The Intel 710, codenamed "Lyndonville", will come in three capacities (100 GB, 200 GB & 300 GB), a 2.5" form factor and will utilize the SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) interface. The new series is setup to succeed the previous generation X25-E series just as the Intel 320 series replaced the X25-M series. The "Lyndonville" is design to give the enterprise segment a SSD with a lower price per gigabyte cost and endurance comparable to the X25-E.
To address the price per gigabyte concerns with single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash memory SSDs, Intel introduces the High Endurance Technology Multi-Level Cell (HET-MLC) NAND flash memory chips built on the 25-nanometer fabrication process. You get the write endurance comparable to a SLC SSD, while getting the capacity advantage that MLC offers to users.
The 710's performance stays on par with many of the other MLC SATA II SSDs on the market but with the write endurance needed for server based drives. The 4K random read is 38,500 IOPS for all three models. The 8K random reads is 26,000 IOPS on the 100 GB and 27,000 IOPS for both 200 GB and 300 GB. Over-provision on these drives effect both the 4K random write speeds and 4K random write endurance, as seen in the charts below.
With a 20 percent over-provision on the 100 GB model, the 4K random writes jump from 2400 IOPS to 4000 IOPS and 4K write endurance goes from 600 TB to 900 TB. The 200 GB model sees similar performance increase through a 20 percent over-provision with 4K random writes jump from 2400 IOPS to 3300 IOPS (less than the 100 GB model) and 4K write endurance goes from 1000 TB to 1300 TB. The 300 GB sees 4K random writes jump from 2000 IOPS to 2400 IOPS and 4K write endurance goes from 1300 TB to 1500 TB.
In terms of sustained sequential speeds, all three models offer up to 270 MB/s read speeds. The 100 GB model has sequential write speeds up to 170 MB/s, while the 200 GB and 300 GB drives have sequential write speeds up to 210 MB/s.
Read more about the Intel 710 Enterprise SSD at VR-Zone.
