14 DAY TRIAL // AMD may have diverted some attention away from Intel's Developer Forum (IDF), but Chipzilla will be at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco for three days, so it will not have trouble offsetting that fact.
One of the companies there with Intel is Seagate, whose Momentus XT hybrid storage drives will play a special part.
Essentially, Intel and Seagate will demonstrate new solid-state hybrid drives (SSHDs), complete with Intel Smart Response Technology acceleration.
Normally, Intel Smart Response takes an HDD and an SSD (no fancy ones though) and “convinces” the system to view them as a single partition.
The SSD is where data is immediately stored upon copying/installation, while the HDD acts as a backup drive, copying the files in the background, later.
Now, though, Intel means to adjust Smart Response to accelerate hybrid drive performance, even those enabled with the SATA-IO Hybrid Information Feature. PCMark Vantage HDD suite should register an improvement of 30%.
None of this will happen immediately, however. Intel only expects to release full support for SATA-IO (Serial ATA International Organization) Hybrid Information Feature in 2013.
"Intel is delighted to provide the PC industry with another attractive storage solution option," said Intel Director of Notebook Product Marketing, Adam King. "Solid state hybrid drives accelerated with Intel Smart Response Technology should enable more innovative Ultrabook and all-in-one desktop system designs."
We suspect that Seagate won't be able to keep the NAND capacity at its current levels (4-8 GB), being too low, which means that Hybrid Drives could end up more expensive than analysts expect. Still, they will be more convenient than SSDs.
An educational presentation named "Ultrabook Responsiveness: Performance & Power End-Users Can Feel" will detail how SSHD + Intel Smart Response will benefit ultrabooks.
"Solid state hybrid drives will help Ultrabook designers achieve key price points and performance goals," said Emil Yappert, vice president of product line management at Seagate.
"SSHD products are being embraced by industry leaders such as Intel as demonstrated by the collaborative efforts with the SATA-IO member companies leading to Seagate's new hybrid drive capabilities, which can significantly improve SSHD performance and help drive general adoption in the PC ecosystem during 2013 and beyond."