Solid-state drives (SSDs) offer computer users enhanced levels of reliability, efficiency and performance when measured against traditional hard disk drives. However, such advantages have been somewhat overshadowed in recent times by persistently high price points.
Intel\'s new X25-M is cheap as, well, chips. Image: Intel Corp.
Eager to expand its reach in the data storage market and advance the appeal of SSDs in the process, leading chipmaker Intel Corp. has announced a new range of next-generation drives that also undercut its previous solutions by a massive 42 percent.
According to Intel, the price drop has come about following the Santa Clara-based company’s decision to move its NAND flash memory production process from the previous generation’s 50nm down to a more advanced 34nm.
“Our goal was to not only be the first to achieve 34nm NAND flash memory lithography, but to do so with the same or better performance than our 50nm version,” outlined Randy Wilhelm, vice president and general manager of Intel’s NAND Solutions Group.
According to Intel, its new drives are drop-in compatible while offering up to 25 percent reduced latency, faster random write input/output operations per second, and support for the Windows 7 operating system based on a forthcoming firmware update.
Designed to improve the performance of portable computer hardware, Intel’s latest line of SSDs come in 1.8-inch X18-M and 2.5-inch X25-M variants offering 80GBs and 160GBs of storage.
The X25-M hit the market on Tuesday attached to a per-1000 unit price of $225 USD for the 80GB model and $440 USD for the 160GB model. The X18-M, which won’t launch until the end of the summer, has not yet been priced.
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