Intel Plans 34nm 320GB Solid State Disks in Q4

[AuDioFreaK39]

Last month, Intel released its first solid state disk drives, the 2.5-inch 80GB and 160GB X25-M, and has just recently released the 1.8-inch 80GB and 160GB X18-M ultraportable counterparts, all of which are based on 50nm multi-level cell NAND flash technology.

In Q4 this year, the company plans to release a 320GB SSD in Extreme and Mainstream variants, which will most likely come in both 2.5-inch and 1.8-inch form factors. Moreover, the new drives will make use of 34nm 32Gbit low-density MLC NAND flash, which is being developed by IM Flash Technologies (IMFT).

On the other hand, those looking for more storage even earlier can pick up a 512GB Toshiba SSD based on 43nm 16Gbit MLC NAND flash technology next quarter for just $1,652.



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esquared
Anandtech Senior Moderator

 

[Denithor]

2009: the year of the SSD

 

[SunSamurai]

^ Uh, no. Maybe 2011-2012. The year of the SSD comes when prices for 128GB fall under 100$. It doesn't matter how big they get at the 300$+ area. The vast majority of buyers respond to sub $100 in the storage market.

 

[Thraxen]

I need 1TB drives for <$200 before I'll bite. I need the capacity and $$ more than I need a few seconds shaved off loading.

 

[JMapleton]

Originally posted by: aeternitas
^ Uh, no. Maybe 2011-2012. The year of the SSD comes when prices for 128GB fall under 100$. It doesn't matter how big they get at the 300$+ area. The vast majority of buyers respond to sub $100 in the storage market.

It was just 2 years ago we were paying what like $500 bucks for 500GB drives, why not $300 for ssd drives?

 

[taltamir]

because the 500GB drives were the biggest on the market, and space is VITAL for storing data.
the SSDs are just lower power, noise, and heat... and now FINALLY they are faster too... You can wait a little longer to store/ access your data, you can not put data when you are out of space.

 

[DarkMadMax]

It was just 2 years ago we were paying what like $500 bucks for 500GB drives, why not $300 for ssd drives?

I never paid over $200 for HDD. Including the 120 Gb WD I bought in 2001 (still in my system). I pad $110 for WD5000 KS 2 years ago, and 99$ for 1TB recently.

Though I would pay 200-300 for a high speed 256 GB drive with intel specs (not that jmicron shit)

 

[taltamir]

Q4 of 09 probably means december of 09... or maybe even the begining of 2010... damn, i really hoped to get an SSD THIS year.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: DarkMadMax
I never paid over $200 for HDD. Including the 120 Gb WD I bought in 2001 (still in my system). I pad $110 for WD5000 KS 2 years ago, and 99$ for 1TB recently.

My most-expensive personal drive was $900 for a Connor IDE 200 MB drive, around 1989. It was fast, quiet, and state-of-the art, using voice coils rather than stepper motors to move the heads. It still spins up, but I don't think it reads anymore.

The first drive I ever bought by itself was a 40 MB Miniscribe, "used", for $400. It replaced my previous 20 MB Seagate, which was shutting itself down randomly. After seeing a ton of Seagates fail, plus the horrible problems with the ST-251 44 MB drives, I never bought another Seagate until 2004.

 

[dez93]

Seems to me that since Intel's SSD speed is a little worse than a VelociRaptor, with less storage at higher price, it's not worth buying if your criteria are speed, size and price.
I assume this is most people.

For me, the attraction of SSD is reliability: the intelligent failure management, and lifespan expected to well-outstrip warrantee under normal usage. If I have to pay over the odds to avoid poorly-supported RAID1 mirrors, sudden unexpected data loss, multiple backups, etc etc, and get a drive which boots fast and runs for 5 years then dies gracefully and predictably with no loss of data, then i'll have made a pretty sound investment. This being the case, I'll then be able to replace my 80 or 160gb primary SSD with a 500gb or 1tb primary SSD at a good price, and do away with the increasingly large array of orphaned IDE and SATA drives cluttering up my PC.

Then after 5 years with no PC maintenance and faultless operation, I'll hop on my flying pig and go hunting unicorns, haha.

 

[IntelUser2000]

Originally posted by: dez93
Seems to me that since Intel's SSD speed is a little worse than a VelociRaptor, with less storage at higher price, it's not worth buying if your criteria are speed, size and price.
I assume this is most people.

Oh what, it is speed. Specifically its because of the low read latency that SSDs are so attractive. Reads are over 90% in an operation involving opening files, loading programs, booting which most call it "performance".

 

[dez93]

ok, yeah, fair, speed/latency is from mildly to noticeably better in some tests which is arguably enough to justify the decision for rich gamers or systems keenos, but probably not for Joe Average.

 

[IntelUser2000]

Originally posted by: dez93
ok, yeah, fair, speed/latency is from mildly to noticeably better in some tests which is arguably enough to justify the decision for rich gamers or systems keenos, but probably not for Joe Average.

You'd think Joe Average will consider Velociraptor?? They'd be happier with cheaper 1TB drives.

For people who's considering SSDs in the first place, they probably can justify paying for the SSD.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: IntelUser2000

Originally posted by: dez93
ok, yeah, fair, speed/latency is from mildly to noticeably better in some tests which is arguably enough to justify the decision for rich gamers or systems keenos, but probably not for Joe Average.

You'd think Joe Average will consider Velociraptor?? They'd be happier with cheaper 1TB drives.

For people who's considering SSDs in the first place, they probably can justify paying for the SSD.

Also for the average notebook Joe you are talking about displacing a much slower 4500 or 5400rpm drive with an SSD. The delta in performance is likely larger in that segment.

 

[dez93]

Any of you yank boys able to buy these at the moment? All the UK online retailers are out (at least, those selling at the lower end of the price range...)