Intel 335 Series 180GB SSD Review

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SATA 2 Performance

SATA 2 Performance

In a perfect world everyone investing in a new solid state drive would have access to a SATA 6GB/s controller which could pass on the TRIM command. In reality not everyone has this and for many the decision comes down either giving up TRIM – never a good idea with most controllers – and running it off a secondary controller; or taking a performance hit and running in SATA 2.0 mode.

These tests will consist of some of our real world and synthetic benchmarks run on our standard 1155 test-bed; but the drive will be attached to an SATA 2 port.

For synthetic we have opted for the newcomer to our charts: Anvil Storage Utilities Pro. For real world we have opted for our Adobe test. These two tests should give you a very good idea of the level of performance impact you can expect from running a modern SATA 6 drive in compatibility mode.

Once again the 335 posts very good numbers for a LSI SandForce SF2281 based drive. It may not be the absolute best SF2281 we have ever seen at running in SATA 3Gb/s compatibility mode, but considering the asking price it is one of the better options available.

 

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Conclusion

Conclusion

With their new 335 series drives, Intel has given us a glimpse of what they believe the future of SSDs should look like. Gone are clearly distinct lines between budget friendly drives and their high end counterparts. Instead, we are finally seeing generational shifts which are bring high end performance within the reach of cost conscious consumers. The 335 180GB is actually the first of many steps Intel will be taking over the next year in an effort to put their drives ahead of the competition’s and if this one is any indication, the plan is already well underway.

Intel believes the status quo of using vastly different NAND types to help distinguish a company’s entry level model from the mid-tier offerings will no longer be acceptable. Consumers are becoming are starting to realize that the NAND type used in a particular drive does matter. In this particular case Intel leveraged 20nm technology in order to meet all those high water marks without building in additional cost.

While the LSI controller is no slouch, the 20nm NAND within the 335 SSD is what makes this solution truly shine. It offers up performance in spades (at least for the market which the 335 plays in), a low cost and slightly lower power consumption which is all packed into a highly affordable drive. More importantly, Intel hasn’t even sacrificed long-term reliability to get here since their 20nm modules are rated for just as many cycles as the 25nm units they replace.

In addition to all of these benefits, Intel has allowed the 335 series to hit well above its weight class in the performance per dollar segment. It lines up directly against drives which cost significantly more and in many cases, an end user likely won’t notice much difference between this $170 newcomer and supposedly higher end alternatives. It really is the epitome of what an entry level SSD should be.

There aren’t any perceptible negatives with Intel’s new 335 series other than one small issue: its well rounded approach has left us wanting more. If Intel is able to repeat this success with their enthusiast 500-series revision, the competition may be in for a rough year.

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