With the prices of SSDs gradually and
steadily coming down, they are quickly becoming must-have items for anyone
looking for a faster and more responsive computer whether desktop or laptop.
Intel is regarded as one of the top names in the SSD market, thanks to its
production of drives that are among the fastest in the world.
Intel
Solid State Drive 335 Series SSD
To cater to a wider audience, Intel has a
more affordable lineup for mainstream users in the form of the 330 Series. A
recent update on the lineup has brought out the new 335 Series to take its
place. As its name suggests, this new series is an incremental update to the
older 330 Series.
A closer look at the specification sheet of
the 335 series shows no apparent difference from its predecessor as both have
the same random 4k performance, same SandForce SF-2281 controller, and same
SATA 6Gbps interface. So what has changed besides the name?
The answer lies under the proverbial hood,
particularly the memory chips used inside the 335 series, which are still
provided by IMFT. It is still of the synchronous MLC NAND types but
manufactured using IMFT’s new 20nm process. This new 20nm manufacturing process
theoretically brings slightly faster and more power-efficient chips.
On our usual suite of benchmarks, we found
the 335 Series to be a formidable drive despite its mainstream billing. On
popular benchmarks such as HD Tune Pro 4.6, the Intel SSD 335 Series was just
about as quick as Intel’s flagship SSD 520 Series. It was also comparable to
other high-end SSD from OCZ, the Vector 4. Its positioning as a mainstream SSD
became evident on PCMark 7, a benchmark which tests a variety of different
workloads such as starting applications and video editing. The overall score of
the 335 series was 4822 marks which is a significant 12% less than the SSD 520
Series. Looking at the breakdown, we can see that performance in Video editing,
Windows Media Centre, and Gaming workloads were the culprit to the lower
overall score.
Intel
Solid State Drive 335 240GB
Taking all things in to consideration, the
335 Series boasts impressive performance for a drive that’s intended for
mainstream use. For the most part, performance isn’t too far off when compared
to the fastest drives you can buy.
With an SRP of US$ 210, it offers decent
value as it performs almost on par with its bigger brother the 520 Series. It
is also competitively priced against other high-end enthusiast-grade SSDs such
as the OCZ Vector 4.
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Specifications
§ Model
Name: Intel Solid-State Drive 335 Series
§ Capacity:
240GB
§ NAND
Flash Memory: 20nm Intel NAND Flash Memory Multi-Level Cell (MLC)
§ Bandwidth:
Sustained Sequential Reads up to: 500 MB/s, Sustained Sequential Writes up
to: 450 MB/s
§ Random
IOPS (4KB): Reads up to: 42,000 IOPS, Writes up to: 52,000 IOPS
§ Interface:
SATA 6Gb/s, compatible with SATA 3Gb/s
§ Form
Factor, Height and Weight: 2.5 inch, 9.5mm, up to 78 grams
§ Life
Expectancy: 1.2 million hours Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
§ Power
Consumption: Active: 350 mW Typical, Idle 275 mW Typical
§ Operating
Temperature: 0°C to 70°C
§ RoHS
Compliance : Meets the requirements of European Union (EU) RoHS Compliance
Directives
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