Intel 510 SSD review - Introduction

Okay okay, I'll admit it... ever since the development of SSDs started, here at Guru3D.com we've become what you might call storage whores, yep -- anything SSD related which gets thrown in front of us we'll eat alive, hair and all.

The biggest and most exciting development for SSDs this year obviously is going to be SATA 600 (6G) compatibility.

OCZ for example recently released their Vertex 3 SSDs, all SATA III (also known as SATA 6G and SATA 600) SSDs that have been beefed up to shock, awe and conquer. It will pretty much get you that tingly feeling in your tummy once you have it in your hands. Intel is next in line to jump onto that bandwagon as well. Their previous SSD series has been nothing short of surprising in terms of performance.

Recently they released their latest SSD which was developed under the codename "Elm Crest" and it's Intel's first 6Gb/s SSD, the Intel 510 Series SSD. Obviously the product is aimed at PC enthusiasts, gamers and workstation users. The 2.5" 9.5mm drive is available in two capacities: 120GB and 250GB. The 510 series features :

• Up to 470MB/s Read; 315MB/s Write
• Up to 20,000 4K Rand Read; 5,000 4K Rand Write
• Compatible with Intel 6 Series Express Chipsets
• Intel 34nm NAND MLC

The 120GB version will cost about $280 while the 250GB version will cost about $580. When the device arrived in our test-lab a few days ago we ran a quick first test with ATTO benchmark software, we topped the advertised performance in MB/s in both reads and writes, pure unadulterated performance from a single SSD.

Now, over the past year most of you guys on the AMD platform already got the royal SATA 6G treatment as all new 800 series AMD chipsets support that new faster interface. With the release and demise of Sandy Bridge from Intel also came an integrated SATA 6G controller in their series H67/P67 chipsets, and that last one is darn good -- well at least the 6G connectors.

With a SATA 6G capable motherboard in my right hand and a SATA 6G cable in my left hand, there was something missing. Yep - a proper SATA 6G compatible SSD. Without RAID or any tricks the product as tested today makes use of the newly available SATA III controllers.

Today's product 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.

So without further ado, have a peek at the Intel SATA III based 510 250GB SSD.