IntelX25-m
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Intel unveils 120GB X25-M SSD, tinkers with 80GB / 160GB model price tags
Face it, for the average consumer, solid-state drives still have a price-to-storage issue -- but once you get used to the quick and quiet performance, it's hard to go back. If you're willing to take the dive, or already have and are looking to swap out / upgrade, Intel's lowered the suggested price of its 80GB and 160GB X25-M SSDs to $199 and $415, respectively. Looking to take the middle road? Introducing the 120GB X25-M from the House of All Things Blue. That'll set you back $275, but hey, 'tis the season. Press release after the break.
Intel finds SSD firmware bug, calls in the exterminators
Amid Intel's recent catalog of problems is a pretty significant firmware update for the X25-M SSDs, which went rogue and started bricking drives for the sheer bloody-minded enjoyment of it. After promptly pulling the software, the chip giant set straight to work -- or so we presume -- and has today finally managed to replicate the fatal circumstances that may lead to your SSD's untimely demise. That's not to say the problem's been fixed, and there's no word yet on when the cleaned up patch will be back out for consumption, but at least we're a step closer to realizing those TRIM-related speed boosts. So, are you growing tired of Intel's suicidal firmware updates, or should we consider these mere bumps on the road to superfast SSD awesomeness?
Intel issues X25-M G2 SSD firmware fix for BIOS password conundrum
Eagerly waiting to change that drive password within the system BIOS on your fancy new X25-M G2 solid state drive? Good news, storage junkies -- today you can. After Intel saw its next-gen SSD launch party hit a snag with an off-the-wall quirk that could cause data corruption for those who altered or disabled a drive password within the system BIOS, the company has finally come forward with a firmware update that solves the dilemma, along with world hunger, "the economy" and an undisclosed amount of other universal pains. Hit the read link for instructions on how to update your drive, but don't blame us if every precious memory you've ever collected goes down in flames during the process. Just kidding.[Via HotHardware]
BIOS password snag subdues Intel's 34nm X25-M G2 launch party
Man, Intel can't win for losin'. After it was forced to issue a firmware update to remedy an off-the-wall slowdown issue that affected a few of its original X25-M SSDs, the outfit is already having to push out a patch to solve a minor quirk with its newfangled 34nm X25-M G2 drives. According to Puget System's William George, his company -- along with NewEgg and a number of other respected vendors -- was forced to yank the new drive from its website shortly after it became available. Turns out, there is a defect in the initial shipment that could cause data corruption if "a password is set on the drive in the system BIOS, and then changed or disabled later." We're told that a firmware fix should be out within a fortnight, and while most companies are allowing folks to hold off and wait for factory-patched drives, those who don't foresee themselves placing such a password on their SSD can go ahead and enjoy the spoils of 34nm flash goodness while waiting for Intel's engineers to do their thang. Oh, and if you're thinking about buying in now, you should probably know that Intel has halted shipments until the fix is complete. Ready to deal with a shortage, are you?[Image courtesy of HotHardware, thanks Joseph]
Intel's 34nm X25-M runs like a thoroughbred SSD, costs less
It was only two days ago that they finally became official, but already we've got a couple of reviews springing up to tell us all about the second generation X25-M SSDs from Intel. PC Perspective kick things off with a full examination of the new drive, finding plenty of good (improved random reads and writes), some bad (minor fragmentation issues under extreme use scenarios) and pretty much no ugly. Not to be outdone, Anandtech have dissected the drive and compared its innards with the older generation hardware, while also running a few benchmarks for good measure. The conclusion in both camps is that while Intel has improved the hardware side of things, it is the drastically reduced price that makes the X25-M G2 the best choice in the consumer SSD space. Navigate past the break for a pricing chart, but remember that retail cost will be a bit steeper, should you be able to snag one in the wild. Read - HotHardware reviewRead - PC Perspective reviewRead - Anandtech preview
Intel further slashes SSD prices, ups production of 1.8-inch drives
Intel just cut a big chunk out of the MSRP on some of its SSDs a few months back, but it looks like it's already back for another go 'round, and it's also taking the opportunity to up the production on some of the models intended for netbooks and ultraportable laptops. The price cuts come to Intel's recently-fixed X25-M series of drives, with the 160GB drive dropping $100 (bringing its retail price down to $630), while the 80GB model dips a further $50 to $320, or close to half of what it originally cost when it launched back in December. What's more, while they aren't getting any cheaper just yet, Intel will reportedly be making more of its 80GB and 160GB 1.8-inch drives, which have apparently been in short supply since launching last year.
AnandTech explores the virtues and woes of today's SSD
If you're interested in SSD, chances are you've been paying attention to the allegations of performance degradation in Intel's X25-M drives. AnandTech dives into the issue (and many, many more topics) in 31 page exploration of the state of solid state. It's a spine-tingling read, in part explaining how write-speed degradation is largely thanks to partially used pages containing portions of deleted files. We all know deleted files typically aren't really gone until they're overwritten, a problem in SSDs because to clear a section of a page the entire page needs to be cleared. That entails moving anything you want to keep to the cache, wiping the whole page, then re-writing that good data from cache. The hope is that a new delete command dubbed TRIM (set to find support in Windows 7) will speed up writes by forcing the system to perform this work during deletes, but ahead of that the article still recommends Intel's drives; even at their worst they're still generally faster than the comparably priced competition when it comes to average use -- not to mention faster than your platters.
Intel responds to SSD performance allegations with a denial
Did you catch the news yesterday about those chronic performance problems that cropped up in a trio of Intel X25-M SSDs under review by PC Perspective? Intel apparently did, promptly responding and identifying what it believes to be the issue: the testers. The review alleged that the drives' write algorithms, intended to evenly spread wear and extend their lives, result in extreme fragmentation and major decreases in performance. Intel is saying it wasn't able to replicate the results, that "the synthetic workloads they use to stress the drive are not reflective of real world use," and that "the benchmarks they used to evaluate performance do not represent what a PC user experiences." The reviewers were largely just copying files around and installing/uninstalling applications, which sounds fairly realistic to us. We're thinking these two aren't going to agree to disagree on this one, and that there will be more updates to come.
Intel X25-M SSDs slowing down with extensive use?
Intel's X25-M SSD drives have certainly shown themselves more than capable enough in the usual tests and various configurations, but a long-term test report from the folks at PC Perspective is now casting a bit of doubt onto their long-term effectiveness and speediness. More specifically, they found that the sector remapping and wear-leveling algorithms that are designed to increase performance and extend the drives' lifespans were actually doing quite the opposite as the drive became increasingly fragmented after extensive use. Further complicating the matter, it seems that conventional defrag programs only make the situation worse, with the only sure way of resetting the drive's sector maps being a complete wipe of the drive. PC Perspective is quick to point out, however, that many users may well never notice the slowdown with light use, and they do have a few suggestions to minimize the problem until Intel devises a firmware fix, which is the only surefire solution.[Via Ars Technica, thanks Robert]
