Intel SSD 710 Prices Leaked to the Web (Sit Down for This)

Posted 08/08/2011 at 9:19am | by Paul Lilly

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If you recall, Intel was one of the first to offer a performance oriented solid state drive line using multi-level cell (MLC) memory. Intel's X-25 family would later be pushed aside by a growing competitor base offering faster and less expensive SSDs, and now everyone is enamored with SandForce-equipped drives. That could change with the launch of Intel's SSD 710 (Lyndonville) series, if you can afford one.

VR-Zone.com claims "a little bird has all but confirmed" launch and price details for Intel's new SSD family, which are now rumored to ship the middle of this month. That's the good news. And the bad? Grab a vomit bag and check out these price points:

• Intel SSD 710 100GB: $650
• Intel SSD 710 200GB: $1,250
• Intel SSD 710 300GB: $1,900

Making those prices even harder to swallow is that Intel isn't ultra focused on performance with these high dollar drives. According to VR-Zone, all three models will offer up to 270MB/s read and 210MB/s write speeds via SATA 3Gbps, which are very good, but certainly not the fastest around. What Intel's supposedly trying to accomplish is to offer users the endurance of SLC-based SSDs using less expensive eMLC HET NAND flash memory, but at $650 for a 100GB drive, Intel has a tough proposition on its hands.

By the end of September, Intel will follow up its SSD 710 launch with its SSD 720 SSDs aimed at the performance crowd. These will ship in 200GB and 400GB capacities and boast 2200MB/s read and 1800MB/s write speeds through a PCI-E interface. No word yet on how much these will cost.