How does 2,400MB/s read performance suit your fancy?
Intel's new 750 Series solid state drives should come with a label that reads, 'Warning, may cause whiplash and will result in uncontrollable giddiness'. After all, Intel's 750 Series takes center stage as the company's highest performing client SSD to date, with performance that's more than four times better than that of most SATA-based SSDs. The trick lies in utilizing four lanes of PCIe 3.0 and the NVM Express (NVMe) standard.
The 750 Series is available both in add-in card form for systems with an accessible PCIe 3.0 x4 slot and in a 2.5-inch NVMe form factor, though the latter isn't like the majority of 2.5-inch SSDs currently on the market. Instead, it uses the new SFF-8639 connector that's more commonly found in the enterprise. However, you can still use the the drive with an M.2 slot -- Intel provides an SFF-8639 to SFF-8643 (mini SAS) cable and M.2/SATA power connector.
In half-height half-length (HHHL) add-in card form, here's the kind of performance you're looking at:
- 400GB: 2,200MB/s read, 900MB/s write, 430,000 IOPS (read), 230,000 IOPS (write)
- 1.2TB: 2,400MB/s read, 1,200MB/s write, 440,000 IOPS (read), 290,000 IOPS (write)
Note that the first set of read and write metrics are sequential 128KB, and the second set are random 4KB. The same performance metrics (as supplied by Intel) also apply to the 2.5-inch versions.
Pricing for the 750 Series is $389 for the 400GB models and $1,029 for the 1.2TB models (either form factor).
In addition to the 750 Series, Intel also announced the availability of its 535 Series, available in both M.2 and 2.5-inch form factors. The M.2 models come in 120GB, 180GB, 240GB, and 360GB capacities, while the 2.5-inch versions add a 480GB capacity. The 535 Series uses 16nm NAND flash MLC memory and offer up to 540MB/s read and 490MB/s write performance.
Street pricing for the 535 Series runs about $116 for 120GB, $138 for 180GB, $168 for 240GB, $236 for 360GB, and $301 for 480GB.
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