Intel 710 Series Lyndonville SSDs Get Priced launch August

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 08/08/2011 09:31 AM | source: | 0 comment(s)

Intel's enterprise-class SSD 710 (Lyndonville) will launch in mid-August. The 100GB model will be priced in the region of ~US$650, which is nearly half of the X25-E's per-gigabyte cost. 200GB and 300GB flavours are also available and priced similarly.

Estimated Price and Price/GB

	Price	Price/GB
Intel X25-E 32GB	US$370 (retail)	11.6
Intel X25-E 64GB	US$730 (retail)	11.4
Intel SSD 710 100GB	~US$650	~6.5
Intel SSD 710 200GB	~US$1250	~6.3
Intel SSD 710 300GB	~US$1900	~6.3

Performance is not top priority for the SSD 710. Instead, Intel is aiming to provide SLC-level endurance at a reasonable price by using cheaper eMLC HET NAND. The SSD 710 also supports user-configurable overprovisioning (20%), which increases drive endurance significantly.

The SSD 710's warranty is 3 years or until a wear indicator reaches a certain level, whichever comes first. This is the first time we've seen SSD warranty limited in this manner. Oddly enough, the consumer-level SSD 320 has a longer 5-year warranty without any such limitations.

We've compiled a specifications table for those of you interested in the nitty-gritty:

	Intel X25-E	Intel SSD 710	Intel SSD 720	SandForce SF-2500/2600	Indilinx Everest
Capacities	32/64GB	100/200/300GB	200/400GB	Up to 512GB	Up to 1TB
Interface	SATA 3Gbps	SATA 3Gbps	PCIe	SATA 6Gbps	SATA 6Gbps
Flash Type	50nm SLC	25nm eMLC HET	34nm SLC	(e)MLC/SLC	(e)MLC/SLC
Cache	16MB	64MB	512MB	-	Up to 512MB DDR3
Sustained Read	250MB/s	270MB/s	2200MB/s	500MB/s	520MB/s
Sustained Write	170MB/s	210MB/s	1800MB/s	500MB/s	410MB/s
4KB Random Read	35,000 IOPS	38,500 IOPS	180,000 IOPS	60,000 IOPS	?
4KB Random Write	3,300 IOPS	2,400 IOPS	56,000 IOPS	60,000 IOPS	20,000 IOPS
Endurance (with 20% over-provisioning)	32GB: 1.0PB 64GB: 2.0PB	100GB: 500TB (900TB) 200GB: 1.0PB (1.5PB) 300GB: 1.1PB (1.5PB)	200GB: 18PB 400GB: 36PB	?	?
MTBF	2 million hours	2 million hours	?	10 million hours	?
Form Factor	2.5"	2.5"	PCIe	varies	varies
Power (idle/active)	0.06W/2.6W	0.095W/4W	8W/25W	varies	?
Security	ATA password	AES-128	AES-256	AES-256, TCG	?
Warranty	3 years	3 years or when wear level indicator E9 hits 1, whichever comes first	?	varies	varies

The performance-oriented SSD 720 (Ramsdale) is expected to launch not long after, followed by Cherryville (successor to SSD 510) and Paint Creek (successor to SSD 310) in Q4 - via VR-Zone.