Intel 510 series SSD

[Sam_oslo]

Hi Sam,

As usual, all new products carry a large price tag.

Meanwhile I've ordered the Vertex 3 240GB

There are quite a few positives about this SSD but I believe the Vertex 3 is the one to get, sure the M4/C400 will be a great performer but there are no news on availability.

I haven't given up on this SSD yet, it's a great allrounder and real-life performer but nothing extreme.
Still waiting for someone to give it a run with PCMV.

Hi Anvil,

Yeah, you are the SSD-freak and get all these just for fun and testing but I'm a bit confused about Intel's 510-move. Why should they release a "great allrounder and real-life performer but nothing extreme." just when everybody is releasing next-gen high end SSD, and just before G3 which was meant to fill the spot?

They may still fix it with new FWs, so there is still a bit hope for this SSD, but if the performance remains at this spot, I'm afraid this move means Intel got big problems with 25nm NAND + Intel controller. I hope this doesn't mean a big delay for G3. Because that was our hope for big and cheap "great allrounder and real-life performer but nothing extreme."

[Lu(ky]

Not to change the subject but where is the Crucial C400 at? I thought it was going to be the first out for the SSD.. Also how does this Intel 510 250GB compare to the Crucail C300 256GB?

[Computurd]

Why should they release a "great allrounder and real-life performer but nothing extreme." just when everybody is releasing next-gen high end SSD, and just before G3 which was meant to fill the spot?

maybe they are looking for wide mainstream adoption. maybe they can see this as an OEM drive. i could. if the reliability is there, this would be perfect over at best buy for the normal people to buy. this is more than they need.

[Anvil]

@Sam

I don't know, maybe they felt they had to release something carrying a 6Gb/s tag and this was what they were able to come up with, who knows, maybe in a few weeks the "G3" suddenly appears?

@Lu(ky
I'm quite sure the M4/C400 will be available soon.

The 510 performed equally well and sometimes better than the C300 in the StorageReview real-life test, pcper called it a pricy but decent performer.
The Intel SSDs also got the SSD Toolbox which is unique and a great tool that should be included with every SSD imho. (OCZ is almost there)

Anands Storage benchmarks on the 510 should be an interesting wait.

edit:

Good point computurd, Intel is probably looking at "the greater picture"

--

[Lu(ky]

Intel 510 SSD now at newegg ------> H E R E

[theseeker]

Intel 510 SSD now at newegg ------> H E R E

This is why they has the SSD sale last week?

[Sam_oslo]

@Sam

I don't know, maybe they felt they had to release something carrying a 6Gb/s tag and this was what they were able to come up with, who knows, maybe in a few weeks the "G3" suddenly appears?
..
--

Yeah, it's possible, and lets hope so. G3 is our hope for good, big and cheap SSD with a descent performance for most users. That was the promise of G3, if I recall right.

But if 510 doesn't get better with upcoming FWs, and G3 suddenly appears too, then I'm wondering how Intel is going to get rid of these expensive 510.

[Brahmzy]

Intel 510 SSD now at newegg ------> H E R E

Wow. I've got 2 in my cart - so tempted. I was going to wait for the Vertex3's to release, or the G3's, but these are out now!

Ugh....

[zalbard]

Do yourself a favour and wait a bit or get C300s instead.

[Anvil]

Reviewed at Anandtech http://www.anandtech.com/show/4202/t...ssd-510-review

Having read the review it's pretty clear.

The Intel 510 is a great drive!

It's the 2nd fastest drive in Anand's real-life benchmarks and as for PCMV is basically a tie with the C300. (< 200 pts)

It looks like the 510 delivers the iops we need and hopefully the same reliability as the X25 series.

The only issue "on paper" with the 510 is the lack of iops compared to other SSDs but it seems the lack of iops doesn't really matter, we can't reach those limits anyways.

[Dragoonseal]

It looks like the 510 delivers the iops we need and hopefully the same reliability as the X25 series.

Are you sure about the reliability? I mean I love Intel SSDs to death for their reliability, but those 510s use a Marvell controller, which makes me raise an eyebrow.

[Anvil]

I'm not sure, that why I wrote hopefully.

I'm not concerned about the Marvell controller, it's predecessor has been doing great in the C300.
It's more about firmware I think and I do believe in Intels skills in that department

In the end, only time can tell.

[Anvil]

@Sam
I don't know, maybe they felt they had to release something carrying a 6Gb/s tag and this was what they were able to come up with, who knows, maybe in a few weeks the "G3" suddenly appears?

--

And there you have it, the Intel 320 aka G3

Slated for a mid-April launch, the 2.5-inch 9.5mm 320 Series will use 25nm MLC NAND and is available in five capacities: 40GB, 80GB, 160GB, 300GB and 600GB.

The 320 Series will be pushed as 'the fast hard drive alternative' with performance and data reliability as two key focus areas.

Final performance figures and drive lifespan are not available yet, but we do expect them to be pretty much the same as rumored specifications so far:

250MB/sec read, 170MB/sec write
Up to 50K and 40K IOPS for random 4KB read and write respectively
30TB to 60TB worth of 4KB random writes

Link to vr-zone

[zalbard]

Dunno about being the second fastest drive... Anandtech clearly ignores QD=1 testing. Doesn't even bother with it.
And at QD=3 the drive is still very slow.

[F@32]

And there you have it, the Intel 320 aka G3

Slated for a mid-April launch, the 2.5-inch 9.5mm 320 Series will use 25nm MLC NAND and is available in five capacities: 40GB, 80GB, 160GB, 300GB and 600GB.

The 320 Series will be pushed as 'the fast hard drive alternative' with performance and data reliability as two key focus areas.

Final performance figures and drive lifespan are not available yet, but we do expect them to be pretty much the same as rumored specifications so far:

250MB/sec read, 170MB/sec write
Up to 50K and 40K IOPS for random 4KB read and write respectively
30TB to 60TB worth of 4KB random writes

Link to vr-zone

4K IOPS up from 35K/8.6K... Not bad, not bad. Same capacity at 25nm means lower prices. Sweet. Must resist V3 and 510...

[Anvil]

Dunno about being the second fastest drive... Anandtech clearly ignores QD=1 testing. Doesn't even bother with it.
And at QD=3 the drive is still very slow.

Forget about the synthetic benchmarks for a while and focus on the real-world stuff.

This is the the Heavy Workload benchmark

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The result is pretty clear, and it's the same with the Light Workload.

[vitaminc]

maybe they are looking for wide mainstream adoption. maybe they can see this as an OEM drive. i could. if the reliability is there, this would be perfect over at best buy for the normal people to buy. this is more than they need.

No they are more than likely to exit IMF.

[flamenko]

And there you have it, the Intel 320 aka G3

Slated for a mid-April launch, the 2.5-inch 9.5mm 320 Series will use 25nm MLC NAND and is available in five capacities: 40GB, 80GB, 160GB, 300GB and 600GB.

The 320 Series will be pushed as 'the fast hard drive alternative' with performance and data reliability as two key focus areas.

Final performance figures and drive lifespan are not available yet, but we do expect them to be pretty much the same as rumored specifications so far:

250MB/sec read, 170MB/sec write
Up to 50K and 40K IOPS for random 4KB read and write respectively
30TB to 60TB worth of 4KB random writes

Link to vr-zone

Egad!!! I wish I would have found this yesterday as I could have included it in my article about the new Intel/SandForce drive on the horizon. Because of the 25nm NAND, you will probably see the SandForce SF2100 SATA 3 controller within as I am going to take a guess that the Intel controller is becoming completely extinct. Alot of this, of course, is guess work but logically speaking I don't believe we have seen the end of Intel introductions just yet.

[johnw]

That's absurd. Do you have any more evidence for your wild speculation other than a picture of a Sandforce-controller SSD with IMFT flash?

For someone making such ridiculous speculations, I wonder how you could NOT have known already that the Intel 320 series SSDs were due out soon. That has been discussed in forums for weeks now.

[flamenko]

Unfortunately I can't follow every forum all the time. Although I enjoy being a member here, I am lucky if I can hit it once or twice a week now.

Wouldn't I look real foolish if I was totally wrong on this? Bookmarked.

Someone once had a vision that the world just might be round and a similar response as your was raised.

[johnw]

Someone once had a vision that the world just might be round and a similar response as your was raised.

There is a difference between "having a vision" and drawing a conclusion based on sound evidence. The vast majority of "visions" are incorrect, since they are no better than random guesses. If there is solid evidence to back up a claim, then the chances the claim is correct can be high, or near certainty, depending on the strength of the evidence.

The only "evidence" you seem to have is a picture of an SSD with 25nm flash memory and a Sandforce controller. But that was at Sandforce's booth. The simplest explanation is that Sandforce would want to get some 25nm flash memory to test with their controllers. Their only choices for 25nm flash are Micron or Intel. Just because they got the Intel-branded version of IMFT 25nm flash does not mean that Intel is going to make a Sandforce SSD. If they had happened to get the Micron version, would you now be publishing crazy articles about Micron manufacturing a Sandforce-controller SSD?

[Anvil]

SandForce and Toshiba is more of a "team".

We can not rule out anything but I'm finding this Intel+SandForce thing highly unlikely.
If it was true it would be a pity, we need both forces as well as others to keep on pushing the limits in different directions.

After all Intel has developed their own 6Gb/s controller used in the upcoming Enterprise SSD -> Hitachi SSD400S Link to tweaktown
If you look closely at the picture of the controller the Intel "i" is clearly visible.
It is sort of strange that the controller wasn't used in the 510 but maybe they have another series planned for that controller. e.g. the 710

Anyways, there are several important releases ahead

[flamenko]

John IO have offended you somehow. Apologies. As I said, lets revisit this in a month or so. I haven't anywhere to hide.

[Computurd]

well, intel did shock us all with the Marvell controller. if anyone could have figured that out prior to release they would have been ridiculed. I think the point is this: If intel is already committed to using third party controllers, why wouldn't they use someone else's? especially if they were better? the SF seems to outpace the Marvell in some scenarios.

but that brings me to anvils point: very nice write speeds on the 510. surprising! i am wondering if the SF is so busy due to compression involved with the writing? compression has to add at least a touch of latency to this....

this kind of reminds of a similar situation in the past....the Vertex gen 1 Vs. the Intel. i guess under the heavy workloads the writing just comes into play that much more.


@flamenko....nah john just can be cranky

[Anvil]

@CT

Shocked about the Marvell controller, maybe a little but not that much of a shock as one should have thought, more like a disbelief

The rumours have been flying all over since about a month ago...
(and not just about the controller )

As for the 510, it's easily #2 on the Light Workload as well.
You are right about the Heavy Workload, it's a lot about writes, too much for my liking but in combination with the Light Workload it's probably meant to present both sides of the coin.

Well, as for now, SandForce wins them both.
There are other aspects of SSDs though.

I wonder if OCZ has made a special deal this time around?