Intel launched next-generation SSDs

Intel’s new line of SSDs is cheaper and faster

Intel unveiled a new line of solid-state drives that are cheaper and have faster write speeds than their predecessors. These solid state drives, called Intel X25-M SSDs, deliver close to double the write performance of their predecessors, as the company claimed. That’s not all; a new manufacturing process helped lowering the prices, while better software was used to speed up the SSDs, said Troy Winslow, director of marketing for Intel's NAND products. The flash chips used in the drives were manufactured using a 34-nanometer process, instead of the 50 nanometers used for Intel's earlier SSDs.

There are two capacities available – in 80GB and 160GB. The 80GB drive should have double the write speed of its predecessor, with 6,600 I/O operations per second – reports pcworld. The 160GB version gets a greater performance boost, to 8,600 IOPS, Intel said. The read speeds are roughly similar to the earlier versions, at 35,000.

"The 34-nm move specifically benefitted our SSDs by shrinking the die of the flash memory and therefore reducing the cost," Winslow said to pcworld, “This allows us to reduce the price of our SSDs by 60 percent from their introductory price three quarters ago."

The new drives are MLC (multilevel cell) SSDs. The write performance of these is supposedly twice that of Intel's current SLC SSDs. In lights of the fact that competitors such as Toshiba and Samsung offer SSDs with capacities up to 512GB, Intel plans to double the capacity of its drives by next year. The drives released Tuesday may be the first available manufactured using the advanced 34-nanometer process – reports pcworld.

With Intel introducing these new faster and cheaper solid-state disks (SSD) drives coinciding with Windows 7's release to manufacturing - it makes a perfect business sense. After all, Windows 7 is the first Microsoft OS to include native enhancements for SSDs.

The X25-M 80GB SSD is priced at US$225 for every 1,000 units, while the 160GB version is $440 for the same Lot.