Intel now offers Core i5/i7/i9 Processors Bundled with Optane Cache SSD
As expected with the new Core+ packages, Intel is releasing Core i5/i7/i9 processors paired with an Intel Optane SSD. Initially this will be 8th generation Core processors combined with the low capacity ‘Optane Memory’ caching SSDs.
As you might have noticed, Intel made a slight change in the processor badges and logos. In case if you are wondering what that little + means, well, it simply means that the product is Optane ready and bundled. It was bound to happen, Intel was expected to push its partners to bundle the processors and motherboards with Optane. However, a slight change of things now has been introduced.
Price with 16 GB Optane | Price of CPU only | PN | |||
Core i7+8700 | $340 | $302 | BO80684I78700 | ||
Core i5+8500 | $240 | $205 | BO80684I58500 | ||
Core i5+8400 | $215 | $179 | BO80684I58400 |
** table courtesy Anandtech
However, it now seems that Intel is simply bundling it with the processors. Optane caching was two years ago, however, most users didn’t find the relative little speed improvement worth the considerable higher price as a regular SSD is (for most) the way to go. You can buy a Core i7 8700 + 16GB Optane Memory SSD for $340, the price of the CPU would normally be $302. Amazon sells 16GB Optane Memory SSDs at $35.99, meaning users can save themselves a couple of bucks at best.
We honestly doubt the new Core+ bundle models will become a success.
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The gusy over at
Senior Member
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What real advantages will this give over a cheap 120gb SSD for the same price?
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I think I'll pass.
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So if you buy an Intel SSD, you get a free CPU.
Misleading title...
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Optane differs from traditional SSDs in that they are lower latency and higher random IOPS. Intel's software can use these drives as a caching medium to speed up reads and writes, thus making your system more responsive.
Most SSD manufacturers already ship software that does this with a portion of your RAM, so if you don't mind losing a few GBs of RAM it's more practical to just use that software.
With all the chipset / cpu / hardware limitations of using optane, Intel has managed to take a pretty straight forward way of enhancing your system's responsiveness and make it as convoluted and expensive as possible.
I suggest you check out PrimoCache. It lets you cache any / all drives on your system using an L1 RAM cache and L2 SSD Cache (amazing with M.2 Drives). I believe AMD is shipping a software solution like this with their x470 chipsets for Ryzen 2.
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ReadyBoost reboot ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost