Intel Releases 730 Series SSD: Data Center SSD Performance at Enthusiast Price

[wpirobotbuilder]

Intel launched their first consumer SSD more than five years ago. Their very first SSD, the X25-M, might have gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, but once the initial bugs were worked out, it proved to be an excellent example of what a 3Gb/sec SATA SSD was capable of. While the competition was using 4 or 8 flash channels, Intel ran circles around them with their 10-channel controller. It was certainly a great concept, and it most definitely had legs. The very same controller, with only minor tweaks, was able to hold its own all the way through into the enterprise sector, doing so even though the competition was moving to controllers capable of twice the throughput (SATA 6Gb/sec).

 

Fast forward to mid-2013, where Intel finally introduced their own native SATA 6Gb/s solution. This controller dropped the channel count to a more standard figure of 8, and while it did perform well, it was only available in Intel's new enterprise 'Data Center' line of SSDs. The SSD DC S3500 and SSD DC S3700 (reviewed here) were great drives, but they were priced too high for consumers. While preparing that review, I remember saying how that controller would be a great consumer unit if they could just make it cheaper and tune it for standard workloads. It appears that wish has just been granted. behold the Intel SSD 730: 

 

These specs look very similar to Intel's Data Center drives, and for good reason. Intel tells us the SSD 730 is based on an overclocked version of the DC S3500. Yup, you heard me correctly, I said overclocked and SSD in the same sentence. In the DC S3500, the NAND flash communicates on an 83 MHz bus. In the SSD 730, Intel has pushed that figure to 100 MHz. They've also dialed the controller itself from 400 to 600 MHz. This was accomplished with a minimal increase in power draw when compared to the Data Center units, but those units were already drawing 5W, which is extremely high for an SSD. By comparison, Intel's original 10-channel unit drew a quarter of a Watt, as does the Samsung 840 series. Marvell draws 0.5W and SandForce 0.8W.

 

This drive is that "overclocked SSD" that Intel was talking about a while ago, and it looks like they're releasing it as a stable, finished product. They took their high-end datacenter model and made tweaks that cut down the price and increased performance.

 

Source: Pcper

 

Wow. Is all I have to say. My opinion is that this is one of the only SSDs worth caring about now, and here's why:

 

Look at the random performance numbers here. Specifically focusing on the queue depth operations between 1 and 4, which is what you'll see during normal desktop usage, it absolutely destroys Intel's other offerings, and leaves it's competitors like the 840 Pro and OCZ Vector behind. This drive will be much snappier than what you've experienced previously.

 

In addition, it has a high write endurance comparable to that of the OCZ Vector and 840 Pro, at 70GB per day for 5 years, and comes in at less than $1/GB, according to Intel.

 

The downside is that it gets hotter and draws more power than most other SSDs on the market, which could be an issue depending on your system.

 

I am super excited about this drive.

 

EDIT: Other reviews of the drive that I've found or been shown:

 

StorageReview

TechReport

Tom's Hardware

Anandtech

 

I also should clarify: This drive, as a boot drive only, where short bursts of random I/O occur, won't be noticeably faster. However for more consistent I/O workloads this drive will be a better performer.

[Tea1337]

The add on the home page told me first : >

[Osmium]

Nice, I might actually pick up one of these. I have been in the market for one for awhile.

[ERSCreeper]

And the ad on the homepage is broken link :3

[chicksoup]

we knew a overclocked ssd was coming and honestly I can't tell the difference in speed between a 840 and an 840 evo, so I don't think there will be a noticeable difference here either, but like with all products it will be great to buy if you need one

[aidenrelkoff]

YAY cant wait!

[bob345]

looks awesome. I may pick one up once it is released. I don't think heat will be a problem as my current Samsung 840 doesn't even get warm to the touch. My mechanical drives run warmer haha.

[alpenwasser]

This does look promising. Curious to see if/when this pops up at my retailer,

and how expensive it will be. I've been wishing for a consumer drive with

Intel's current controller for quite a while (ever since first being pretty

impressed by their S3700 drive).

[James_AJ]

This does look promising. Curious to see if/when this pops up at my retailer,

and how expensive it will be. I've been wishing for a consumer drive with

Intel's current controller for quite a while (ever since first being pretty

impressed by their S3700 drive).

S3700 was craaaazy. Anandtech put it really nicely with their endurance diagrams/graphs and it just blowed everything else out of water on the area it excelled

[alpenwasser]

S3700 was craaaazy. Anandtech put it really nicely with their endurance diagrams/graphs and it just blowed everything else out of water on the area it excelled

Yeah, if I had the money I'd totally get myself one of those.

 

Or maybe one of Hitachi's SAS Enterprise SSDs? Then again, I think they start at

about 4000-ish USD or so. :lol:

[James_AJ]

Here's more review (this one I trust more than the pcper one): http://www.storagereview.com/intel_ssd_730_series_review

not that impressive as the OP suggested. #inb4hate

[totjup5]

meh too many ssds everywhere

[greenroost1445]

meh too many ssds everywhere

It'll just take time for the market to thin out a bit. Survival of the fittest and all that jazz

[wpirobotbuilder]

Here's more review (this one I trust more than the pcper one): http://www.storagereview.com/intel_ssd_730_series_review

not that impressive as the OP suggested. #inb4hate

They do have different IOMeter numbers, although Pcper doesn't report whether they changed the default settings for IOMeter File Server, Database, Web Server and Workstation I/O. I would assume they didn't, since those are standard profiles. StorageReview also didn't use the same testbench (they used their Mid-Range one) as Pcper's testbench.

 

The Pcper numbers and StorageReview numbers for the four default profiles are very different if you compare the three common drives: The Intel 730, OCZ 150 and OCZ 460. Pcper did say that they were using a newer version of IOMeter but that they had changed settings to keep it as true to the old version as possible. If they didn't get the settings right, comparing these two reviews is like comparing apples and oranges.

 

Here is a techreport article that uses the same storage profiles as Pcper and StorageReview, and comes to similar conclusions to Pcper (although all their numbers are different): That the drive has great random performance, but not as good sequential performance. My opinion is that the increased random performance is the reason to care about the drive.

 

Also, not that the StorageReview review is bad, but I'm not qualified to say that it is objectively more or less trustworthy than Pcper.

[geogga]

Hmm, off pcper it's 50C or 122F.

Pretty...cool

/sarcasm

5.5 watts...boy.

[ijKs Snow]

I'll probably wait until Samsung comes out with their 850 Pro and 850 EVO this June. Heard there's going to be a decent price drop on SSDs then since Samsung opened up a new NAND manufacturing plant recently. Hoping for 0.25 - 0.30/gb price tags this year.

[geogga]

So I'm too lazy to calculate that..I hope the 850 evo is beautifully priced. But I won't even get a new SSD in like 7 years so...*knocks on wood)

[mgsstar]

The SSD skull design looks really nice. But I'll stick to Samsung series drives for now as I not really need a SSD faster than the 840 as I am satisfied with the speeds on it.

[TheProfosist]

Wait what is this seriously out? I kinda need a new pair of SSDs.

[James_AJ]

They do have different IOMeter numbers, although Pcper doesn't report whether they changed the default settings for IOMeter File Server, Database, Web Server and Workstation I/O. I would assume they didn't, since those are standard profiles. StorageReview also didn't use the same testbench (they used their Mid-Range one) as Pcper's testbench.

 

The Pcper numbers and StorageReview numbers for the four default profiles are very different if you compare the three common drives: The Intel 730, OCZ 150 and OCZ 460. Pcper did say that they were using a newer version of IOMeter but that they had changed settings to keep it as true to the old version as possible. If they didn't get the settings right, comparing these two reviews is like comparing apples and oranges.

 

Here is a techreport article that uses the same storage profiles as Pcper and StorageReview, and comes to similar conclusions to Pcper (although all their numbers are different): That the drive has great random performance, but not as good sequential performance. My opinion is that the increased random performance is the reason to care about the drive.

 

Also, not that the StorageReview review is bad, but I'm not qualified to say that it is objectively more or less trustworthy than Pcper.

it's just that I'm troubled with the way you put the wordings in the original post - you make it sound like the 730 is something groundbreaking and performing like something out of this world. Heck, if you account pcper more trustable than storagereview, then please do look at anandtech's review. Even there it is stated that the performance is too 'meh', nothing groundbreaking, especially considering the price.

[hawaiims]

Sequential reads and writes are pretty much useless. Random reads and writes are what matters most (although I admit sequential speeds will give you a larger epeen to brag about!), and I'm glad manufacturers aren't just going in to get the highest sequential speed for marketing purposes.

 

Hopefully this helps SSD prices from other brands drop further as well. I want SSDs to become standard in all laptops and desktops, and lower prices are the only way. 

[TheProfosist]

Toms just put up an article about it and the 480gb will be my next ssd but not anytime soon sadly as id much prefer to have the money to spend towards two 880's or 870's when they launch. This is all pertaining they are at least at the performance of a 780 ti.

[wpirobotbuilder]

it's just that I'm troubled with the way you put the wordings in the original post - you make it sound like the 730 is something groundbreaking and performing like something out of this world. Heck, if you account pcper more trustable than storagereview, then please do look at anandtech's review. Even there it is stated that the performance is too 'meh', nothing groundbreaking, especially considering the price.

I could be wrong, but that was my opinion based on the information I had at hand. Now I'm less sure, but it still looks like a better random performer than the competition in some cases.

 

Here's Tomshardware's numbers, though they don't post comparisons to other drives. Anandtech's numbers seem to back up Pcper when comparing the drive's random performance to the OCZ Vector 150 and (to some extent) the 840 EVO, but most drives on that list weren't common to Pcper. Anandtech's conclusion was that constant random performance is good, which is useful if the drive is bought as a scratch disk.

 

You do have a point though: Using this drive only for the OS and programs won't be mind-blowing.

[TheProfosist]

I could be wrong, but that was my opinion based on the information I had at hand. Now I'm less sure, but it still looks like a better random performer than the competition in some cases.

 

Here's Tomshardware's numbers, though they don't post comparisons to other drives. Anandtech's numbers seem to back up Pcper when comparing the drive's random performance to the OCZ Vector 150 and (to some extent) the 840 EVO, but most drives on that list weren't common to Pcper. Anandtech's conclusion was that constant random performance is good, which is useful if the drive is bought as a scratch disk.

 

You do have a point though: Using this drive only for the OS and programs won't be mind-blowing.

look a bit more down on that page they compare against a top of people.

[wpirobotbuilder]

look a bit more down on that page they compare against a top of people.

That is in maximum sequential performance, which isn't as interesting as random performance. I should have been more specific.