Highlights of Intel’s Third Generation SSD

• Third-generation Intel® SSD 320 Series on 25-nm NAND flash memory offers 40-, 80-, 120-, 160-GB plus higher capacity 300- and 600GB options.
• Advanced architecture enables robust, reliable SSDs with enhanced security features for desktop/notebook PCs or server data center storage.
• Performance, reliability upgrades enhance solid line of high-performing SSDs with up to $100 price drop over current Intel® X25-M SSD model.

From the Press Release: “Intel designed new quality and reliability features into our SSDs to take advantage of the latest 25nm silicon, so we could deliver cost advantages to our customers,” said Pete Hazen, director of marketing for the Intel Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Solutions Group. “Intel’s third generation of SSDs adds enhanced data security features, power-loss management and innovative data redundancy features to once again advance SSD technology. Whether it’s a consumer or corporate IT looking to upgrade from a hard disk drive, or an enterprise seeking to deploy SSDs in their data centers, the new Intel SSD 320 Series will continue to build on our reputation of high quality and dependability over the life of the SSD.”

The Intel SSD 320 is  for the use on desktop and notebook PCs. An SSD is more rugged, uses less power and reduces the HDD bottleneck to speed PC processes such as boot up and the opening of files and favorite applications. The Intel SSD 320 Series comes in 40 gigabyte (GB), 80GB, 120GB, 160GB and new higher capacity 300GB and 600GB versions.

Intel SSD 320 prices,  are as follows: 40GB at $89; 80GB at $159; 120GB at $209; 160GB at $289; 300GB at $529 and 600GB at $1,069.

Highlights

• Intel introduces X25-V Value SATA Solid-State Drive (SSD) at $125 entry price point.
• Perfect for value netbooks or as boot drive for dual-drive SSD/HDD desktops, X25-V delivers SSD performance at an affordable price.
• Desktop PCs can now combine an SSD with HDD to boost overall system performance and speed system boot up and opening of applications

The Intel X25-V features 40GB of 34nm NAND flash memory. This non-volatile memory retains data, even when the power is turned off, and is used in applications such as smartphones, personal music players, memory cards or SSDs for fast and reliable storage of data. SSD benefits over a traditional HDD include higher performance, battery saving and ruggedness. “Adding the Intel X25-V to our existing family of high-performance SSDs gives our resellers a full range of high-performing, quality SSDs for notebook upgrades, dual-drive desktop set ups or embedded applications,” said Pete Hazen, director of marketing for the Intel NAND Solutions Group. “SSD adoption continues to be one of the more exciting trends in personal computing, and this entry-level product enables users to enjoy the productivity and performance benefits of Intel SSDs at a new price point.”

To make things clear, we can mention a few examples: for the notebook CPUs, there’s a lower energy consumptions, while for the server solutions, there could be bigger cache numbers. In general, analyzing the technical characteristics from the Nehalem CPUs when compared to the Core 2 family, it’s clear how the developing team aimedf at implementing features that would bring the best performance benefits on a server level, with an approach that is somewhat similar to wht AMD has done in the past with their first K8 family CPUs, Opteron and Athlon 64.

These are the base elements on the Nehalem family CPU’s.

- Native Quad Core architecture: Intel has abandoned the Multi Chip Package approach, choosing instead what is defined as “monolithic design” for the Nehalem CPU’s. The four cores, similar to the Phenom solutions from AMD, are integrated in the same silicon block instead of pairing two dual-core dice in the same package.

- DDR3 Memory controller integrated on the processor: it’s a new feature for the Intel processors, the integrated memory controller has been on the market for a while now with the AMD CPus since the K8 family, with the first Opteron CPU presented on April 2003.

- Integrated on-die L3 Cache in all processors, up to 8MB; and also, the size of the L2 cache, specific to each core, was noticeably reduced compared to what has been done in the previous Core 2 processors. In future versions, the Nehalem processors will feature differen L3 cache versions, according to the market sector where it belongs;

- Return of the Simultaneous Multi-Threading technology, better known with the market name “Hyper-Threading”, thanks to which the Operational System can recognize the processor as featuring a double number of logical cores than what’s physically integrated. This technology was introduced by Intel with some Pentium 4 models, but it wasn’t implemented in the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad solutions;

- A new set of SSE 4.2 instructions, which are extensions of SSE4 instructions introduced for the first time with the Core 2 CPUs based on Penryn cores;

- QPI (Quick Path Interconnect) technology debut: it comes to replace the front side bus on the connection between Processor, memory modules and in some CPU models, also chipset. For the first Core i7 family models, based on LGA 1366 socket, the connection between the processor and chipset will be done through a QPI link.

The first Nehalem processor versions with quad core architecture, the Core i7 family solutions, will integrate 731 million transistors, built using a 45nm fabrication process. The following evolution of Nehalem processors will feature the same fabrication process and will have a modular architecture that was implemented on the Nehalem project while in its design stages.

These processors can, in fact, be easily modified in order to implement a different number of cores, or integrate different types of features internally, in comparison to what had been presented in the first versions before the launch.

Two examples can make this flexibility more clear: the first is the Nehalem-EX CPUs, solutions that feature eight physical cores to be used specifically in server systems, which will be launched sometime this year, and that have been first announced back in the IDF Fall 2008. The second is the integration in future Nehalem versions aimed for a low-entry market, of a GPU: with this product, Intel aims at presenting its own alternative to AMD’s Fusion Family CPU’s, which feature both CPU and GPU components.

The Intel X18-M and X25-M Mainstream SATA SSDs are available in 80 gigabyte (GB) 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.

There is no idea about the cost of this product in India. Anyhow it won’t be cheaper at the crawling age. Lets wait for the arrival of SSD.