Intel SSD 335 Series (240GB) - A 20nm Refresh

Mainstream Nip/Tuck

Once intended only for power-hungry enthusiasts and the well-heeled, SSDs are fast becoming mainstream items these days. This is mainly because the prices of SSDs have come down to a point where they are palatable enough for mainstream users. That said, hard disks are still by far and away more affordable. Looking at the cost per gigabyte, a typical 1TB hard disk will cost roughly nine cents per gigabyte. A 240GB SSD will come in at more than a dollar per gigabyte. But where the SSD loses out in cost per gigabyte it makes up for where it comes to performance because even the fastest 10,000rpm hard disk will stand no chance against a run-of-the-mill mainstream SSD.

Speaking of mainstream SSDs, Intel has recently refreshed their mainstream SSD offerings with the new SSD 335 Series. In terms of specifications, the new SSD 335 Series is highly similar to the older SSD 330 Series that it replaces. The new 240GB SSD 335 Series that we have here has the exact same sequential read and write speeds as the old drive - 500MB/s and 450MB/s. It also has identical random 4k write and read IOPS - 42,000 and 52,000 IOPS. Like the older SSD 330 Series, the new drive also has the same SandForce SF-2281 controller and also uses SATA 6Gbps interface for the fastest possible data transfers.



So how is it different?



It turns out that the differences are much more subtle. Since SandForce has yet to released its third generation controller, so Intel upgraded its memory instead. As a result, the MLC NAND memory that resides in the new SSD 335 Series is manufactured using a brand new 20nm process. In comparison, the memory chips in the higher-end Intel SSD 520 Series are manufactured using a 25nm process. Mainly, this new 20nm process will help IMFT (Intel’s and Micron’s joint memory chip making venture) to increase number of memory dies that can be produced on a single wafer, and this should help drive the cost of SSDs down (though whether the savings will trickle down to consumers is another question). On the performance front, the memory should theoretically be slightly faster and more power efficient.

For now, the SSD 335 Series will come only in 240GB capacity, with additional capacities (reportedly 80GB and 180GB) are due to arrive early next year. The reason for this is because of low yields due to the new 20nm manufacturing process.



Here’s a quick look at the drive and what it comes with:

Test Setup

The drives tested on our new storage testbed, has the following system specifications:

• Intel Core i5-2400 (3.1GHz)
• MSI Z68A-GD80 (Intel Z68 chipset)
• 2 x 4GB DDR3-1600 memory
• MSI GeForce 8600 GTS
• Windows 7

The list of SSDs tested are as follows:

• Intel SSD 335 Series (240GB)
• Intel SSD 520 Sereis (240GB)
• Plextor M2S (256GB) (Firmware 1.09)
• OCZ Vertex 4 (256GB) (Firmware 1.5 Beta)
• Transcend SATA III SSD720 (256GB) (Firmware: 5.0.2)
• Kingmax SATA III SSD SMP35 Client (240GB) (Firmware: L0306)
• Crucial M4 SSD (240GB)
• Kingston HyperX SSD (240GB)

Since we’ve thus far only tested higher-end enthusiast-grade SSDs, it’ll be interesting to see how a “mainstream” SSD like the Intel SSD 335 Series compares against the current crop of SSD speed demons. We will also be paying special to how the SSD 335 Series compares against Intel’s own SSD 520 Series. The SSD 520 Series, which is intended for enthusiasts, is largely similar to the SSD 335 Series but packs highly quality chips with higher P/E (program-erase) cycles and a more refined firmware.

The list of benchmarks used are as follows:

• AS-SSD benchmark 1.6.4
• HD Tune Pro 4.6
• CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1
• PCMark 7
• PCMark Vantage
• Iometer (version 2006.07.27)

AS SSD Results

AS SSD is a benchmark that uses non-compressible and completely random data. What this means is that the drives using the SF-2281 controller cannot compress the data first, which takes away one of the strong advantages of this controller. Therefore this is a useful benchmark because drives that use the SF-2281 don't gain an upper hand.

The new Intel SSD 335 Series began brightly, posting some very promising numbers. Generally, its performance was almost on a par with the SSD 520 Series, losing out slightly only on 4k read and write speeds. Overall, despite its mainstream positioning, it had no problems matching the rest of the high-end drives. 

CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 Results

CrystalDiskMark is an easy-to-run and quick utility to use to gauge a drive’s performance. It measures sequential read and write performance and random read and write speeds of random 4KB, 4KB (queue depth 32) and 512KB data.

Again, the SSD 335 Series proved to be a competitive drive, matching the SSD 520 Series for sequential read and write speeds and even the 512K workload. It lost out only when it came to the more intensive 4K and 4K, 32 queue depth workloads, where we found that it had noticeably poorer write performance. Nevertheless, it’s a good showing from the mainstream drive. 

HD Tune Pro 4.6 Results

On HD Tune, a popular storage benchmarking software, the SSD 335 Series continued to impress as it was capable of matching the SSD 520 Series. It may not be as quick, but the difference between the two in most instances were slight, especially when it came to random speed, random access times and random IOPs. This also meant that the SSD 335 Series was able to keep pace with other fast drives such as the recently reviewed Transcend SATA III SSD720. 

Futuremark PCMark 7

PCMark 7 is the latest benchmarking suite from FutureMark that evaluates the performance of Windows 7 machines. It tests a wide range workloads and aspects of the system ranging from computation, image and video manipulation and storage. We’ll be looking solely at the storage test here. 

On PCMark 7, the SSD 335 Series put in a good showing but was some ways off compared to the SSD 520 Series and the other quicker drives in this test. Its overall score of 4822 PCMarks was about 12% below that of the SSD 520 Series drive could achieve. Looking at the breakdown, we can see that it was let down by poor performances in the Video Editing, Windows Media Centre and Gaming workloads.

PCMark Vantage Results

PCMark Vantage might have been around for quite some time, but it is still a fairly accurate representation of how the drives might be used in real-world scenarios. We are focusing on the hard drive test suite which comprises of tasks such as loading of applications to media creation.

The new SSD 335 Series performance on PCMark Vantage was poor. It managed only 14799 PCMarks which is only a fraction of what the quickest drives could achieve. Looking at the breakdown of the score, we can easily understand why as it was lackluster in almost every workload.

Iometer Results (Part 1)

Lastly, we put the drives through the rigorous grind of Iometer, with different workloads and I/O queue depths. We have chosen to show results from a queue depth of 1 to 5 as this better represents the workloads a typical consumer might face.

Looking at the graphs, we can see that the SSD 335 Series finds itself somewhere in the middle of the pack, which isn’t too bad considering its mainstream positioning. It was able to match and even surpass the SSD 520 Series in the 64k Streaming read and Write workloads, but lost out when it came to File and Web Server workloads.

Iometer Results (Part 2)

Finally, we look at the I/O response times for the workloads reported on the previous page. As you can see, the SSD 335 Series found itself in the middle of the pack. Therefore, it can be said that its overall performance on Iometer is decidedly average, which is not a bad thing considering we are pitting it against drives that are mostly targeted at performance-hungry enthusiasts. Interestingly, the response times were slightly better than the Intel SSD 520 Series.

The Price is (Not) Right

The SSD market is a very crowded one these days with numerous players, so the new Intel SSD 335 Series has to work hard to distinguish itself and stand out from the crowd. While it uses the now ubiquitous SandForce SF-2281 controller, which isn’t very special these days, the Intel SSD 335 Series benefits from Intel’s reputation for producing very reliable SSDs, thanks to its stringent and extensive validation process. However, that alone may not be enough to cut it in today’s very competitive marketplace.

With that in mind, we turn to the SSD 335 Series’ performance. On a whole, it is pretty impressive for a drive that’s positioned as a mainstream one. As our tests show, apart from its disappointing performance on PCMark Vantage, it is capable of mixing it up with the big boys and is not much slower than the highly-revered SSD 520 Series. It may not be the fastest drive but it is no slowcoach either.

However, where it let us down is its pricing. Since local pricing is not available at the moment, our value conclusions will be based on U.S. pricing.

In the original press kit sent to us by Intel, Intel mentioned that the recommended retail price of the SSD 335 Series would be US$184. However, a quick check around indicates that the SSD 335 Series is retailing closer to US$210 (both Amazon and Newegg lists the drive at US$209.99). This is considerably more expensive than Intel’s RRP and puts it squarely in the sights of high-end enthusiast-grade drives such as the Transcend SATA III SSD720 and SanDisk Extreme. In fact, the OCZ Vertex 4, a fine drive that boasts very fast write performance, retails for lesser at US$199.99 and boasts a 5-year warranty.

Furthermore, Intel’s SSD 520 Series 240GB drive retails for US$239.99, which means that for US$30 more, you get higher quality memory chips with higher P/E cycles and a longer 5-year warranty (the SSD 335 Series only has a 3-year warranty). If you ask us, we would gladly cough up the additional US$30 for the better memory chips and longer warranty.

Because of its high price, the SSD 335 Series finds itself in very tricky waters. Of course, its present high price might be because of scarce supply, so if prices do eventually come down to levels that are closer to Intel’s RRP, then the SSD 335 Series could then be considered a good buy considering its performance and pedigree. However, if prices remain as they are, there are plenty of other fine options around. Given the track record of prices of the Intel SSD 300 series to-date, they haven't really impressed us nor differentiated itself enough from the higher class Intel SSD 500 series.

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