Intel 520 Cherryville SSD

I hope it is correct, I'm excited to see how well they do. We can then see if it is a sandforce controller as well.
 
i would imagine it to be SF. LSI just bought SF, but LSI is a long time rebrander to Intel so it would work perfectly.
 
Meh, we need more price drops for SSD to really go mainstream... If Intel somehow releases a superior SF based drive they're just gonna charge a stupid premium for it. As it is, the 510 is usually overpriced unless they happen to be running rebates on it or something. Wonder if this will be a direct replacement or what...
 
Looks like it will use the Sandforce controller. The same one is used by OCZ. So basically there is no reason to get the Intel.
 
hmz said:
Looks like it will use the Sandforce controller. The same one is used by OCZ. So basically there is no reason to get the Intel.
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How about reliability and testing (and firmware?) by Intel?
 
I would buy it from Intel and feel very confident that it would work reliably, Sandforce or not.
 
Not that Intel is infalliable, BUT...their resources for validation and testing are vastly larger and more robust than any of these smaller companies. You can bet that Sandforce or no, the new SSD's will be tested/validated out the wazoo before they release. That would in fact make me more comfortable with an Intel drive even if they are using a Sandforce controller.
 
I'm not sure how sandforce could not be involved in the firmware, and thus able to make any "bug fix" available to every customer.

But why wouldn't it be a marvell controller ?
 
GreenGoose said:
Speed.
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With compressible data at least... There's still a couple of aspects to SF controllers that don't quite convince me, beyond the firmware/validation issues. It'll certainly be interesting to see just how customized Intel's firmware really ends up being, it'll be particularly curious to find out how long ago Intel started working with SF.
 
Well I guess the November 4 release date widely reported for these drives was wrong. I bet they release November 14 with SB-E.
 
If the same flash is used on two SSDs of the same size, I'd rather have a controller that does compression. Not because of the speed, but because it means it will have more reserved space to play with, since everything that is compressed takes less space than shown.
 
Aesma said:
If the same flash is used on two SSDs of the same size, I'd rather have a controller that does compression. Not because of the speed, but because it means it will have more reserved space to play with, since everything that is compressed takes less space than shown.
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that is not what they mean by compression. the inner workings of the chip just work better on compressible data.
 
Think these drives will be available this year? Usually the product is in hands of reviewers a month or so early before they get released.

Anandtech reviewed the samsung 830 on sep 24th.
 
Galvin said:
Think these drives will be available this year? Usually the product is in hands of reviewers a month or so early before they get released.

Anandtech reviewed the samsung 830 on sep 24th.
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They're lots of internet rumors that the Intel 520 will be released with SB-E on November 14.
 
Intel has shied away from paper launches and early previews/reviews in recent times, so if it's announced it'll most likely be available. Whether the price and performance cause a shopping frenzy that limits stock and makes resellers jack up prices is another story...

Are the Samsung 830 available yet anywhere? I've been checking Newegg and haven't seen them, it looked like they were gonna be a good value (solid m4 alternative).
 
Impulse said:
Are the Samsung 830 available yet anywhere? I've been checking Newegg and haven't seen them, it looked like they were gonna be a good value (solid m4 alternative).
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I see the Samsung 830 listed several places but not in stock. I wasn't that impressed with the reviews. It will probably be rock solid reliable but there are faster SSD's on the market.
 
GreenGoose said:
I see the Samsung 830 listed several places but not in stock. I wasn't that impressed with the reviews. It will probably be rock solid reliable but there are faster SSD's on the market.
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Hmm, it seemed to be mostly on par with the m4 and 510 during Anand's review, altho he did test the 256GB version... Not sure how much performance would drop at 128GB, got any good review links for that size/model?

I just noticed they're now available at Newegg, pricing seems reasonable for the 128GB drives but a bit high for 256GB. They all come with imaging software, cables (USB adapter in the case of the laptop kit), and/or bay adapters... Not something most of us care about, but right now they also come with a code for Batman Arkham City, so $230 - $55(+) makes it pretty competitive with the m4 at $207 imo.

Based on Anand's data it seems SF and Intel drives are probably better suited for TRIM-less systems (i.e. user upgraded Macs), but outside of that the 830 is looking like a valid alternative depending on pricing, etc.
 
That's what I'm doing waiting on 520, but if its just an annoucement and plan to release months from now I'll go for the 830 instead.
 
Yeah, I'm on the same boat... My 80GB X25-M is actually fine performance wise, but I wanna move to something larger. Are there any big expected price cuts in the SSD space in the foreseeable future (say, within six months)? Like a move to smaller flash or something similar which has spurred price drops in the past... Haven't heard about smaller NAND in a while...
 
TLC (triple level cell) flash will be introduced by OCZ, and should bring cheaper SSDs soon.
 
After reading several more reviews on the Samsung 830, I went ahead and bought one. Even if the Intel 520 is a little faster, I'll never realize it in normal use.
 
GreenGoose said:
After reading several more reviews on the Samsung 830, I went ahead and bought one. Even if the Intel 520 is a little faster, I'll never realize it in normal use.
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I'm interested in the 830 as well, so what made you choose this over the ever popular and stable crucial m4?
 
Anand mentioned he's been using the 830 without issue on his MBP alongside a 510, in the latest MBP review... Samsung's also got a pretty good track record with their previous controllers, reliability wise, lots of OEMs have been using older Samsung drives. That's not to say this guarantees anything about the newer controller but sill... The 256GB m4 is still better priced imo, but at 128GB I'd say it's a tough choice. I'm hoping for a Black Friday/Cyber Monday deal on either, altho it's very hard to resist the current 15% discount code +$20 rebate on SandForce drives at NewEgg (120GB for $140 is damn near $1 per GB).
 
I've had the Samsung 830 256GB for about three days now and it is noticeably faster than my X25-M G2 that it replaced. I am very happy with my purchase.

The reason I bought it was for Samsung's reputation of reliability, all components are made by Samsung, it's rated faster than the M4, it's faster in most benchmarks than the M4, all the reviews I read gave it an excellent review, and at the time I bought it was actually cheaper than the M4.

256GB is $389.99 with free shipping at Superbiiz.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MZ7PC256ZD

128GB is $224.99 with free shipping at Superbiiz.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MZ7PC128ZD
 
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Wow, you really notice a difference between it and the X25-M G2? I was looking to upgrade mine mainly to move up in capacity, I didn't think I'd notice a difference in day to day use... Under certain circumstances certainly, the X25-M has pretty poor sequential write speeds for instance, but I didn't think I'd notice a difference when say, opening apps, booting, etc. Would love to hear more about where you noticed the most difference!
 
Impulse said:
Wow, you really notice a difference between it and the X25-M G2? I was looking to upgrade mine mainly to move up in capacity, I didn't think I'd notice a difference in day to day use... Under certain circumstances certainly, the X25-M has pretty poor sequential write speeds for instance, but I didn't think I'd notice a difference when say, opening apps, booting, etc. Would love to hear more about where you noticed the most difference!
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It just feels snappier, like when I first upgraded my mechanical hard drive to my X25-M G2. Boots faster, programs open faster, large file copies are way faster. The main reason I upgraded was to move up in capacity and was pleasantly surprised at the noticeable speed increase. It's very noticeable to me. I highly recommend the Samsung 830 to anyone shopping for a SSD.
 
Aesma said:
TLC (triple level cell) flash will be introduced by OCZ, and should bring cheaper SSDs soon.
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I hope this is a joke, the last ocz drives already aren't very reliable, this will mean that their drive will be much less reliable after this move to tlc which was in the first place planned for use in device low number of write such as cheap usb keys.
 
Well, the reliability problems of OCZ are linked to the controller, not the flash.

TLC will be introduced with a new controller, so it should be custom made to this new flash, with probably more over-provisioning, an optimized wear leveling, etc.

With that said, I certainly won't be buying one in the first months.
 
GreenGoose said:
It just feels snappier, like when I first upgraded my mechanical hard drive to my X25-M G2. Boots faster, programs open faster, large file copies are way faster. The main reason I upgraded was to move up in capacity and was pleasantly surprised at the noticeable speed increase. It's very noticeable to me. I highly recommend the Samsung 830 to anyone shopping for a SSD.
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Was your previous G2 the 80GB drive?
 
I love all of my Intel drives. I have several G2s, an X25-E, a 311 20GB, and a 120GB 510. I was waiting anxiously for Cherryville, but it's looking like I'll need to wait a few more months. I ended up buying a couple of other drives instead, such as the Mushkin Chronos Deluxe (Awesome, and much less inexpensive than the Wildfire) and a Vertex LE (There are some good deals on these right now). I was really tempted by the 830s, but Toggle NAND equipped SF2281s are really hard to beat. I wasn't a huge SF fan until recently (notable, since I had no end of SF bug issues until the new FW fixed them). If Cherryville ends up shipping with SandForce Inside, I won't bitch. The firmware that Intel could produce for a SF drive could be extra interesting. The C300, M4 and 510 don't really perform the same even though they use what is basically the same controller -- and just look at the increase in performance 0009FW added to the M4.

The 510 is excellent, more so than just the numbers would indicate. The price is still just silly though -- you can get async Sandforce 2281s at the same capacity for almost half the price (sometimes even less). If the 510 were $200 for the 120GB model, it would make a hell of a lot more sense.
 
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