Intel Corp. on Monday introduced a new family of solid-state drives that combine high-performance, high-capacity and reliability. The new SSDs are based on 25nm MLC NAND flash memory and SandForce controller, use Serial ATA-6Gb/s and are aimed at PC enthusiasts, gamers, professionals or small-medium businesses (SMBs).

"We tapped Intel engineering to create a client SSD that delivers performance on all fronts with obsessively high reliability. The Intel SSD 520 once again raises the industry bar on SSD performance, quality and reliability to dramatically improve user experience," said Rob Crooke, Intel vice president and general manager of the Intel non-volatile memory solutions group.

The Intel SSD 520-series code-named Cherryville delivers up to 80 000 maximum 4K random write input-output operations per second (IOPS) and up to 50 000 4K random read IOPS; high sequential read performance of up to 550MB/s and up to 520MB/s sequential writes also markedly accelerate and improve user productivity. Intel 520-family of solid-state drives supports 256-bit AES encryption and includes models with 60GB, 120GB, 180GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities.

According to PCMark Vantage benchmarking, users of the Intel SSD 520 may see significant productivity gains through an up to 78% boost in overall PC responsiveness, and gamers will see an up to 88% jump in performance to enhance their gaming experience.

"We worked closely with Intel to leverage their deep understanding of the NAND flash, ultimately providing a unique and optimized solution for client computing applications with the LSI SandForce flash storage processor. Working through Intel's extensive validation process ensures the Intel 520 SSD will raise the bar in delivering top-tier performance and superior quality and reliability over the life of the drive," said Michael Raam, vice president and general manager of LSI's flash components division.

Intel 512-series SSDs are backed by thousands of hours of Intel testing and validation, including more than 5000 individual tests, as well as a 5-year limited warranty. With a broad range of capacity choices, the Intel SSD 520-series is priced as follows, based on 1000-unit quantities: 60GB for $149, 120GB at $229, 180GB at $369, 240GB at $509 and 480GB at $999.

Tags: Intel, Cherryville, SSD, 25nm, NAND, Flash