Intel 320 SSD series with 25nm NAND on March 28th

Intel has already launched the new Intel 510 performance series. It settled for 34nm NAND flash and a SSD controller from Marvell, but as tests have shown it keeps up quite well. We now hear the Intel 320 SSD series is coming sporting Intel’s own SSD controller and 25nm NAND, on March 28th.

Intel 320 SSD series is already listed and according to new information the official launch will happen at the end of March, to be precise the 28th. Intel 320 series is different from the Intel 510 series in many way, not the least that Intel supplies both memory and controller. Ironically the successors to Intel’s popular X25-M SSD s launch as a mid-range alternative. As we insinuated during our tests of the Intel 510 series last month Intel hasn’t managed to gain as much performance as it had hoped from its next generation SSD controller. It has performance units on the market, but these SSDs based on a controller design from Marvell. 

The obvious bottleneck in the Intel 320 series is the older SATA 3.0 Gbps interface. No matter how Intel twists and turns it it can reach speeds over 280-290 MB/s, which feels a bit weak compared to the competition and Intel’s own performance drives hitting over 500 MB/s.

The Intel 320 series instead focus on capacity where the 25nm technology offers models up to 600GB, while Intel’s SSD controller seem strong at reading and writing of small random files (4K). The specifications found on the web are as follows;

Other news promised is better data encryption, but the exact performance levels it is aiming for is uncertain. 

The Intel 320 series is the G3 family that have looked forward to but without a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface they will be mid-range models. The prices that have already appeared puts it at a higher price per gigabyte than the X25-M G2 series. But when the launch is a fact we hope and believe the prices will drop thanks to the new 25nm technology.