[hugh]

Intel announced today a new line of solid-state drives (SSD) which take advantage of Intel’s transition to higher speed SATA 6 Gigabits per second (Gbps) bus interfaces on the recently introduced 2nd Generation Intel Core processor-based platforms.

Intel claims the new drives will offer the fastest sequential read and write speeds of any consumer SATA SSD available today and is more than 50% faster than a traditional consumer hard disk drive (HDD).

 

[hoodlum]

Intel will be in tough with these SSDs as they need to compete with the recently announced OCZ Vertex 3 that has 50% greater write speeds (500mb/s) and an announced consumer list price of $249 for the $120GB SSD. This is less than the $284 Manufacturers have to pay for the 120GB Intel 510 SSD.

 

[NeilN]

I don't understand more than 50% faster than HDD bit. I thought current SSD's were faster than that and this new line "doubles the sequential read speeds, and at up to 315MB/s more than triples the sequential write speeds of Intel's current 3Gbps SSDs, to transfer more data in less time". Well, "more than" is accurate I suppose but isn't 50% kind of low?

 

[audacity]

Meh, I'm just going to wait for Anandtech to review the "final" version of all these products before selecting one.

I suspect that the new Sandforce drives will be faster than the new Intel drives when dealing with compressible data, but that Intel will pull ahead when dealing with pre-compressed data.

 

[Costa]

OCZ seems to be ahead of the game, atleast right now. They've also dropped their efforts from RAM to focus primarily on SSD drives.

The Vertex 3 is the first solution to feature the new SandForce SF-2200 SSD processor, and raises the bar in performance with up to 550MB/s read and 500MB/s write transfer rates and up to 60,000 IOPS (4k random write).

Competition is great!

 

[recneps77]

I don't understand more than 50% faster than HDD bit. I thought current SSD's were faster than that and this new line "doubles the sequential read speeds, and at up to 315MB/s more than triples the sequential write speeds of Intel's current 3Gbps SSDs, to transfer more data in less time". Well, "more than" is accurate I suppose but isn't 50% kind of low?

I think that was meant to be more than 50% faster than today's consumer grade SSD's.
That's a good 500% faster than a traditional hard drive.

 

[BGY11]

To me, it seems Intel still hasn't realized they aren't the only game in town for "consumer" SSDs anymore. Before when few vendors were focusing on SSDs, Intel could get away charging a premium for their drives, but I don't think that is the case now (especially if the performance doesn't end up matching the newer Sandforce drives like the Vertex 3).

I know it's too early to know (and will also be waiting for the Anandtech reviews), but I think the Intel drives are going to offer sub-par performance at a higher cost.

I wonder if they plan to make a 1.8" version like they did with their earlier drives. Even if I am stuck with a 3Gbps SATA interface, having something in this form factor that runs faster than the X18-M I have now would be nice.

 

[hoodlum]

First review/comparison has been posted.

http://www.storagereview.com/intel_ssd_510_review_250gb

"Overall we came into this review knowing this drive wouldn’t displace the latest SandForce SSD, but also expected it to benchmark near the top of our charts. In that regard we didn’t come away unimpressed, although we do have to admit we kind of expected slightly more. Some areas like random 4K write speeds came up short to the model this SSD is replacing, as well as the Crucial RealSSD C300 that shares the same (but older revision) controller. Bottom line though is if you want a solid performing next-generation drive with a track record of reliability, the Intel SSD 510 is still a very good choice -- just not the fastest of the bunch."

 

[dezzpayne]

I'm anxiously awaiting the Vertex 3. My 60GB Vertex 2 would probably suffice if not for the dreaded Winsxs folder. MS really needs to release a tool to clean that up. Windows 7 requirements say you need 20GB free for 64 bit yet the Winsxs folder itself can grow to 15GB and beyond depending on how often you install/update programs/drivers.

 

[hoodlum]

I'm anxiously awaiting the Vertex 3. My 60GB Vertex 2 would probably suffice if not for the dreaded Winsxs folder. MS really needs to release a tool to clean that up. Windows 7 requirements say you need 20GB free for 64 bit yet the Winsxs folder itself can grow to 15GB and beyond depending on how often you install/update programs/drivers.

I am pretty certain you can change the maximum size of this hidden folder in Windows 7. I know in my Vista I changed the maximum size to 10GB for my 500GB drive. Before that it was taking up 60GB by default.

Most people don't even realize this folder exists and bypass SSDs thinking they need more than 64GB for OS and programs.

 

[hoodlum]

The following is for Window 7 System Restore (hidden folder). A definite must for anyone setting up an SSD drive

Right-click Computer and select Properties > System Protection > Configure, and set the Max Usage value to a size that suits your needs. 10GB show be more than enough.

 

[dezzpayne]

Winsxs isn't the hidden folder for system restore. It's where Windoze keeps all the binaries, catalog files etc. I have system restore turned off.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/...and-windows-vista-and-why-is-it-so-large.aspx

One of the largest changes between previous versions of Windows and Windows Vista was a move from an INF described OS to componentization. A component in Windows is one or more binaries, a catalog file, and an XML file that describes everything about how the files should be installed. From associated registry keys and services to what kind security permissions the files should have. Components are grouped into logical units, and these units are used to build the different Windows editions.

All of the components in the operating system are found in the WinSxS folder – in fact we call this location the component store. Each component has a unique name that includes the version, language, and processor architecture that it was built for. The WinSxS folder is the only location that the component is found on the system, all other instances of the files that you see on the system are “projected” by hard linking from the component store. Let me repeat that last point – there is only one instance (or full data copy) of each version of each file in the OS, and that instance is located in the WinSxS folder. So looked at from that perspective, the WinSxS folder is really the entirety of the whole OS, referred to as a "flat" in down-level operating systems. This also accounts for why you will no longer be prompted for media when running operations such as System File Checker (SFC), or when installing additional features and roles.

That explains why the folder starts off big, but not why it gets larger over time – the answer to that question is servicing. In previous versions of Windows the atomic unit of servicing was the file, in Windows Vista it’s the component. When we update a particular binary we release a new version of the whole component, and that new version is stored alongside the original one in the component store. The higher version of the component is projected onto the system, but the older version in the store isn’t touched. The reason for that is the third part of why the component store gets so large.

Not every component in the component store is applicable, meaning that not every component should be projected onto the system. For example, on systems where IIS is available but has not been installed, the IIS components are present in the store, but not projected into any location on the system where they might be used. If you’re familiar with how multi-branch servicing works in previous versions of Windows then it’ll make sense to you that we have a different version of the component for each distribution branch and service pack level, and that all these different versions are also stored in the WinSxS folder, even if they’re not immediately applicable. So a single Post SP1 GDR package that contains an update to one component will end up installing four versions of that component in the WinSxS folder – double that on a 64 bit operating system for some components.

 

[Shaw Champ]

This new line is a bit disappointing to me. I have a 160GB X25-M and love it to bits. Waiting on the Vertex 3 though as a future upgrade.