Newegg was one of the first e-tailers to list the new Intel SSD 750 series SSDs for pre-order. The product page went live the same day reviews hit the Web, and many were excited to get a tracking number on April 24. We jumped on board to get a 400 GB model for $404, a more palatable price point compared to the 1.2 TB model that sells for Extreme Edition prices.
On Tuesday, Newegg changed the shipping date to May 16, a delay of nearly a month. The Samsung SM951-NVMe is still MIA in the gray market, and e-tailers have yet to list availability dates. Until Computex in June, the SM951-NVMe and SSD 750 are the only two NVMe SSDs scheduled for release. Enthusiasts and power users are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to use the new NVMe command set. You can learn more about NVMe and what it brings to the table here.
Intel only sampled the SSD 750 1.2 TB model to reviewers. The 400 GB model uses half of the channels to flash and half of the DRAM buffer capacity, 2 GB instead of 4 TB. The 400 GB model's nine channels is closer to many client-based SSDs that use eight channels in performance products and four channels in value class SSDs.
Intel didn't release an 800 GB model that would fill the large void between 400 GB and 1.2 TB. The high cost for the largest capacity model is out of reach for all but the most power users and professionals. Many expect the Samsung SM951-NVMe 512 GB to reach $1 per GB, not a small amount for many gamers. This makes the SSD 750 400 GB even more attractive. The capacity size is large enough to install an operating system on and still have ample room for a number of games, including Star Citizen, which has a base installation size of 100 GB.
Newegg also gave us our first look at the retail packaging for the SSD 750 Series. The review samples arrived in a brown box. The retail package wasn't available at the time. The final products also differ in appearance from the prototype Intel displayed at PAX nearly a month before the reviews hit the Web.
We'll all have to wait a little longer to see SSD 750 400 GB benchmark results. Let's hope the wait is worth it! In the meantime, you can read our full review of the Intel SSD 750 Series 1.2 TB.
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