Intel G3 ( 320 ) SSD already available.

[tonygeor]

must resist SSD

 

[Makaveli]

Fear not in the darkside....

 

[nusyo]

Which is better?

A 250MB/s drive that last years without any maintenance or worry.

A 500MB/s drive that requires constant firmware updates, always runs a chance for bricking (loss of data), RMA process from OCZ?

The answer is different for different people. Intel will sell lots drives, dont worry about that.

as taltamir said, OCZ is not the only player in the market

if you upgrade to (almost) any ssd, you will see a huge difference .... so the question for "Mainstream" users is not whether your SSD does 500MB/s or 250MB/s but whether you pay $1/GB or $2/GB (as you see in 99.99% of customer reviews)

And that's why G3 is disappointing, because many ppl. hoped the prices would go down.

as for reliability, there are other players who strike to prove they're reliable (including the re-branded Intel ssds)

I guess there is no point to bring the ssd market down since there is a long way to go to "saturate" it (supply/demand)

 

[Dark Shroud]

The Intel G3 drives were supposed to be cheaper and in the following sizes 80GB, 160GB, 300GB, & 600GB.

I'll run duel SSDs, a SATA 6gig SSD for my OS & software drive and one of the larger 160GB+ Intel G3 drives for games.

 

[hal2kilo]

... I guess people buy their (Intel) ssd for reliability & brand name

Exactly, the "mediocre" performance of my G2 gives me absolutely no concerns. I loose no sleep at night worrying that my SS2 might brick. What amazes me is the people who spend endless amounts of time benchmarking their SSD's when, I would bet, that very few people could perceive, at the human level, the difference in performance from one SSD to another in everyday tasks.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Exactly, the "mediocre" performance of my G2 gives me absolutely no concerns. I loose no sleep at night worrying that my SS2 might brick. What amazes me is the people who spend endless amounts of time benchmarking their SSD's when, I would bet, that very few people could perceive, at the human level, the difference in performance from one SSD to another in everyday tasks.

While I agree with you in that the Intel G2 is fine for most users, benchmarking and comparing specs is kind of what Anandtech and being a technophile is all about!

I am also sticking with Intel for my main rig because their very high reliability/low failure rate is key, but Intel certainly isn't doing itself any favours in trying to regain the performance crown.

-------

My biggest issue with these drives is their price. With no big performance increase, they should at least be somewhat cheaper - 25nm chips being way cheaper to produce than 34nm. Instead we get a true Postville refresh - same controller chip, same performance characteristics, just denser RAM and more expensive 300GB and 600GB options.

We'll see how this all pans out when it goes for sale here, and after the Anandtech review, but 2011 is no longer shaping up as the year of "SSD for the masses" as it originally appeared.

 

[Broheim]

Exactly, the "mediocre" performance of my G2 gives me absolutely no concerns. I loose no sleep at night worrying that my SS2 might brick. What amazes me is the people who spend endless amounts of time benchmarking their SSD's when, I would bet, that very few people could perceive, at the human level, the difference in performance from one SSD to another in everyday tasks.

exactly, if the prices on the G3 drops to a reasonable level I'd much rather pick up one of those than a "faster" SSD, I tried but I can't really tell the difference between a G2 and C300 without a benchmark... I suspect it's the same with the new generation

 

[taltamir]

all SSDs had issues, even the intel G2 had issues which were resolved via firmware upgrade which was USUALLY non destructive.

The G3 isn't that much over the G2, its more expensive, and its new and untested and thus might still have a bug that might need fixing.

Even if you decide that "intel reliability" is more important than raw performance then the G3 still has quite a bit of competition from the G2.

 

[Makaveli]

Exactly, the "mediocre" performance of my G2 gives me absolutely no concerns. I loose no sleep at night worrying that my SS2 might brick. What amazes me is the people who spend endless amounts of time benchmarking their SSD's when, I would bet, that very few people could perceive, at the human level, the difference in performance from one SSD to another in everyday tasks.

What I find funny is people who are constantly benchmarking their ssd's and not thinking about all the excessive writing they are doing to them just to brag online.

 

[nusyo]

What I find funny is people who are constantly benchmarking their ssd's and not thinking about all the excessive writing they are doing to them just to brag online.

aren't those the exact same people who are scared of their ssd dying due to "excessive writing" ? :>

 

[RhoXS]

Exactly, the "mediocre" performance of my G2 gives me absolutely no concerns. I loose no sleep at night worrying that my SS2 might brick. What amazes me is the people who spend endless amounts of time benchmarking their SSD's when, I would bet, that very few people could perceive, at the human level, the difference in performance from one SSD to another in everyday tasks.

I could not agree more.

When I first went from an HDD to a 80 GB G2 the difference was truly dramatic. Even though that occurred in Nov 2009, I am still basking in the enjoyment of that huge improvement in apparent performance. I needed more space so I just upgraded my 80 GB G2 to a 120 GB G2. I went with a G2 again because it is a trusted, tried, and proven drive and I sincerely doubt I would be able to notice any difference had I purchased one of the current generation of drives with better specifications.

These discussions remind me a lot of the audiophile discussions in the 1970's that focused on minor improvements in harmonic distortion etc. If I remember correctly the term "specmanship" was popular when describing those that spent a lot of unnecessary money on equipment that had better specs but an indistinguishable sound difference.

 

[capeconsultant]

My NOVA 128GB has never been nor never will be benched

 

[Emulex]

benchmark queens lol

need a girlfriend eh?

 

[Old Hippie]

I would bet, that very few people could perceive, at the human level, the difference in performance from one SSD to another in everyday tasks.

Pretty much true but there are definate differences if you're able to test the drives side by side.

Nothing earthshaking but if you're someone that can't tell the difference between a mechanical HD and SSD you're not gonna notice.

These discussions remind me a lot of the audiophile discussions in the 1970's that focused on minor improvements in harmonic distortion etc. If I remember correctly the term "specmanship" was popular when describing those that spent a lot of unnecessary money on equipment that had better specs but an indistinguishable sound difference.

I was heavily involved in audio in the 70's but was on the opposite side of the Julian Hirsch crowd.

Specs give a general idea but learning to listen is the key.

 

[PowerYoga]

I think the biggest beef with G3s is the pricing at this point. We expected to get 2x the amount of capacity for the price that we pay currently for SSDs and instead we get.... same price /gig.

Looks like the magical $1/gig is going to be very very far away indeed.

 

[aceO07]

What is the (expected) price of the 300GB G3?

 

[Makaveli]

aren't those the exact same people who are scared of their ssd dying due to "excessive writing" ? :>

Yes

 

[spooky69]

If these are going to be available from 28 March then why do they not appear for pre-order anywhere and why would nobody have posted anything of significance about them?

 

[ChrisBenn]

Yeah, it depends on pricing. If these come it at 50% the price of the G2 (say 100 bucks for a 80 gig), then that changes things significantly.

For instance this would let you get a 320Gig raid-0 stripe of 4 80's for 400 bucks, which is cheaper than the 256Gig other SSD's, and will probably be faster.

 

[Emulex]

remember the prices before the G2 came out?