900P Optane NVMe PCIe 280GB

The Intel Optane SSD 900P series are the first consumer grade NVMe PCIe SSDs available using Optane memory. This is a new class of memory based on new 3D XPoint lithography. The 280 GB version is available in either a U.2 15mm or half height half length add-in card form, both with a PCIe 3.0 x 4 interface. A 480 GB version is also available. The impressive benchmarks from this SSD (sequential read speeds of 2500 MB/s and sequential write of 2000 MB/s) are consistent with Intel’s reported specifications. The 280GB 900P is about 10% faster at sequential read/write than the next best NVMe PCIe flash based SSD, the Samsung 960 Pro. However, the 280 GB 900P really excels at random 4K reads and writes. Specifically, it is about 4 times faster than the 960 Pro at random 4K reads. Since on average, about 50% of typical consumer disk access is sequential reads or writes, the full benefits of the 280GB 900P may not be relevant for all users. Early access to this new technology comes at a premium, the 280GB 900P costs approximately twice as much per gigabyte compared to the 960 Pro. These drawbacks will no doubt influence the mass adoption of this class of memory in its infant stage. However, it is no less exciting for the industry and is indicative of the speeds that we can expect to achieve as standard in the future. ^{[Nov '17 SSDrivePro]}