Intel SSD 665p to Pack 13% More Performance, 50% More Endurance Than 660p

Intel SSD 665p

Intel SSD 665p (Image credit: Intel)

Intel has announced the Intel SSD 665p as the successor to the Intel SSD 660p, which we found to offer good performance and value in our testing. For the upcoming SSD,  the chipmaker will not be offering a 512GB drive. Instead, the 665p will only be available in 1TB and 2TB capacities.

Like the 660p, the 665p complies with the M.2 2280 form factor and slides into a standard PCIe 3.0 x4 interface. It also uses the same Silicon Motion SM2263 SSD controller, which is paired with a small amount of DRAM cache and a considerable dynamic SLC (single-level cell) cache.

The caveat with quad-level chip (QLC)-based SSDs is that once you start saturating the cache, the performance starts to dramatically decrease. In order to combat this problem, the 665p will introduce the dynamic SLC cache feature. When the drive is at 50%, it'll have a maximum cache of 280GB for the 2TB variant and 140GB for the 1TB variant. Once the SSD breaks the halfway mark, the cache starts to decreases until it reaches a fix amount, which is 24GB for the 2TB model and 12GB for the 1TB model.

Intel SSD 665p Dynamic SLC

(Image credit: Intel)

The real upgrade with the 665p is in the NAND chips. The 660p utilizes Intel's 64-layer 3D QLC chips. However, the new iteration will make use of the chipmaker's latest 96-layer 3D QLC chips. That's enough for Intel to claim that the 665p will offer up to 13% better performance and 50% higher endurance than the 660p.

Specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Header Cell - Column 0 Intel SSD 665p 2TBIntel SSD 660p 2TBIntel SSD 665p 1TBIntel SSD 660p 1TB
Sequential Read2,000 MBps1,800 MBps2,000 MBps1,800 MBps
Sequential Write2,000 MBps1,800 MBps1,925 MBps1,800 MBps
Random Read250,000 IOPS220,000 IOPS160,000 IOPS150,000 IOPS
Radom Write 250,000 IOPS220,000 IOPS250,000 IOPS220,000 IOPS
Endurace600 TBW400 TBW300 TBW200 TBW
Warranty5 years5 years5 years5 years
RCP (Recommended Customer Price)?$399$159 - $307$199

On the 2TB model, the 665p deliver up to to 11.1% higher sequential and a 13.6% boost in random performance. The 1TB model comes with mixed results. We're looking at 11.1% and 6.9% faster sequential reads and writes and 6.6% and 13.6% faster random reads and writes, respectively. 

Regarding its feature set, the 665p supports AES-256 encryption, Pyrite 2.0, Enhanced Power Loss Data Protection and End-to-End Data Protection.

The Intel SSD 665p 1TB should be available in this quarter, while the 2TB variant is expected to land in the first quarter of 2020. The 1TB drive has a Recommended Customer Price (RCP) between $159 and $307. As usual, Intel will back the 665p with a limited five-year warranty.

Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • cryoburner
    In order to combat this problem, the 665p will introduce the dynamic SLC cache feature. When the drive is at 50%, it'll have a maximum cache of 280GB for the 2TB variant and 140GB for the 1TB variant. Once the SSD breaks the halfway mark, the cache starts to decreases until it reaches a fix amount, which is 24GB for the 2TB model and 12GB for the 1TB model.
    This sounds like what the 660p already does. The dynamic cache starts at 140GB for the 1TB model, and works its way down to 12GB when 75% full, and the 2TB model doubles that, with both matching the numbers listed here. I believe the 660p starts reducing its cache around the 25% mark though, so perhaps they adjusted the curve for the new model to maintain more of that cache when a larger portion of the drive is filled.

    A $160 MSRP for the 1TB 665p doesn't seem all that attractive when the 1TB 660p has been widely available for under $100 for the last 6 months though. Based on these numbers, the improvements seem quite minor, after all, and probably not worth paying substantially more for.
    Reply
  • hannibal
    New release normally is not the best bang for the buck...
    Reply
  • rodagon
    I believe other NVMe SSD manufactures offer vastly superior performance and reliability compared to the Intel (QLC)-based SSDs. The Intel 660P was a good deal last year. Now that there have been many price decreases, I would look at brands that offer more than 3000 mbps read and write speeds. This is superb for photo editing and large music file transfers such as 4tb DSD files. There is also a great benefit in speeds from Thunderbolt 3 external NVMe drives on true Thunderbolt 3 ports. Look at Patriot, HP 950, Samsung 970, etc.
    Reply