The Intel SSD 320 (25nm G3) Review

[Kristers Bensin]

This is the long awaited third generation Intel based SSD. This is the G3. And at this point it's around 6 months late.

Back then it was simply called the Postville Refresh on Intel's roadmaps (Postville was the 34nm Intel X25-M G2). It would use 25nm Intel NAND, feature improved performance and full disk encryption - all behind a 3Gbps SATA interface.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4244/intel-ssd-320-review

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=1102

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1579/1/

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20653

[WaterFlex]

finally, thanks for the link

[the finisher]

"Without turning to any real time compression/deduplication techniques, Intel has built a drive that's faster than the SF-1200. You also get that famed Intel SSD reliability"

This is my new laptop drive, wonder how much for a 320? Hope pricing is reasonable, after the other new ssd's hit. Current events in Japan are likely to drive nand prices up worldwide:I

[Gilgamesh]

An other review here:
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=1102

[the finisher]

"Instead of striping parity data across all NAND devices in the drive, Intel creates a RAID-4 style system. Parity bits for each write are generated and stored in the remaining half of the spare area in the SSD 320's NAND array. There's more than a full NAND die (~20GB on the 300GB drive) worth of parity data on the 320 so it can actually deal with a failure of more than a single 64Gbit (8GB) die."

This is a good thing Ultimately, reliability is the most important thing on a single drive lappy, size next, then performance. The encryption abilities of this new drive is another important business feature I must have.

[Stukov]

The new intel drive uses the same chipset as the G2, the only thing that has changed is the firmware. Except for the 25nm chips and they aren't even decreasing the costs.

I was really hoping something good from Intel, either some brand new kick ass performance or similar performance at much lower cost. Intel has done neither.

It is actually pretty disappointing.

[Mats]

Intel said like half a year ago that the 320 won't break any performance records. No, I don't have a link.

[FZ1]

An other review here:
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=1102

Another...
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1579/1/

[Mats]

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20653

[Mats]

Prices in Germany.

320 120 GB: €190, €160 without taxes = 226 USD.
320 160 GB: €269, €226 without taxes = 319 USD.

Vertex 3 120 GB: €237, €199 without taxes = 281 USD.

http://geizhals.at/deutschland/?cat=hdssd&xf=#xf_top

[Cuthalu]

Very slow and not even cheap... pass.

[bamtan2]

Very slow and not even cheap... pass.

it is not very slow

[stangracin3]

hey geniouses, these are the drives to replace the X-25V's...

[eXa]

Dont forget The SSD Review!
http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews/...consumer-need/

[labs23]

A 300GB G3 vs. Crucial's M4.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...c400,2908.html

[flamenko]

Dont forget The SSD Review!
http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews/...consumer-need/

Appreciated...

Personally, I think the 320 stands up quite well as it jumped into the 40000 point area of Vantage testing, at least for the 300GB drive. More importantly though, it should help in bringing the price of SSDs down as we see the recommended price for the 160GB at $289 where the present X25m is above $400 I believe.

Considering the recommended price of a 300GB is $529, how many people do you think are going to pay more for a 256GB with less capacity. I am going to bet that capacity will trump performance on this one.

[vitaminc]

Very slow and not even cheap... pass.

Pretty sure either they can crank it up to be faster than Vertex 3 but sacrifice reliability as a trade off.

[JohnZS]

Hnmm wonder if/when I should replace my Generation 1 X-25m 80GB drives?
I am still very happy with them, however the lack of TRIM does worry me somewhat..
John

[Darakian]

One more
http://www.storagereview.com/intel_ssd_320_review_300gb

[the finisher]

Appreciated...

Personally, I think the 320 stands up quite well as it jumped into the 40000 point area of Vantage testing, at least for the 300GB drive. More importantly though, it should help in bringing the price of SSDs down as we see the recommended price for the 160GB at $289 where the present X25m is above $400 I believe.

Considering the recommended price of a 300GB is $529, how many people do you think are going to pay more for a 256GB with less capacity. I am going to bet that capacity will trump performance on this one.

In my case it will, I am probably recommending to other associate's, assuming it goes well for me.

Intel's primary market is not the enthusiast, it's business on this drive. It should do well. More and more folks ask me about these "ssd things" all the time.lol

Reliability, real, or perceived trumps all in this market, capacity is also very important, performance is the bonus, and the real reason to drop +$500.
But without the other factors covered, a ssd is not going in a business travelers primary tool. On most all recent laptops, sata 6 is not even an option, and this is a big, mostly untapped market.

[CedricFP]

I am really disliking all these new SSD releases for the sole reason that I want to get one, but already have an X25-M G2 160, and Vertex 60.

What possible reasoning could there be to buy another SSD?

[DragoonXX]

I want to see the reviews of the small drives...most of the reviews have been doing the *almost* flagship 300GB drives...I want to see how the 40 and 80GB fare

[ichime]

Wonder if the 320 will show any significant gain from going to a SATA 3 to a SATA 6 controller.

[the finisher]

Shouldn't, as it's the original sata 3 controller. You want the 510 for that. Not as proven, not an Intel controller.

[flamenko]

I am really disliking all these new SSD releases for the sole reason that I want to get one, but already have an X25-M G2 160, and Vertex 60.

What possible reasoning could there be to buy another SSD?

If your SSDs run as expected, there is no reason to upgrade unless you need capacity. You will see little to no visible difference for normal every day operation of the drive.