INTEL 900P 480GB
Optane is here, and destroying records
GENUINE TECHNOLOGICAL revolutions don’t come along very often, but this might very well be one of them. The new Optane 900P, seen here in 480GB specification, is not the first product we’ve seen that’s based on Intel’s radical new 3D XPoint memory technology. But it debuts 3D XPoint in a form that allows a much better chance of delivering on its massive promise.
This is 3D XPoint as a complete, selfcontained, high-performance storage solution, rather than a small cache drive designed to help add a little fizz to a larger but slower drive. But what is 3D XPoint? That depends on how you use it. In this context, it’s a brand new variant of non-volatile memory that promises to combine the best attributes of an existing non-volatile technology like NAND flash memory, which include solid-state robustness, with the speed of volatile RAM.
Unlike NAND memory, which depends upon trapping electrons in an insulated gate, 3D XPoint uses bulk property change to alter the resistance of each memory cell, which in turn enables bits of data to be stored. The “3D” bit comes in relation to the stacked arrangement of the selector and memory cells, which are then connected by layers of interconnects, the idea being that multiple layers increase memory density. First-gen 3D XPoint involves two-layer technology, but Intel says future iterations will increase density both in terms of the lithography or size of the individual cells, and the number of layers.
Anyway, the upshot is a radically new memory tech that offers massive performance advantages. On paper, at least. With the new Optane 900P, we’re getting our first chance for a true feel of what 3D XPoint can achieve in practice. Right from the get-go, what it can achieve is stellar. One of our pre-testing routines— call it a habit if you like—is to completely fill a given SSD with data, then delete it all before beginning testing. It’s a crude methodology, to be sure, but it does cut out the possibility, albeit one that applies more to older drives, that an SSD only performs optimal writing to virgin cells.
This usually involves copying data sequentially from a source drive over USB 3.0 at about 300MB/s. Typically, attempting to copy some files over to the test drive and then multiplying them through internal file copies results in a fairly dramatic drop in performance, to 100MB/s or even less. But not with the Optane 900P. It motors along with internal file copies at a full 1GB/s indefinitely, or at least long enough to fill this drive’s 480GB capacity. We have never seen anything like it.
Firing up our test suite throws up further impressive figures. The plain and dirty sequential numbers aren’t actually all that impressive. Don’t misunderstand us— two-point-something GB/s for both reads and writes does not constitute slouchy performance. It’s just we’ve seen similar or even bigger numbers before from several conventional PCI Express SSDs based on NAND memory. Samsung’s 960 Pro can do over 3GB/s in certain metrics, for example.
Turn your attention to CrystalDiskMark’s 4K random results, however, and you’ll see further evidence of what makes Intel’s new drive so special. For writes, only Intel’s own 750 NAND drive comes close. But for reads, the new 900P tears the entire market a new one—342MB/s is not far off an order of magnitude quicker than any previous SSD. It’s also the fastest drive we’ve seen on our formal internal file copy test, which isn’t a huge surprise, given its performance during our pre-benchmark prep.
None of this comes cheap, of course. But then nor do the fastest CPUs and graphics cards. Considered in conventional GB/$ terms, and where good enough suffices, this drive makes no sense. But if you want the best, it doesn’t look bad value in the context of $2,000 CPUs.