Intel Intros SSD For Gamers, Content Creators
Meet the new Intel SSD 730 Series.
On Thursday, Intel launched a new line of performance SSDs ideal for the workstation and gaming, the Intel Solid-State Drive 730 Series. Arriving in 240 GB and 480 GB capacities on March 18, customers can pre-purchase one of these drives now for $269.99 and $499.99, respectively.
"Both the NAND and the third-generation Intel controller have been infused with data center DNA for quality and reliability, and factory tuned for extreme performance. Delivering low latency and consistently high throughput, the 730 Series helps PCs respond quickly," reads Intel's Chip Shot blog.
The new 2.5-inch 7 mm SATA drives feature Intel's eight-channel controller (PC29AS21CA0), the company's 20 nm NAND (IMFT, 64 Gb Die), and 1 GB of DDR3-1600 cache. However, the company overclocked the controller by 50 percent, bumping the speed up from 400 MHz to 600 MHz. The company also overclocked the NAND by 20 percent (83 to 100 MHz), resulting in 50µs read latencies.
According to the specs, the 240 GB version provides sequential read speeds up to 550 MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 270 MB/s. Random 4 KB read and write are up to 86,000 and 56,000 IOPS, respectively, and the endurance is 50 GB writes per day. This drive, along with the 480 GB version, comes with a five year warranty.
The specs of the 480 GB SSD don't stray far from the 240 GB model, with sequential read speeds up to 550 MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 470 MB/s. Random 4 KB read and write speeds are up to 89,000 and 74,000 IOPS, respectively, and the endurance is 70 GB writes per day.
"We finally have another modern consumer-oriented drive with an Intel controller. Dubbed the SSD 730 Series, it leverages the same platform as the company's SSD DC S3700 and S3500," reads our review of the new SSD series. "This is a prosumer product, aimed at professionals who remember Intel's commitment to speed and reliability from the generation prior."
To read our full review of the Intel SSD 730 Series, head here. To pre-purchase one of these drives, head here to see a list of Intel partners such as Amazon, Newegg and TigerDirect.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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childofthekorn Replythe company overclocked the controller by 50 percent, bumping the speed up from 400 MHz to 600 MHz.
Although still a decent overclock...I'm not sure that's 50%...
*EDIT*
LOL Yes, I do see the error in my math. Leaving it here to use as an example. -
ShadyHamster Reply12775550 said:the company overclocked the controller by 50 percent, bumping the speed up from 400 MHz to 600 MHz.
Although still a decent overclock...I'm not sure that's 50%...
Hows that not a 50% overclock?
Either that's a sarcastic comment or you need to relearn maths.
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jd_w98 Reply
50% of 400 is 200, 200 Plus 400 is 600.......the company overclocked the controller by 50 percent, bumping the speed up from 400 MHz to 600 MHz.
Although still a decent overclock...I'm not sure that's 50%... -
childofthekorn Reply12775580 said:
50% of 400 is 200, 200 Plus 400 is 600.......the company overclocked the controller by 50 percent, bumping the speed up from 400 MHz to 600 MHz.
Although still a decent overclock...I'm not sure that's 50%...
Indeed -
JamesSneed Overclocked SSD's? :rollseyes Show me the tests. Which TomsH just tested and its a good SSD but nothing to write home about especially considering the premium pricing.Reply -
airborne11b When it comes to games, I doubt you'll see any noticeable load time differences between any cheap SATA III SSD and these. Ohh my Skyrim game now loads from start screen in 1.3 seconds instead of 1.6!In my experience with a lot of SSD drives, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between any of them that you would notice, when it comes strictly to games.So the best value would be the cheapest possible SATA III SSD you can get that's a decent size.Reply -
jimmysmitty Reply12776050 said:When it comes to games, I doubt you'll see any noticeable load time differences between any cheap SATA III SSD and these. Ohh my Skyrim game now loads from start screen in 1.3 seconds instead of 1.6!In my experience with a lot of SSD drives, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between any of them that you would notice, when it comes strictly to games.So the best value would be the cheapest possible SATA III SSD you can get that's a decent size.
You are forgetting quality. You are right that most SSDs that utilize SATA 6Gbps are about the same performance wise, some a bit faster. The main thing I look at is the quality of the NAND and right now Intel/Micron and Samsung have the most reliable quality NAND out there.
At one of my old jobs we built about 25 systems for use in the store. Each one had a OCZ 60GB SSD that within a year each one started either failing or started having compatibility issues with the SATA controllers and would randomly disappear and not be seen by the controller.
We swapped them all with Intel 80GB 330 SSDs and never had an issue.
Of course every SSD has the same chance of failure but there are some out there that are just worse.
So I stick with Samsung and Intel for my SSDs and I only have one game on my 180GB 520 right now, GW2. Since I see almost no load difference in almost every game (GW2 did benefit a bit) I keep my games all on my 4TB RAID0 setup. -
nitrium Reply
You might want to rethink Samsung. "The Samsung 840 Series is spitting out an increasing number of bad blocks, though." http://techreport.com/review/25559/the-ssd-endurance-experiment-200tb-update/212776271 said:So I stick with Samsung and Intel for my SSDs and I only have one game on my 180GB 520 right now, GW2. Since I see almost no load difference in almost every game (GW2 did benefit a bit) I keep my games all on my 4TB RAID0 setup.