Intel Optane SSD coming within a couple months, 1/10th DRAM speeds.

[denali 74]

 

[RichieFly 729]

Thanks.

Another reason to wait awhile longer before the ol' update of the machine.

[HiFlyer 9,359]

This kind of looks like a maybe faster version of Smart Response Tech from Intel........

It feels more like a way to pull you into the new series motherboards than anything particularly exciting, but I guess we'll see. And I suspect current Z170 mobos with M2 slots will be able to get this through bios upgrades if anyone wants it that bad.

[martin-w 3,235]

6 hours ago, HiFlyer said:

This kind of looks like a maybe faster version of Smart Response Tech from Intel........

It feels more like a way to pull you into the new series motherboards than anything particularly exciting, but I guess we'll see. And I suspect current Z170 mobos with M2 slots will be able to get this through bios upgrades if anyone wants it that bad.

 

The Enterprise storage drives were announced a while ago, mega expensive. Lots of applications to come though.

DDR4 memory DIMMS have already been shipped out for testing. This stuff can be 10 times denser than conventional DRAM. And theoretically, one Optane unit could serve as both storage and DRAM. 

So no, it's not just a way to pull you into new motherboards. It looks like it might be quite revolutionary. Intel Optane 3D Xpoint  promises to combine the strengths of both volatile [DRAM] and non-volatile [SSD] memory. Speed and permanency basically.
 

I don't think a BIOS update for Z170 would provide Optane support. The chipset isn't compatible.

[HiFlyer 9,359]

22 minutes ago, martin-w said:

I don't think a BIOS update for Z170 would provide Optane support. The chipset isn't compatible

Isn't it just a regular M.2 slot? You should be able to use it for storage if you wanted, even if the caching trick isn't available yet.....

25 minutes ago, martin-w said:

The Enterprise storage drives were announced a while ago, mega expensive. Lots of applications to come though.

Yup, I want to see the prices, as well. This still feels like a huge wait and see, for me.

[Howellerman 104]

The 3D Xpoint (spoken as "3D crosspoint") is slotted in, speed-wise, between memory and the existing NAND-based flash technologies. So, where DDR4 is top of the heap in speed, and NAND-based is 100 times slower, the 3D Xpoint stuff is "only" about 10x slower than memory. As pointed out, a primary advantage is non-volatility, so operating systems can "park" certain functions in the crosspoint device for access during boot, etc. Databases may like it as well for really fast log journal storage. 

Give it another year or so, particularly when the co-developer Micron comes out with devices. 

Very likely, "round and brown" is going to be bulk legacy backup storage by the end of the decade. Fun times!

[martin-w 3,235]

2 hours ago, HiFlyer said:

Isn't it just a regular M.2 slot? You should be able to use it for storage if you wanted, even if the caching trick isn't available yet.....

 

 

No, the Z170 chipset won't support it. Z270 is the chipset designed to. It's not just about the slot.

[HiFlyer 9,359]

15 minutes ago, martin-w said:

No, the Z170 chipset won't support it. Z270 is the chipset designed to. It's not just about the slot

If so, then my interest drops to zero, and I'm one of those people who habitually jump on new tech. 

Switch from a 1080 to a 1080ti? I'm about to do it.

Switch from Magnetic to SSD hard drives? Working on it.

New motherboard, new processors? Usually I'm there, but for some reason Kaby lake and now this don't incite anywhere near the techno-lust that I usually feel, the steps just seem too incremental. Even reading through the specs I'm just shrugging, which is very very unusual for me with this type of stuff.

I'll watch from the sidelines, and if I was in the process of making a brand new system it would probably be a no-brainer, (though I still wouldn't be excited) but having fairly recently gone to Skylake, there's just nothing here that says "upgrade" to me.

 

[martin-w 3,235]

17 hours ago, HiFlyer said:

If so, then my interest drops to zero, and I'm one of those people who habitually jump on new tech. 

Switch from a 1080 to a 1080ti? I'm about to do it.

Switch from Magnetic to SSD hard drives? Working on it.

New motherboard, new processors? Usually I'm there, but for some reason Kaby lake and now this don't incite anywhere near the techno-lust that I usually feel, the steps just seem too incremental. Even reading through the specs I'm just shrugging, which is very very unusual for me with this type of stuff.

I'll watch from the sidelines, and if I was in the process of making a brand new system it would probably be a no-brainer, (though I still wouldn't be excited) but having fairly recently gone to Skylake, there's just nothing here that says "upgrade" to me.

 

 

 

Intel say...

Quote

 you'll also need a 7th-gen Core CPU nestled within “an Intel 200 series chipset, M.2 type 2280-S1-B-M or 2242-S1-B-M connector on a PCH Remapped PCIe* Controller and Lanes in a x2 or x4 configuration with B-M keys that meet NVMe Spec 1.1 and System BIOS that supports the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (Intel RST) 15.5 driver.”

 

Quote

I'll watch from the sidelines, and if I was in the process of making a brand new system it would probably be a no-brainer, (though I still wouldn't be excited) but having fairly recently gone to Skylake, there's just nothing here that says "upgrade" to me.

 

Well no, I don't think anyone is saying that it's a case of "oh my god, top priority, must adopt Optane!" And no, it's not a no brainier if we happen to be building a new system either.

If we are happy with our current SSD's then speedier storage isn't a top priority, there are still plenty of people around that get along just fine with their mechanical hard drives. I won't be considering Optane and I merely have an 850 Evo. 

As I said, it "might" be quite revolutionary, but not now, as the technology progresses. We will no more later this year or next year when the consumer storage products are around. 

Nobody has gone crazy about the Intel U.2 750 drives, so you can never tell for sure which way this stuff will go.

[JamesIceland 14]

The price points of these (16GB for $44 and 32GB for $77) make these potentially quite interesting.

Am I right in thinking that these could be potentially very good for people with traditional HDD but benefits for those using M.2 NVME and SSD's are less pronounced? My new build currently has a superfast NVME drive in it along with a couple of SSD's. That said, I am going to be using my 4TB Seagate Barracuda as my "games" drive - perhaps it would help with this?

Not something that looks like a must buy right now but if it can be developed further in the future it could be really interesting.

[TechguyMaxC 516]

Optane is going to change the datacenter forever.

 

Home PCs... Not so much.