how video cards are not enclosed in a metal shell. Maybe just stick it onto a mounting bracket, so your screw holes would be in the mounting bracket, and leave it exposed? Hmm, for some reason that sounds so dangerous to me, and yet my video card is worth way more than my SSD and I couldn't give a crap that my video card is raw exposed PCB circuitry.

 

[bryanW1995]

Isn't an SATA ssd just a naked card?

 

[ShintaiDK]

Most mSATA got no shielding. Works fine there. No reason at all for the shielding besides the human factor.

Your USB sticks are TLC NAND. I dont think TLC will stand a chance in the SSD market besides with a few attempts from OCZ.

 

[Hellhammer]

Many SSDs already have a plastic casing. However, usually at least a part of it is metal, which is often the part where the PCB is screwed onto.

About TLC, it's not only the P/E cycle count and write amplification that count. With active digital signal processing, several companies (not only OCZ but e.g. SMART) have claimed tens of thousands of P/E cycles even with TLC NAND. Of course, I won't believe it until I see it in action but DSP has been a major feature for the last year or so. For example Apple bought Anobit and Seagate went into cooperation with DensBits because they both have their own DSP technology.

 

[tommylommykins]

I assume spinning disks are made out of metal because they need to be very strong. Seeing as they are mechanical devices, any large force creating a bend over the whole disk would be pretty bad?

 

[ShintaiDK]

I assume spinning disks are made out of metal because they need to be very strong. Seeing as they are mechanical devices, any large force creating a bend over the whole disk would be pretty bad?

Yep, specially when the head is like 1um over the 7200rpm spinning plate etc.