New Intel SSD X25M Gen2 almost here

[tempusfugit]

too little capacity, too much $$

this series wasn't as revolutionary as I was hoping for. I think its going to be at least a year before I consider any of these drives priceworthy for my uses.

If I were a professional and the drive would increase my productivity significantly that would be one thing but these are simply too pricey IMO and for my uses...

 

[MikhailT]

IOPS and lower latency are important to me not because I'm running Oracle but because when I move to quad core I really want to keep my Mac as busy as possible. Hopefully I can leverage Automator and other tools to do a lot of heavy lifting without my intervention.

SSD are great for multi-tasking according to Anand's benchmarks.

You are aware of the fact that MLC drives will die faster the more intensive and constant workload you throw at it?

 

[vant]

too little capacity, too much $$

this series wasn't as revolutionary as I was hoping for. I think its going to be at least a year before I consider any of these drives priceworthy for my uses.

If I were a professional and the drive would increase my productivity significantly that would be one thing but these are simply too pricey IMO and for my uses...

This is revolutionary. 80GB SSDs for ~$230? Intel is leading the revolution of SSDs.

The performance difference right now between the X25-M vrs. any other HDD is extreme.

 

[NovemberWhiskey]

This is revolutionary. 80GB SSDs for ~$230? Intel is leading the revolution of SSDs.

The performance difference right now between the X25-M vrs. any other HDD is extreme.

Definitely agree. $230 is an amazing price for an SSD right now.

 

[Abyssgh0st]

I concur. I was planning on buying a Kingston 128GB SSD this Christmas for $300~, but I think for how much better the X-25M is, I will definitely get the 80 or 160GB.

I'd love the 160, but I don't know if it's worth $215 more (to me). I'm also getting a FW800 500GB external HD, so I won't need a TON of space. Anyone have an idea how much Snow Leopard will take on an SSD?

I remember seeing it somewhere awhile back, but can't seem to find it.

 

[Sneakz]

This is revolutionary. 80GB SSDs for ~$230? Intel is leading the revolution of SSDs.

The performance difference right now between the X25-M vrs. any other HDD is extreme.

Definitely agree. $230 is an amazing price for an SSD right now.

You guys do understand that the $225 for the 80GB isn't the retail price. Its the OEM price for a lot of 1000 SSDs. It'll be probably like $299 when it its retail.

 

[MikhailT]

You guys do understand that the $225 for the 80GB isn't the retail price. Its the OEM price for a lot of 1000 SSDs. It'll be probably like $299 when it its retail.

Doubt it, if it is 300$ retail, it is not a price cut, that's the current going price for last version of 80GB. Intel really wants those SSD to be cheap as hell, 225$ is most likely to be retail and OEM is even lower than that, places like newegg and amazon usually charge OEM prices anyway.

 

[Sneakz]

Doubt it, if it is 300$ retail, it is not a price cut, that's the current going price for last version of 80GB. Intel really wants those SSD to be cheap as hell, 225$ is most likely to be retail and OEM is even lower than that, places like newegg and amazon usually charge OEM prices anyway.

Okay, maybe not $299 but no less than $249.99 I think. That would keep it about $60 less than the first gen.

 

[MikhailT]

Okay, maybe not $299 but no less than $249.99 I think. That would keep it about $60 less than the first gen.

Even for $250, it is one of the best SSDs on the market. Think about how much it cost last Sept which is around 10 months ago, $600. Imagine the cost a year from now.

Nobody has to buy it now, they can wait. Thanks to this price cut, their waiting will be even shorter than before for a nice 100$ 80GB model, unless Intel decides to stop selling 80GB and replace it with 160GB model at 250$ price point. I somehow doubt that, Intel would create a massive SSD market explosion with this 100$ model and reaaaally drives it into mainstream.

 

[ronia]

Ttm

I'm so waiting for the 2nd gen X-25Ms.

When are they going to be in the market?

 

[emt1]

I'm so waiting for the 2nd gen X-25Ms.

When are they going to be in the market?

My guess is within the next week.

 

[shawmanus]

You guys do understand that the $225 for the 80GB isn't the retail price. Its the OEM price for a lot of 1000 SSDs. It'll be probably like $299 when it its retail.

That is not correct. Already we have so many online retailers having price quite close to the bulk price.

http://www.google.com/products?q=SS...ent=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wf

I am sure we will see a deal from microcenter or frys that will be below intel's bulk price with next 2 months.

 

[bamf]

You are aware of the fact that MLC drives will die faster the more intensive and constant workload you throw at it?

I think they are designed to allow you to write 25% of the overall capacity every day for 5 years. So on an 80GB drive, you can write 20GB/day, 365 days a year, for 5 years. I don't think most users usage patterns on a laptop are going to have them writing 25% of their drive capacity a day...

Also, chances are in 5 years I'm going to want new drive technology anyway.

 

[gl4662]

So, will these be compatible with the new MBP's? I've read about how intel plans to support windwos 7 with the Trimm support, is this also the same for macs?

 

[nuckinfutz]

I think they are designed to allow you to write 25% of the overall capacity every day for 5 years. So on an 80GB drive, you can write 20GB/day, 365 days a year, for 5 years. I don't think most users usage patterns on a laptop are going to have them writing 25% of their drive capacity a day...

Also, chances are in 5 years I'm going to want new drive technology anyway.

Correct. Intel and other "reputable" vendors base their write endurance numbers on 20GB of writes per day. Pretty damn impressive as I'm probably not writing 20GB of data even on a busy day. I've noticed that SSD detractors often look for red herrings to bolster their beliefs that SSD isn't someone ready for prime time. Makes sense considering who wants to spend more money for less storage? We know the speed of MLC SSD is superior to HDD in almost every metric.

This is not in response to MikhailT.

 

[Unprocessed1]

So, will these be compatible with the new MBP's? I've read about how intel plans to support windwos 7 with the Trimm support, is this also the same for macs?

Yeah, are these going to work with the new MBP lineup and Windows 7 RC on bootcamp?

 

[bamf]

Yeah, are these going to work with the new MBP lineup and Windows 7 RC on bootcamp?

Windows 7 will be downloadable by MSDN, volume license, etc. members on August 7th. There is no upgrade path from the RC to RTM version, so you may want to hold off on installing Win7 RC on it in boot camp anyway...

It should work though, but we'll need a brave soul to try it out.

 

[jamesryanbell]

Yeah, are these going to work with the new MBP lineup and Windows 7 RC on bootcamp?

I'm running it right now. Works fine.

 

[gl4662]

Excuse my ignorance, but for some one about to buy a new MBP would it be better to upgrade to an SSD via BTO, First gen intel x-25, or the "new" intel ?

thank you.

 

[nightfly13]

Do we think it'd work to run a software RAID 0 with a 1st Gen x25-m and 2nd Gen? Obv the speed benefits of the 2nd Gen wouldn't be in effect, but would it work?

 

[nightfly13]

Excuse my ignorance, but for some one about to buy a new MBP would it be better to upgrade to an SSD via BTO, First gen intel x-25, or the "new" intel ?

thank you.

While the benchmarks on the 'new' ones aren't in yet, early reports suggesgt they are a little better in random burst speeds - will 'feel' quicker, and they're cheaper, so my vote is 2nd Gen - definately not BTO (slow, expensive).... and you have the stock HDD spare.

 

[MikhailT]

I think they are designed to allow you to write 25% of the overall capacity every day for 5 years. So on an 80GB drive, you can write 20GB/day, 365 days a year, for 5 years. I don't think most users usage patterns on a laptop are going to have them writing 25% of their drive capacity a day...

Also, chances are in 5 years I'm going to want new drive technology anyway.

Yes, I know. but somebody running an intensive huge DB operations daily could easily top 100GB or more.

I try to bring awareness of this fact because a lot of people are using bittorrent to download directly to their SSD instead of their external drive or secondary drive, and they also extract their files on their SSDs and so on. Downloading 8gb file, extracting it, could easily use up 16GB of that daily "allowance".

Correct. Intel and other "reputable" vendors base their write endurance numbers on 20GB of writes per day. Pretty damn impressive as I'm probably not writing 20GB of data even on a busy day. I've noticed that SSD detractors often look for red herrings to bolster their beliefs that SSD isn't someone ready for prime time. Makes sense considering who wants to spend more money for less storage? We know the speed of MLC SSD is superior to HDD in almost every metric.

This is not in response to MikhailT.

As long as you are aware of that, you should be very happy with SSDs.
I have been using Vertex 120GB for 3 months, I never once regret it. It is honestly the best upgrade anybody could get for a laptop, even with a SATAI interface like mine.

Windows 7 will be downloadable by MSDN, volume license, etc. members on August 7th. There is no upgrade path from the RC to RTM version, so you may want to hold off on installing Win7 RC on it in boot camp anyway...

It should work though, but we'll need a brave soul to try it out.

August 6th, not 7.
Source

Excuse my ignorance, but for some one about to buy a new MBP would it be better to upgrade to an SSD via BTO, First gen intel x-25, or the "new" intel ?

thank you.

Don't get BTO, they are at rip off prices. Go with the cheapest HD at Apple and get Intel X25-M 80GB G2 for just 230$ or 160gb for 450$.

Do we think it'd work to run a software RAID 0 with a 1st Gen x25-m and 2nd Gen? Obv the speed benefits of the 2nd Gen wouldn't be in effect, but would it work?

You could, but you won't get 100% scale improvement. Meaning it won't double your speed and it may actually reduce your latency for read and write.

Instead of getting 2x80GB, you could just get 160GB drive. It'll last longer, it'll be faster than 80GB (according to intel, 160gb would have 8.6K random IOPS instead of 6.6K for 80GB). One SSD would easily be faster than normal 2xHD drives in RAID0.

 

[bamf]

August 6th, not 7.
Source

Bah, I meant the 6th (for MSDN), the others are the 7th...

 

[bamf]

Not much here, but found a review of the new 160GB version (only a partial review so far though):

Link

 

[gl4662]

Yes, I know. but somebody running an intensive huge DB operations daily could easily top 100GB or more.

I try to bring awareness of this fact because a lot of people are using bittorrent to download directly to their SSD instead of their external drive or secondary drive, and they also extract their files on their SSDs and so on. Downloading 8gb file, extracting it, could easily use up 16GB of that daily "allowance".


As long as you are aware of that, you should be very happy with SSDs.
I have been using Vertex 120GB for 3 months, I never once regret it. It is honestly the best upgrade anybody could get for a laptop, even with a SATAI interface like mine.

Are you saying things like downloading music, videos, and extracting files should be directed to an external hard drive versus the SSD?


Don't get BTO, they are at rip off prices. Go with the cheapest HD at Apple and get Intel X25-M 80GB G2 for just 230$ or 160gb for 450$.


You could, but you won't get 100% scale improvement. Meaning it won't double your speed and it may actually reduce your latency for read and write.

Instead of getting 2x80GB, you could just get 160GB drive. It'll last longer, it'll be faster than 80GB (according to intel, 160gb would have 8.6K random IOPS instead of 6.6K for 80GB). One SSD would easily be faster than normal 2xHD drives in RAID0.

Thank you for your reply. I plan on getting the base model 13 MBP for 1099, then upgrading my ram to http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=617B82A2A5CA7304 and upgrading to the SSD by an authorized apple service center. I know, I may be a bit off topic here, and I apologize in advance, but with the ram upgrade is there a difference between apples brand and say crucial? I know I save about 30 dollars upgrading my own ram, but when you get into 8gigs of ram it seems the price offered by apple is the same elsewhere, unless I am missing something.

Once again, I apologize for my ignorance, but with the "new" intel HD's supporting TRIMM for windows, and not knowing if it will be supported in SL, will there be a significant difference still between the "new" versus the old? Correct, me if I am wrong too, but the Sata issue of 1.5-3.0 has now been fixed?

Thanks very much.