SSD Types – SLC (Single Level Cell) and MLC (Multi Level Cell)

The first differentiator for SSD relates to the NAND flash of which would either be SLC (Single Level Cell) or MLC (Multi Level Cell). The difference between the two is the amount of data stored per cell, with SLC it's 1-bit per cell and with MLC it's 2-bits per cell. These differences in design impact performance, MDF, storage capacity, and most importantly price point.

In general, because SLC dives are less complex they have longer MDF, less storage capacity, higher costs and theoretically outperform MLC drives, that is until Intel released their X25-M SSD which a Multi Level Cell drive that is equal to or faster then their SLC competitive counterparts.