14 DAY TRIAL // Market watchers and anonymous sources have struck once again, now apparently unveiling Intel's solid state drive roadmap, which includes several models set for release during the fourth quarter of this year, all built out of NAND chips based on the 25nm manufacturing process technology.
By now, those who have been keeping track of the developments on the flash storage market will know that Intel and Micron set up a NAND Flash joint venture some time ago.
The venture goes by the name of IMFT and will be responsible for the manufacture of all 'G3' SSDs planned for this year and the first quarter of the next.
The first batch of drives will be known as the X25-M line and will include, at first, three models, one of which will have a capacity larger than that of most SATA drives in existence.
To be more specific, the series includes a 160GB model, one with 320GB and, finally, a drive with no less than 600GB of storage space.
Intel will also unleash a member for the X25-V line, with a space of 80GB.
One asset of the drives will be the implicitly high transfer speeds of NAND memory, which will actually exceed those of their predecessors.
The other important advantage is that they will have a fairly eco-friendly build, with no halogens and the natural low power draw of Flash chips.
Reports also imply that Intel will stick to the SATA 3.0 Gbps interface, though it will go for a new controller and an encryption option.
Finally, the 25nm-based SSDs will, naturally, support S.M.A.R.T. technology and, doubtlessly, the Windows 7 TRIM command.
The X25-M and X25-V will be released sometime during the fourth quarter of the ongoing year, while X25-E and X18-M SSDs are expected to show up in the early days of 2011.