Patriot Inferno 120GB SandForce-Based SSD

As is the case with the vast majority of solid state drives currently on the market, the Patriot Inferno 120GB conforms to the standard 2.5” form factor, with a 9.3mm Z-Height.

The casing on the drive is a sturdy aluminum, anodized with a deep red color. The top of the drive is outfitted with a large decal with branding and basic model information, while the removable bottom side is a plain sheet of brushed aluminum with nothing but serial and model number information.

Removing the four screws holding the bottom plate to the casing, allows for easy access to the PCB within. An additional four screws hold the PCB itself securely in place as well, but once those screws are removed we can inspect the entire PCB assembly.

As you can see, the Patriot Inferno 120GB drive uses a SandForce SF-1222 controller, mated to Intel MLC NAND flash memory. Although the drive is sold as a 120GB model, there is actually 128GB of NAND populating the PCB—the additional flash memory is used for wear leveling, bad block management, garbage collection, etc.

Because the Inferno is built around the same SandForce controller as a number of other drives from various manufactures, its features and specifications are essentially identical to many competing offerings. The Patriot Inferno offers ready speeds of up to 285MB/s with max sequential write speeds of up to 275MB/s, a SATA II interface, and support for all of the proprietary features that have made SandForce’s controllers so popular with enthusiasts.