Intel SSD 545s Announced With 64-Layer 3D TLC NAND And 550 MB/s Reads
If you're in the market for a spacious new SSD that won't break the bank, Intel has just tossed another option into the super-packed arena. The company's brand-new SSD 545s debuts with a 512GB model, although post-launch, densities between 128GB to 2TB will begin to populate the market. As of the time of writing, the 512GB model retails for $179.99.
At the $179.99 price point, the SSD 545s does battle with the likes of Crucial's MX300, which currently sells for $160 for a 525GB model over at Amazon. What Intel's new SSD 545s immediately gains over a drive like that is an impressive 5-year warranty (versus 3-year for the MX300). It's nice when a company has a bit more than the usual amount of confidence in its product.
The 545s sports Intel's 64-layer TLC NAND, which delivers performance of up to 550MB/s read, and 500MB/s write. On the IOPS front, the reads and writes are 75,000 and 90,000, respectively. Endurance is measured at 72TB per 128GB, so this launch 512GB is spec'd for 288 TB.
The biggest target for an SSD like this is with those still running mechanical hard drives. Even modest SSDs can exhibit huge gains against spinning disks, with Intel saying that boot times can be improved 4x, Microsoft Word load 8x, and Adobe Acrobat reader load 12x. With examples like these, it's clear that this SSD is not necessarily targeted at gaming, although it'd fit that bill just fine.
It's not clear at this point when the 545s' other densities will hit the market, but we wouldn't expect it to take too long.
