Intel 320 SSD (X25-M G3 Postville Refresh) Released!

smileyborg · Mar 28, 2011

We're still waiting on the official announcement from Intel, but as rumored, the new 320 series SSDs which are replacing the G2 X25-M series are out today!
UPDATE: Intel has now updated their website with the new model: http://www.intel.com/design/flash/nand/index.htm

Full review already posted on Tom's Hardware:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-ssd-320-crucial-m4-realssd-c400,2908.html

AnandTech weighs in with a review:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4244/intel-ssd-320-review

Already showing up on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-SATA-2-...Q0/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1301323435&sr=8-14

Comparison with G2 X25-M from the Tom's Hardware review above:

Pricing for 320 SSD series:

smileyborg · Mar 28, 2011

Now I need to decide if I'm getting one of these or an OWC SandForce drive.

Guy Mancuso · Mar 28, 2011

Correct me if I am wrong these are still Sata 2 correct

smileyborg · Mar 28, 2011

Guy Mancuso said:
Correct me if I am wrong these are still Sata 2 correct

Yes, just like the 34nm X25-M they replace. If you want SATA III (6Gb/s), you have the Intel 510 series announced a couple weeks ago. These 320 SSDs are for more mainstream consumers, and are cheaper. Their sequential read/writes are slower, but they actually have higher random IOPS than the 510 series.

Guy Mancuso · Mar 28, 2011

Thanks just wanted to double check before I ordered the Intel 510 today. I can't wait any longer for these Sata 3 drives and need to get it in my 2011 MBP before Friday so I better order now. Was hoping OWC would announce today a Sata 3 drive.

aznguyen316 · Mar 28, 2011

Thanks for the links and info. Looking to see if there was any reason to move from my Vertex 2, in terms of gaming and general usage. The C300 still looked like a solid performer being released with the "last gen" SSD's. I've seen the C300 go for solid prices that will give you performance higher than that of current SATAII drives but cheaper and lower performance SATAIII.

smileyborg · Mar 28, 2011

aznguyen316 said:
Thanks for the links and info. Looking to see if there was any reason to move from my Vertex 2, in terms of gaming and general usage. The C300 still looked like a solid performer being released with the "last gen" SSD's. I've seen the C300 go for solid prices that will give you performance higher than that of current SATAII drives but cheaper and lower performance SATAIII.

Yeah, it looks like the existing SandForce drives (1200 series controller) are still the kings of SATA II. Don't see any compelling reason to upgrade from them yet.

Edit: According to the just-posted AnandTech review (linked in the original post above in this thread), these new 320 SSDs beat out the Corsair F120 by a significant margin, which is well known as a fast SandForce 1200 drive.

satirev · Mar 28, 2011

your links dont work.

smileyborg · Mar 28, 2011

satirev said:
your links dont work.

No problems here from my MacBook with Firefox 4 or on my iPad 2 in mobile Safari. Something's probably wrong on your end.

Mabyboi · Mar 28, 2011

Guy Mancuso said:
Thanks just wanted to double check before I ordered the Intel 510 today. I can't wait any longer for these Sata 3 drives and need to get it in my 2011 MBP before Friday so I better order now. Was hoping OWC would announce today a Sata 3 drive.

Will these 510 drives work in the 2010 MBP's? or only 2011 and up?

magbarn · Mar 28, 2011

Mabyboi said:
Will these 510 drives work in the 2010 MBP's? or only 2011 and up?

They'll work fine as they along with the Corsair C300 drives are probably the fastest SATA 2 drives you can get. OTOH the 2011 won't be running at their full potential with these drives.

smileyborg · Mar 28, 2011

Mabyboi said:
Will these 510 drives work in the 2010 MBP's? or only 2011 and up?

If you don't have a SATA III (6Gb/s) port, it's not really worth the price premium to get the 510 series, as you won't be able to take advantage of any increased speeds over these new 320 SSDs (which already pretty much saturate SATA II (3Gb/s) with read speeds). Only get the 510 if you have SATA III or plan on moving the SSD into a SATA III system in the near future.

fehhkk · Mar 28, 2011

SATA-III 6Gbps is supposed to be backwards compatible with SATA-II 3Gbps, so your MBP should autonegotiate the link to 3Gbps.

Guy Mancuso · Mar 28, 2011

Just ordered the 510 for my 2011 2.3 MBP. Fingers crossed i can get it to negotiate Sata 3. Will keep OWC 200gb extreme Pro in optical bay for small OS backup and storage. I need horsepower pushing 40 mpx raw files around and processing out large Tiff final images at 230 mgs each. I hope this smokes my OWC otherwise it will be a waste.

smileyborg · Mar 28, 2011

Guy Mancuso said:
Just ordered the 510 for my 2011 2.3 MBP. Fingers crossed i can get it to negotiate Sata 3. Will keep OWC 200gb extreme Pro in optical bay for small OS backup and storage. I need horsepower pushing 40 mpx raw files around and processing out large Tiff final images at 230 mgs each. I hope this smokes my OWC otherwise it will be a waste.

Your MBP handles SATA III just fine, it should be plug and play.

alphaod · Mar 28, 2011

I'm a bit disappointed with Intel's update this time around.

It's not better than the SF-1222 controller much less the newer SF-2xxx controller.

kobyh15 · Mar 28, 2011

Is a mainstream user going to be able to tell the difference between the G3 and a 6 Gbps Sandforce drive in everyday use? I'm going to be getting a 2011 MBP, but I am a student and reliability and compatibility are more important than benchmark speed to me.

brentsg · Mar 28, 2011

smileyborg said:
Your MBP handles SATA III just fine, it should be plug and play.

But as users have found, it's not.

Guy Mancuso · Mar 28, 2011

From what I have read here and elsewhere a mixed bag the 13 and 17 for some odd reason seem to have more issues as we have several members running the 15 with no issues. I will update tomorrow . Had it sent overnight from Newegg

brentsg · Mar 28, 2011

I'm probably going to grab a 160GB 320 series, since it's in the same price range as the 120GB Intel 510, and cheaper than the X25M's I've seen remaining.

Reasons
-Vertex 3 reliability, compatibility unknown
-No easy way to flash firmware on the SF drives as yet
-No sleep issues
-Reliability
-My workload is light (most people's is)

Of course it's possible that the Intel 320's could also have some unknown glitch as well, but I'll take my chances since it's an X25M derivative.

mr1 · Mar 28, 2011

brentsg said:
I'm probably going to grab a 160GB 320 series, since it's in the same price range as the 120GB Intel 510, and cheaper than the X25M's I've seen remaining.

Reasons
-Vertex 3 reliability, compatibility unknown
-No easy way to flash firmware on the SF drives as yet
-No sleep issues
-Reliability
-My workload is light (most people's is)

Of course it's possible that the Intel 320's could also have some unknown glitch as well, but I'll take my chances since it's an X25M derivative.

I may be doing the same. I am curious when anand's m4 review will be published though that drive looks interesting

Guy Mancuso · Mar 28, 2011

I think it is a good choice. If I had to stay Sata II than that would be good or a OWC 240gb . I have had nice results with my extreme pro but I do not sleep my machines and i do not hibernate them either. Its leave it or its off.

Sata 3 right now . I'm not overly thrilled with any of them for one reason or another. Vertex has me nervous about reliability and the new Crucial m4 sounds okay but if I had it my way and I may sell the Intel 510 when it does come out is whatever Sata 3 OWC might have. But the 510 is worth a shot for sure.

tibi08 · Mar 28, 2011

Am very happy to see that it wasn't a mistake to buy the Intel 510 drive when it came out

AbyssImpact · Mar 28, 2011

I just upgraded to a CTO 512GB SSD on my Macbook Pro 15...

vetman35 · Mar 28, 2011

@AbyssImpact - I wish I would have ordered the CTO 512 on my 17 2011 ThunderBook. Fought with the Intel 250GB 510 for 2 days and gave up. Put my 2010 128GB Apple (Toshiba) SSD in the ThunerBook and all is happy. Including Trim working. Now the Intel 510 sits in the 2010 17 MBP waiting for my next move. Probably going to be a CTO512GB in a second 17 ThunderBook, but a 600GB Intel 320 looks good too.

Intel 320 SSD (X25-M G3 Postville Refresh) Released!

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