Intel, the world's largest maker of computer processors, is expected to release a new, higher-capacity solid state drive, which will provide users with as much as 320GB of storage capacity. The new drive is expected to be released sometime during the fourth quarter of this year, although a specific date isn't available at this time. With the release, Intel is said to be using its 32nm process technology, the company's most advanced manufacturing method.

 

The new drives are expected to be part of a new series of SSDs that the Santa Clara, California-based chip maker will release as part of an effort to further boost the overall adoption of Flash-based storage solutions. Bloomberg reports that the chip maker has already announced its customers about the arrival of the new SSDs, which are expected to debut sometime in Q4, this year. The new drives will add to the company's current SSD portfolio, which includes the mainstream X25-M and X18-M and the extreme-performance X25-E, all of which were unveiled last year.

 

News about the upcoming high-capacity Intel SSDs comes to confirm the chip maker's determination in trying to further expand the market for high-performance, Flash-based storage solutions. This determination goes back to 2005, when Intel joined Micron Technology in trying to deliver Nand Flash memory chips designed to provide the consumer market with an alternative storage product that would increase the performance achieved by today's traditional hard disk drives.

 

In other news, Intel is also said to be planning the release of its first processor with built-in graphics capabilities, codenamed Havendale. The chip is expected to debut in Q1 2010, a quarter later than initially believed. In addition, Intel will be introducing a product codenamed Braidwood, which will include as much as 16GB of flash memory, and which is expected to create “better responsiveness and boot-up time.”