After taking some flack from the community on the relatively low maximum rewrite-cycle count capacity on its 25 nanometer MLC NAND flash chips, Intel decided to extend the warranty of its new 320 Series SSDs which use the 25 nm chips to 5 years, to assure buyers that 3,000 rewrite cycles is plenty for its target buyers. Maximum rewrite cycle count is the maximum number of times a cell of the NAND flash chip can be rewritten. 3,000 appears like a small number, but Intel believes that consumers don't have much to worry about that. The company feels that with a consumer's typical usage, the drive should work flawlessly for at least 5 years, and has extended the warranty to back its assertions.

In a Chip-Shot (Intel's micro-PR), the company said: "Confident in the enhanced reliability features of its recently introduced third-generation solid-state drive (SSD), Intel announced it has extended its limited warranty for the Intel SSD 320 Series from three years to five years. The extended warranty term will apply to all Intel SSD 320 Series drives, including those already purchased. Additional limitations apply to enterprise usage levels." Intel's SSD 320 Series is a successor of X25-M G3 series, which uses the same essential controller and specifications, but uses 25 nm MLC NAND flash chips.