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;

Intel_320_Series_SSD1

SSD Intel 320 Intel 510 120GB Intel 510 250GB OCZ Vertex 3 120
Controller Intel Marvell 88SS9174 Marvell 88SS9174 SF-2281
NAND flash 25nm Intel 34nm Intel 34nm Hynix 25nm Micron
Interface SATA 3,0 Gbps SATA 6,0 Gbps SATA 6,0 Gbps SATA 6,0 Gbps
Capacity 40/80/120/160/300/600GB 120 GB 250 GB 120 GB
Read speed
Unknown 450 MB/s 500 MB/s 550 MB/s
Write speed
Unkonwn 210 MB/s 315 MB/s 525 MB/s
4K read performance
39 500 IOPS 20 000 IOPS 20 000 IOPS 60 000 IOPS
4K write performance
23 000 IOPS  8 000 IOPS 8 000 IOPS 60 000 IOPS
MTBF 1 200 000 hours 1 200 000 hours 1 200 000 hours 2 000 000 hours
Price  80-1000 USD ~250 USD ~ 500 USD ~250 USD

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.

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