Intel Announces New High-Performance SSD 530 Series
Intel Announces New High-Performance SSD 530 Series
Intel has just announced its new high-end, high-performance SSD, the SSD 530 Series. The new SSD will come in a variety of form factors, including 2.5-inch, mSATA and M.2; and will come in many capacity points. The 2.5-inch form factor drives will be offered in 80GB, 120GB, 240GB, 360GB and 480GB, while the mSATA and M.2 drives can be had in 80GB, 120GB, 180GB and 360GB.
The new SSD 530 Series continues to use the SandForce SF-2281 controller and claimed performance figures are up to 540MB/s reads and 490MB/s writes. Random read and write IOPS figures are 41,000 and 80,000 respectively. The drives will also use Intel's own 20nm MLC NAND. Additionally, Intel says the new SSD 530 Series are their most powerful and efficient drives ever.
It's interesting that Intel is sticking with the SandForce SF-2281 controller given that it has somewhat lost its edge in the high-end market. Most notably, SanDisk made the jump from SandForce to Marvell in its latest Extreme II SSD, while Seagate entered the market using Link_A_Media's impressive LM87800. Perhaps Intel has done some magic to the firmware?
Source: Intel