Intel's 80GB X18 Solid State Drive Pictured

[malware]

We promised to bring you some more details on Intel's future SSD family when IDF kicks off, and now that time has come. In San Francisco Intel demoed X18-M, the 80GB SSD model we talked about on Saturday here. X18 is the mainstream SSD from Intel based on the second generation SATA 3GB/s interface. The heart of X18 is made out of ten 8GB NAND flash chips, five on each side of the PCB. Intel promises read and write speeds of up to 240MB/s and 70-170MB/s respectively for this drive. Again no details on the price and the release date were disclosed. Please note that on the second picture, the controller chip of X18 is actually removed to prevent the drive from making its way into competitors' hands.



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[Deleted member 24505]

Looks like they just ripped the controller chip off.

 

[Mussels]

Looks like they just ripped the controller chip off.

agreed, either it came off to hide what chip it was, or that one never had it installed (dead/demo only unit)

 

[tkpenalty]

I want i want..

 

[PP Mguire]

So do i. I have a feeling though that for 80gig its gonna be terribly overpriced.

 

[xvi]

Since when did Intel do data storage?

So do i. I have a feeling though that for 80gig its gonna be terribly overpriced.

I hope you're trusting your feelings. I saw this on Engadget earlier. Here's a quote.

Intel hasn't locked down pricing, but the M-series drives should cost about $8/GB, which would put the 160GB unit at a whopping $1,280 and the 80GB at $640. We're hoping those estimates are skewed a little high -- and Intel says there might be a cheaper 40GB unit on the way as well.

I want i want..

There are rumors that SSDs will be hitting 600MB/s in the not-so-distant future.

 

[PP Mguire]

Intel hasn't locked down pricing, but the M-series drives should cost about $8/GB, which would put the 160GB unit at a whopping $1,280 and the 80GB at $640. We're hoping those estimates are skewed a little high -- and Intel says there might be a cheaper 40GB unit on the way as well.

That is way to high. Id rather just get an OCZ Core2 SSD instead.

 

[xvi]

That is way to high. Id rather just get an OCZ Core2 SSD instead.

..but they perform at half the speed. I would imagine that is why these new Intel SSDs are so expensive.

Still, for the same size and speed..
2x64GB (RAID0) OCz = ~$500
1x128GB Intel = ~$1,200

Intel FTL?

 

[Megasty]

A HD that costs as much as a mid-range gaming rig - FTFL

 

[mandelore]

Since when did Intel do data storage?

Since they got bag loads of cash and wanna expand into anything profitable and at the bleeding edge of technology

 

[xvi]

Since they got bag loads of cash and wanna expand into anything profitable and at the bleeding edge of technology

You... You're right..

I WANT AN INTEL SSD EXTREME EDITION NOW!

 

[Mussels]

cheaper SSD's + RAID sounds good to me. I only really want a 128GB total, as that will fit my OS and games (magnetic drives as storage media, of course)

 

[Hayder_Master]

im really like ssd but it is still expensive

 

[xvi]

cheaper SSD's + RAID sounds good to me. I only really want a 128GB total, as that will fit my OS and games (magnetic drives as storage media, of course)

This just hit me.. I wonder how these things do as far as power consumption. Would one of these take reasonably less power than two of the older, smaller drives in RAID?

 

[Mussels]

current models use less at load and more at idle than 2.5" HDD"s. compared to 3.5" HDD's, it'd win in both categories as well as being a lot quieter.