Intel to launch 313 series SSDs alongside Ivy Bridge

According to a report from the team over at VR-Zone we will be seeing a new line of SSDs from Intel in April alongside the launch of  Ivy Bridge. The drives will be specifically targeted as cache drives, not primary storage drives. They are designed to be implemented with SSD/Mechanical hard drive configurations using Intel’s Smart Response Technology or SRT.

The new SSD Caching drives will be known as the 313 Series and they offer a direct replacement to the older 311 series of SSDs known as Larson Creek.

Intel is retaining the 2.5-inch and mSATA form factors, but the 2.5-inch drives are now only 7mm tall, instead of 9mm of the 311 series. The SATA interface is still at 3Gbps, but the reason for is simply because Intel doesn’t have a new SSD controller of its own. The reason Intel is sticking with SLC flash for its caching drives is most likely because the company is expecting a high wear and tear ratio on this type of SSDs and as such using cheaper NAND flash would mean that the drives would wear out quicker

It is currently yet unknown why Intel have chosen capacities of 20GB and 24GB, maybe the 24GB drives will have slightly increase performance. The 20GB drives will be $99 and the 24GB drives will be $119.

Source: VR-Zone