So it seems that the 520 performs very much like any other SF2xx based drive. Not too surprising as the MWI is based on theoretical P/E cycle capability, which will be the same value depending on nand geometry. Specially binned nand only starts to shine once the theoretical MWI has expired, but realistically who is going to keep on using their SSD once the MWI gets below 0

It really looks like Intel have done very little to the SF f/w. Turning off raise was already an option. All they seem to have done is debugged the f/w and modified the SMART reporting attributes.