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Leaked Intel roadmap details Sandy Bridge CPUs, expands SSD lineup?
If a set of supposedly leaked slides are legitimate (and they sure look convincing to us) then the shape of Intel's dirt-brown 2011 plans has finally been revealed. As you can see immediately above, Chipzilla's 25nm flash process is just about ready to double the size of the company's award-winning consumer SSDs, bring up to 400GB of "enterprise-grade" multi-level cell memory to the enterprise space, and create a series of netbook-sized mini-SATA drives with the remains of the 34nm silicon. On the processor front things are a little more iffy, but it seems safe to say that the naming scheme has changed, as the silicon wafers you'll slot into a Q67 Express motherboard will have an extra digit (and often a letter) affixed to the end. Instead of a Core i7-870, you'll see the likes of Core i7-2600, i7-2600S, i7-2600K and i5-2500T, with the K (as in the past) affording you an unlocked multiplier for overclocking and the S equaling reduced power consumption, or vastly reduced for the T models. German publication ComputerBase -- which found and subsequently pulled the slides -- somehow managed to dig up nearly full specs for desktop and laptop CPUs as well, and though we can't verify their legitimacy, you're welcome to marvel at the idea of a 3.5GHz processor running on just 35 watts by visiting the source link below. %Gallery-99426% [Thanks, Aristo]
Intel 80GB SSD price cut by one-third, still very expensive
Looks like Intel is giving some of its SSDs a more reasonable -- yet still very exorbitant -- price tag. The company has slashed the 2.5-inch 80GB X25-M from $595 in September to now $390. While a 34 percent cut is nothing to scoff at, that's still $90 more expensive than Western Digital's 2TB spinner, which offers 25 times the capacity. The company also recently discounted its 160GB variant 19 percent, from $945 to $765. No reason was given for the markdown, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize the economy isn't looking too kindly on solid state's dollar-to-data ratio.
Intel ships 160GB X25-M SSD, 1.8-inch X18-M flavor coming soon
Okay, so maybe Intel's running a bit behind schedule, but it's not like you can afford this thing anyway. The outfit has just announced that its 2.5-inch X25-M SSD is finally shipping in a 160GB flavor, though it politely declined to insult us with a presumably stratospheric sticker. Of note, the 1.8-inch X18-M counterpart should join it on select store shelves "next month." Hmm, are we feeling a joint debut with a gaming notebook and / or ultraportable at CES? Yes, yes we are.
Video: Micron's Washington PCIe prototype SSD card is wicked quick
Up until now, Fusion-io's ioDrive has pretty much put every other SSD-on-a-PCIe-card to shame in terms of sheer performance, but it just might be looking at its first formidable competitor in the Micron Washington. The prototype device was recently showcased on video (posted after the break), and while we're not told how capacious it is, it is understood to be using 64-bit SLC NAND chips. When placed in a Xeon-powered server, the unit is able to achieve 150,000 to 160,000 random write IOPS with a bandwidth of 800MB/sec per card. Micron is convinced that it can reach a bandwidth of 1GB/sec and 200,000 IOPS with this technology, though Fusion-io's CTO proclaims that users can achieve "over 6GB per second" when using eight of its ioDrives in conjunction. Of course, the aforementioned ioDrive is actually shipping, whereas this elusive Washington doodad won't see commercial light until at least 2010.[Via The Register, thanks Vik]
Intel announces its first SSDs, plans to ship in a month
Intel's keeping the announcements coming at this year's IDF -- today we got word that the company will launch its first SSDs in a month or so just as we expected. The 1.8-inch X-18M and 2.5-inch X-25M drives will be targeted at laptops and MIDs and come in 80GB and 160GB sizes using MLC tech, while the 32GB and 64GB SLC-based X-25E is aimed at servers and will be out in 90 days. 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. We'll see in a month, we suppose.[Via Electronista]
Intel's "mainstream" 80GB and 160GB SSDs ready to launch with mainstream price?
Looks like Intel, the big bad daddy of silicon, is about to unleash its first consumer oriented SSDs into the market. While Intel's 1.8- and 2.5-inch 80GB and 160GB SSD plans were pretty thoroughly detailed in those May leaks, Expreview has slapped up an honest-to-goodness slide which looks like it came straight from the Intel deck. Assuming it's authentic, then we now know that Intel's 2.5-inch X25-M and 1.8-inch X18-M SSDs top out with a 240MBps sustained read and 70MBps write. That's just a bit slower than the blazing Micron RealSSD C20 but still seriously quick and hopefully priced for the mainstream audience they are targeting. Dell, for example, sells a 128GB Samsung SSD for $450 -- surely Intel can beat that cost per Byte... right Intel? We're guessing that the enterprise-class 32GB and 64GB X25-E SSDs will feature some of that Micron co-developed "world's fastest" SLC NAND in order to achieve that ridiculous 240MBps / 170MBps read / write speed at what's expected to be an equally ridiculous price. The 80GB X25-M and X18-M are expected to launch in Q3 (so any day now) while the 160GB solid state slab should break free for consumers in Q1 (not Q4 2008) of 2009. Expect to hear more on these next week as Intel kicks off another International Developers Forum. [Via TG Daily]
