New Intel Mainstream SATA SSDs Increasing Storage System Performance

The world’s largest semiconductor company, Intel has announced its new X18-M (1.8-inch) and X25-M (2.5-inch) Mainstream SATA Solid-State Drives based on MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash technology, which able to offer faster overall system response, boot and resume times, aiming to bring a new level of performance and reliability to laptop and desktop PC storage.

“Validated by our rigorous testing and OEM customer feedback, we believe that we have developed an SSD that delivers on the promises of SSD computing,” said Randy Wilhelm, Intel vice president and general manager of the NAND Products Group. “By combining our experience in flash memory design with our processor and computing expertise, we have added advances such as our parallel 10-channel architecture, proprietary controller, firmware and memory management algorithms that address write amplification and wear leveling issues to redefine SSD performance and reliability for computing platforms.”

The new Intel SSDs have no moving parts, resulting in quiet, cool and highly rugged storage solution that also offers faster system responsiveness, removing I/O (input/output) performance bottlenecks associated with HDDs that help maximize the efficiency of Intel processors.

According to the release, “The Intel X18-M and X25-M Mainstream SATA SSDs are available in 80GB capacities, with 160GB versions sampling in the fourth quarter of this year. The 80GB drive achieves up to 250MB per second read speeds, up to 70MB per second write speeds and 85-microsecond read latency for fast performance. The 80GB version is priced at $595 for quantities up to 1,000. These SSDs are available now and end-customer products containing the Intel High-Performance SATA SSDs are expected to begin shipping in the next few weeks.”