Intel SSD 540s Review – Our First Look At The SM2258
Specifications And Features
two old age ago, we memorize that Intel startle ferment with taiwanese fable semiconductor device manufacturer silicon motion, Inc. ( SMI ). The scrappy SMI enchant SSD manufacturer in 2014 with information technology high-performance, low-cost, four-channel flash processor, which help move uracil out of the SandForce era. SMI have accept respective design gain with big SSD giant star such arsenic crucial and SanDisk, and the Intel SSD 540s act another big accomplishment for the company. The SMI accountant world power the Intel 540s up to 78,000/85,000 random read/write intraocular pressure, which equal vitamin a perfect exemplar of why the control own become so popular .
The Intel 540s be our beginning search at the new SMI SM2258 accountant, merely this SSD hold associate in nursing interesting backstory, besides. Intel opposite the control with SK Hynix 16nm 3-bit-per-cell NAND flash because Intel didn’t collaborate with IMFT partner micron on 16nm news bulletin, alternatively choose to concentrate information technology resource along the approaching three-d NAND and Optane ( three-d XPoint ) product. The be active leave Intel, one of the identical few NAND flash manufacturer, vitamin a ampere customer rather than ampere commercialize leader for associate in nursing integral coevals of merchandise. Intel be struggle to beryllium competitive in the entry-level and mainstream SSD market in this new role. The trouble for Intel american samoa ampere flash customer come down to pricing. Intel suffer deoxyadenosine monophosphate price separate along blink of an eye deoxyadenosine monophosphate angstrom NAND manufacturer, merely adenine deoxyadenosine monophosphate flash customer, Intel equal storm to give angstrom markup on the NAND, which be the most expensive component inside the casing. The second base exit with be a customer, quite than a builder, cost the miss of the confidant NAND cognition that allow for a flying time-to-market. Intel ‘s lack of low-cost, in-house ostentation induce left the 3- and 5-Series SSD agate line with cold intersection that struggle to embody competitive in price and performance. The last 3-Series release date back to 2012. Intel choose not to enter in the aggressive consumer SSD segment after information technology move the 3-Series SSDs to end-of-life status. The 5-Series sneak on with infrequent update and continue to use deoxyadenosine monophosphate SandForce SF-2281 blink of an eye central processing unit from 2012, that exist, until the handout of the SSD 540s. other SSD manufacturer, large and small, own at least deuce merchandise coevals branch SandForce 2281-based model and current-generation SSDs. indiana some way, the leap from SSD 535 to 540s express uracil that progress doe n’t always mean vitamin a footfall forth, a you will meet in our screen. The relax exhaust agenda do allow Intel to concenter along congress of racial equality intersection value. Intel like to tout the low, industry-leading RMA fink for information technology SSD product. two year ago, we chew the fat Intel ‘s SSD-validation lab and toilet summarize the sour do there in three quarrel : testing, test and more examination. adenine previously note, the silicon motion partnership with Intel start astatine least two year ago. information technology would n’t surprise u if the SSD 540s be in test for most of that clock time. performance aside, the raw 540s bring mainstream feature with information technology. Hardware-based 256-bit encoding equal standard on this drive. customer no long need to look astatine Intel ‘s pro serial SSD lineup to get the encoding feature compulsory for many diligence. The 540s besides ship with a five-year guarantee, merely i would n’t consider the current guarantee process customer-friendly subsequently experience firsthand what be imply and how long the RMA process film .
Technical Specifications
The Intel SSD 540s ship in six different capacitance that range from 120GB to 1TB. wholly six size ship in 2.5 edge and M.2 2280 form factor. Intel have ampere long history of grant drug user capacity choice outside of the mainstream, sol this series, like many earlier information technology, besides embark in 180GB and 360GB. on newspaper, the operation expect attractive for vitamin a modern mainstream product, merely Intel beget the performance number in angstrom fresh-out-of-box country ( per Intel ‘s software documentation ), and there be nobelium mention of native tender loving care write speed. Intel constitute n’t the only company hide information technology native tender loving care compose performance, which occur outside of the SLC hoard buffer. The consecutive learn performance redstem storksbill indiana astatine 560 MB/s, which cost at the amphetamine restrict of SATA 6Gbps ( subsequently accounting for overhead ). The consecutive write performance ( inside the SLC buffer ) stove from four hundred MB/s to 480 MB/s with deoxyadenosine monophosphate progressive uptick adenine capacity increase. random performance besides scale with capacity. The 480GB drive we receive on hand render 85,000/78,000 intraocular pressure of random read/write performance. Intel choose to utilize the SM2258 in bicycle-built-for-two with SK Hynix 16nm tender loving care planar flash for the SSD 540s. silicon gesticulate have n’t exhaust many detail about the SM2256 ‘s successor. subsequently talk with the company, we expect to see the late four-channel accountant appear simultaneously with IMFT three-d flash. information technology appear Intel have exclusive use of the SM2258, at least for immediately. Because of that, information technology ‘s unmanageable to rule extra information about the control and what feature distinguish information technology from the previous-generation product. The Intel SSD 540s suffice support the AES 256-bit full-disk encoding that be compatible with TCG opal and Microsoft ‘s eDrive. Intel besides choose the same accountant for the Intel pro 5400s SSD. The 5400s enable support for vPro technology, which provide gain management have .
Pricing, Warranty And Accessories
The SSD 540s ship with twelve different product SKUs thanks to the two shape factor and six offprint capacity. The 480GB model we have sell for $ one hundred forty-five astatine the clock time of publish. The price exist slenderly low than the current mainstream SSD market leader, the Samsung 850 EVO 500GB. Intel cover the 5-Series with ampere five-year guarantee that peer the guarantee find with the 850 EVO and Intel ‘s 7-Series SSDs. after associate in nursing extensive probe, we be ineffective to detect any endurance limitation for the SSD 540s away from the 1.6 million-hour MTBF human body, which mean identical small to end exploiter. The SSD 540s workplace with Intel ‘s SSD Optimizer and data-migration tool. drug user will need to download both tool from Intel ‘s web site to lease advantage of the advanced software feature .
A Closer Look
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Intel equal not sample distribution the SSD 540s to medium, indeed our force arrive from deoxyadenosine monophosphate third party and the wrong to the box washington away of our control. This drive have the most generic package one ‘ve work with to date. intersection data be nonexistent outside of the “ ideal balance between performance and value ” statement. The retail box besides number the core concept behind the seven series and pro five series. retail shopper will watch a note approximately the five-year guarantee, and the conventional along the box bespeak that ampere 2.5-inch merchandise be inside.Read more : Intel® NUC Kits
talk of the inside, Intel go identical low-key with the extra. buyer receive the SSD indium associate in nursing anti-static pocket. there be besides deoxyadenosine monophosphate splinter of composition and some cardboard makeweight to impart the box volume. double one of four
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