Intel has quietly launched the Optane SSD DC P5810X solid state drive, which may be its last 3D XPoint memory-based storage device after Intel officially shut down its Optane business earlier this year.
Intel’s Optane SSD DC P5810X series is now available in 400GB and 800GB versions in a 2.5-inch U.2 form factor with a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, featuring sequential read speeds of up to 7200MBps and up to 5400MBps (800GB version) or 6000MBps (400GB) sequential write speeds. In terms of random read/write performance, the drive is capable of reaching 1.5M / 1.38M IOPS with a 5 microsecond read/write latency.
Of course, the main selling point of the new drive is its 100DWPD endurance rating, which means it can sustain 40,000 GB of writes per day for 5 years, something that traditional 3D NAND-based products can’t match, which is why Armor Man introduced XL-NAND and Samsung introduced Z-NAND (and still can’t match the endurance of Intel’s Optane DC).
Intel’s Optane SSD DC P5810X series is part of a family of drives codenamed Alder Stream and has previously been launched with the P5800X series, so it is expected that the new products will use similar hosts and 3D XPoint storage media, and it is not clear how Intel intends to position the new P5810X SSDs with the existing P5800X drives It is not clear how Intel intends to position the new P5810X SSDs against the existing P5800X drives.
In its earnings call for the second quarter of this year, Intel confirmed that it will officially shut down its Aoton business, a move that will result in a $559 million impairment, the sixth non-core business divested by Pat Gelsinger since he took over as Intel CEO. Intel’s gradual de-emphasis of the Optanebusiness began with the sale of its NAND flash memory and storage business to SK Hynix, and while it still retains the technology and enterprise product line, the prospects for the Optane business have dimmed with the sale of its partner Micron’s 3D XPoint flash chip plant in Lehi, Utah, to Texas Instruments, leaving Intel without its only production facility. Previously, it was reported that the loss of the Optane business reached $576 million in 2020, and the estimated loss for 2021 may also be roughly $529 million.
