Anyone know about Intel 540s 1TB SSD?

[bimbs]

Howdy! I'm buying a new 1TB drive and these new intels are going really cheap ($100 less than Samsung 850 EVO at Microcenter). Anyone have any experience with them? Can't find any reviews.

Any insight would be awesome. http://www.microcenter.com/product/461724/540s_Series_1TB_SATA_25_Internal_Solid_State_Drive

 

[Glaring_Mistake]

It will perform like an ADATA SP550 of similar capacity since they both use SM2256 as a controller and 16nm TLC NAND by SK Hynix.

A few reviews of SP550: http://www.anandtech.com/show/10131/the-adata-premier-sp550-ssd-review
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/adata-sp550-ssd,4296.html

My opinion is that as long as you don't expect it to do great under heavy workloads or when writing a lot of files and accept that it may suffer from read speed slowdowns it's an option.
But for example the Mushkin Reactor performs better and can sometimes be found for even less than that.

 

[Johnny Lucky]

Hi!

I maintain an ssd database providing basic ssd specifications and links to technical reviews. Here is the link:

http://www.johnnylucky.org/data-storage/ssd-database.html

Scroll down to the SATA 3 6Gb/s section where you will find the Intel 540s. It is a new model so there are just two links to technical reviews. I will post links to additional technical reviews as soon as they are published.

You can also check for any other brands or models you might be interested in The technical reviews are divided into two groups - English Language reviews and reviews in many other languages. This is just a hobby so there is no advertising.

Glaring Mistake is spot on. Recently several different ssd companies released entry level models with the same controller and flash memory. You might want to check the technical reviews for the ADATA SP550 to get a better idea of what to expect.

If you are not in a hurry, you may want to consider delaying a purchase. Several companies announced new 1TB and 2TB ssd's. Some will be released during this year's 3rd quarter and some will be released during the 4th quarter. In addition, Samsung mentioned a 4TB ssd. Samsung will probably release it right after the big Flash Memory Summit in August. Finally, other sources suggest there will be a price reduction during the latter part of the year, especially for the new large capacity ssd's.

 

[Glaring_Mistake]

Noticed that the entry for the Intel 540s has incorrect information about the NAND, it should be 16nm and not 15nm.
Also noticed that thessdreview found a SM2258 inside instead of the SM2256 I expected.

 

[bimbs]

Thanks for the links! Does that change your opinion at all? The newer controller seems interesting: http://techreport.com/news/30234/silicon-motion-shows-off-sm2258-controller-ready-for-3d-tlc-nand

I could also just go buy an 850 Evo and call it a day.

 

[Glaring_Mistake]

Thanks for the links! Does that change your opinion at all? The newer controller seems interesting: http://techreport.com/news/30234/silicon-motion-shows-off-sm2258-controller-ready-for-3d-tlc-nand

I could also just go buy an 850 Evo and call it a day.

Don't think it matters a lot if there's an SM2256 or SM2258 in it because the NAND is the limiting factor here and not the controller.

 

[Johnny Lucky]

Glaring Mistake - Thanks for mentioning the discrepancies. I'll take care of it.

 

[cbn]

Thanks for the links! Does that change your opinion at all? The newer controller seems interesting: http://techreport.com/news/30234/silicon-motion-shows-off-sm2258-controller-ready-for-3d-tlc-nand

Silicon Motion also says the SM2258 ought to allow for "extended durability and data retention," but offered no further details on that front.

For the extended data retention, I wonder if this controller adds re-writing? (whereas the SM2256 did not have this feature?)

 

[Glaring_Mistake]

For the extended data retention, I wonder if this controller adds re-writing? (whereas the SM2256 did not have this feature?)

No, the SM2256 already has the feature called StaticDataRefresh which does seem to perform (some) rewrites when it identifies problem areas.